Publications
Publications
- February 15, 2022
- Harvard Business Review Digital Articles
How Managers Can Build a Culture of Experimentation
By: Frank V. Cespedes and Neil Hoyne
Abstract
Testing in business presents qualitatively different challenges than those in clinical trials and most scientific research. There are very few opportunities for randomized control experiments in a changing, competitive market. Yet, change and competition make testing a crucial process in business. Companies tend to allocate testing time and money to big initiatives while ignoring small ideas that, in the aggregate, can have a bigger impact with less risk. This article discusses how to make tests and experimentation a productive activity that impacts activity in organizations. The hardest challenges in testing are internal processes, especially the need to work collaboratively to define a problem. Most managers are good at asking questions, but not as good (or, for various reasons, reluctant) at specifying what would constitute a feasible answer to those questions.
Keywords
Citation
Cespedes, Frank V., and Neil Hoyne. "How Managers Can Build a Culture of Experimentation." Harvard Business Review Digital Articles (February 15, 2022).