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  • February 15, 2022
  • Article
  • Harvard Business Review Digital Articles

How Managers Can Build a Culture of Experimentation

By: Frank V. Cespedes and Neil Hoyne
  • Format:Electronic
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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

Experimentation; Management; Decision Making

Citation

Cespedes, Frank V., and Neil Hoyne. "How Managers Can Build a Culture of Experimentation." Harvard Business Review Digital Articles (February 15, 2022).
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More from the Authors
  • TagHive: Edtech Pricing and Distributor Decisions By: Isamar Troncoso, Frank V. Cespedes and Stacy Straaberg
  • Getting Value from Digital Technologies By: Frank Cespedes and Georg Krentzel
  • How One Company Used AI to Broaden Its Customer Base By: Sunil Gupta and Frank V. Cespedes
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