You Should Be Experimenting

Next time you feel too overwhelmed to tackle that new project, or the self-improvement goal you set seems too hard to add to your plate, or you'd like to make a move but you're not sure what's best for you, try setting up an experiment!

Shifting your mindset from whatever is causing you anxiety, pressure, guilt, or uncertainty to experimental mode gives your brain just enough structure to get moving where you otherwise might have become stuck.

Whatever the problem you're trying to solve, setting up a personal experiment can get you insights that will allow you to tweak the experiment further, or even solve the problem.

Leaders, take note. Suggesting experiments for your team can create a culture of possibility and risk for innovation. Become a guide for suggesting others try an experiment.

Let's say, for example, the problem is that you are (or someone on your team is) close to burnout. You've been under so much stress for so long that it's caught up with you. You feel exhausted all the time, overwhelmed, struggling to meet deadlines or make decisions, your creativity seems to be missing, you're becoming bitter and snappish and more cynical than is amusing to anyone, including yourself. Perhaps you find your sleep interrupted, maybe headaches or digestive issues, and overall you're feeling insecure, a loss of confidence, or just unfulfilled. You know you're stuck, but you don't even have the energy to figure out what to do about it.

This is a great time to set up a personal experiment. It can be something small. No need for a big life overhaul. Pick one area to set up your experiment and design a question you will answer through this experiment. In this scenario, it could be, "what can I do in 5 minutes each day that will give me energy?" or "how many self-care activities do I need to practice regularly to feel good?".

Then, design your experiment from there. It could include list-making, asking others, research, or testing some of the ideas. Tweak your experiment based on your findings as you go. An executive coach can be a helpful sounding board as you create and revise experiments in real time to tackle the problems and challenges you run into.

Rather than operate from a belief that you "just have to handle" or "need to fix" whatever the problem is, you can shift into designing and running experiments instead and save yourself a lot of heartache and anxiety.

Don't just take my word for it. Harvard Business Review back in 2011 published this piece on A step by step guide to smart business experiments where they explained these

Seven Rules for Running Experiments

1. Focus on individuals and think short term.
2. Keep it simple.
3. Start with a proof-of-concept test.
4. When the results come in, slice the data.
5. Try out-of-the-box thinking.
6. Measure everything that matters.
7. Look for natural experiments.

If you need a refresher from 8th grade science on how to conduct an experiment using the scientific method, here you go. Happy experimenting!