The Silent Killer of Modern Business Growth (And Why Your Gut Instinct Is Sabotaging You)
Stefan Maritz ??
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The uncomfortable truth about growth
?Most organizations that claim to embrace experimentation are faking it. They run safe tests, celebrate predictable wins, and avoid any experiment that might challenge their fundamental assumptions. Real growth happens in the space where comfort ends.
Let's unpack 10 questions that separate genuine experimentation cultures from performative ones (Credit to Ben Labay , CEO at Speero, for these penetrating questions):
Do we test ideas before scaling them, or do we rely on gut instinct??
The most expensive decisions in business aren't the ones that fail - they're the ones we never tested at all. When you bypass testing in favor of gut instinct, you're not being agile; you're being arrogant. Testing isn't about validation; it's about challenging your strongest convictions.
The comfort of consensus is perhaps the greatest threat to effective testing. Too many organizations run experiments designed to succeed rather than to learn, creating an illusion of data-driven decision-making while actually reinforcing existing biases. This pattern of confirmation-seeking rather than truth-seeking doesn't just waste resources - it builds a foundation of false confidence that becomes increasingly expensive to fix. When your testing program becomes a checkbox exercise to validate decisions you've already made, you've created a culture that prefers looking smart over being right.
Consider Airbnb's professional photography experiment. The conventional wisdom suggested professional photos would be too expensive and unnecessary. Testing proved otherwise, professional photos lead to increased bookings, allowing them to confidently scale the service offering and turning it into a competitive advantage.
Is experimentation embedded in leadership decision-making, or is it siloed?
If your leadership team isn't actively participating in experimentation, you don't have an experimentation culture - you have a permission structure disguised as innovation. True experimentation challenges hierarchy itself. At Amazon, even Jeff Bezos's pet projects face the scrutiny of testing.
The gap between saying "we're data-driven" and actually being willing to let data drive decisions is huge. Many organizations have created elaborate experimentation frameworks that somehow never manage to challenge strategic decisions. This isn't just about having the right tools or processes - it's about leadership's willingness to be proven wrong. When was the last time an experiment fundamentally changed your company's strategic direction?
Amazon's "failure and invention are inseparable twins" philosophy isn't just a clever saying - it's a structural commitment to letting evidence override authority. Their leadership meetings begin with reviewing data, ensuring hierarchy doesn't trump insight.
Do we have the authority to experiment, or does red tape slow us down?
?If your approval process for experiments takes longer than the experiments themselves, you're not protecting the business - you're protecting mediocrity. When bureaucracy outweighs boldness, you've created a system that rewards inaction over innovation.
The most insidious form of organizational resistance isn't outright rejection - it's death by process. Companies create elaborate approval chains and risk assessment frameworks that claim to protect the business but actually protect the status quo. Every layer of approval adds not just time, but dilutes responsibility and ownership. The result? Safe experiments that teach you what you already know.
Spotify's squad model demonstrates what real experimental authority looks like. Teams don't just have permission to run experiments - they have the mandate to challenge fundamental assumptions about how their product works. This isn't chaos; it's controlled courage.
Are our experiments solving strategic problems or just optimizing surface-level KPIs?
?Most organizations are addicted to easy wins and so-called low-hanging fruits - tweaking button colors and optimizing click-through rates while their business model begs for reinvention. Surface-level optimization creates the illusion of progress while core challenges remain unaddressed.
The true cost of shallow experimentation isn't just wasted effort - it's missed opportunity. While teams celebrate minor conversion improvements, competitors are testing fundamental assumptions about customer needs, business models, and market dynamics. This isn't about ignoring small improvements; it's about recognizing that not all experiments carry equal strategic weight.
How well do we share and document experiment learnings across teams?
Your teams are likely repeating experiments that others have already run, or wondering about something someone has already tested. This isn't just inefficient - it's a symptom of organizational ego where teams prefer to "discover" their own insights rather than build on others' learnings.
Knowledge silos aren't just about poor documentation - they're about cultural resistance to shared insights. Teams often treat their experimental insights as territory to be protected rather than wisdom to be shared. The result is a fragmented understanding of what works and why, with each team reinventing the wheel over and over again.
Atlassian's Experiment Week is a great example - it's about exposing the messy reality of experimentation. Teams present failures alongside successes, creating a culture where learning is valued more than being right.
Do we trust our data, or do teams struggle with inconsistent insights?
If your teams are still debating whose numbers are right, you don't have a data problem - you have a leadership problem. Data trust isn't about having perfect data - it's about having consistent standards for what we accept as evidence. The real issue isn't data quality - it's data culture. Organizations often maintain multiple versions of “truth”, allowing teams to cherry-pick metrics that support their preferred narrative.
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This isn't just about technical infrastructure; it's about having the courage to establish and enforce a single source of truth, even when it contradicts the boss's opinion. Netflix's unified data platform wasn't built for convenience; it was built because inconsistent data is worse than no data at all. Their commitment to a single source of truth forces difficult conversations but enables genuine learning.
Are we attracting talent that values experimentation, or are we stuck in old ways?
Most job descriptions have a line that says they are looking for innovative thinkers, but their hiring process rewards conformity. The gap between the experimental culture you want and the risk-averse culture you hire for is wider than you think.?
Most managers don’t like having people on their teams who challenge and prove them wrong with data. They look for "safe" candidates with predictable backgrounds, then wonder why their culture remains resistant to change. The problem isn't just in hiring - it's in how we define and measure potential.
Google doesn't just screen for experimental thinking - they screen out those who can't handle being wrong. Their interview process actively tests candidates' ability to adapt their thinking when presented with new evidence.
Do we view experimentation as a cost-saving tool or just a growth hack?
Every untested assumption is a liability on your balance sheet. Companies that view experimentation as expensive haven't calculated the cost of being wrong at scale. The true value of experimentation isn't in the successes - it's in the failures that prevent expensive mistakes.
Organizations often focus on the cost of running experiments while ignoring the much larger cost of scaling untested assumptions. The most valuable experiments often prevent expensive mistakes rather than drive immediate growth. What's the last major investment your company avoided because an experiment revealed it was the wrong direction?
How quickly can we adapt to changing market conditions using experimentation?
Markets change constantly, and perfect data is often worth less than fast data. The ability to run quick, decisive experiments isn't just about agility - it's about survival. Most organizations have created experimental frameworks optimized for certainty rather than speed. They spend weeks planning experiments that should take days, and months analyzing results that should drive immediate action.
Shopify's rapid pivot to curbside pickup during the pandemic wasn't just about responding to COVID - it was about having the experimental infrastructure to respond to any market shift. Their ability to test and scale new features in weeks rather than months became a competitive advantage.
?Is our leadership championing an experimentation mindset, or just tolerating it?
Your organization's approach to experimentation is a direct reflection of your leadership's relationship with uncertainty. Leaders who can't admit uncertainty create cultures that can't experiment effectively.
The gap between leadership's stated support for experimentation and their actual behavior, when experiments challenge their assumptions, is where most cultural change dies. Leaders often say they want data-driven decisions until the data drives them somewhere uncomfortable.
True experimental cultures don't need permission to challenge assumptions - they need leaders who actively model the behavior.?
?The experimentation imperative
Experimentation isn't just a process - it's a commitment to being wrong, being uncomfortable, and being willing to change. The questions above aren't just diagnostic tools; they're challenges to transform how your organization thinks about growth, learning, and success.
The real question isn't whether you're running experiments - it's whether those experiments have the power to change your mind about what you think you know. Your next move isn't to experiment more - it's to experiment better and make sure it is embedded into the core of every team and individual. All the way from the CEO to the graduate.?
Start by challenging the assumptions you're most confident about.
That's where the real insights live.
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A collection of deep, practical marketing courses to help you hit your targets and drive growth through experimentation.