In Experimentation Works, Stefan Thomke examines “the surprising power of business experiments.” Consider this excerpt from  Chapter 4:

“To build a true experimentation culture — including the shared behaviors, beliefs, and values for large-scale and broad-scope testing — leaders need to ensure that their culture has [you guessed it] seven attributes: a learning mindset, consistent rewards, intellectual humility, integrity, a trust for tools, an appreciation for exploration, and an ability to embrace a new leadership model.”

Let’s take a closer look.

Learning: Surprises are savored; “not winning” is not losing, and failures are not mistakes if they are informative (mistakes produce little new or useful information).

Rewards: Managers avoid mixed messages; incentives align with work objectives.

Humility: People accept results from experiments that go against their interests, beliefs, and norms (Semmelweis reflex); HIPPOS (highest-paid person’s opinions) on innovatvon don’t carry more weight than others’ do.

Integrity: An experiment’s morality (real and perceived) is part of an organization’s training, guidelines, and discussions.

Tools in use: Trust in tools is instrumental to their adoption and integration.

Exploration: Organizations have a healthy balance between creating value through innovation (exploration) and capturing value through operations (exploitation).

Leadership: Leader s focus on (1) setting a grand challenge; (2) putting trustworthy systems, resources, organizational designs, and standards in place for large-scale experimentation; and (3) are patient role models who live by the same rules as others.

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Stefan Thomke, an authority on the management of innovation, is the William Barclay Harding Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. He has worked with global firms on product, process, and technology development, customer experience design, operational improvement, organizational change, and innovation strategy.

Experimentation Works was published by Harvard Business Review Press  (February 2020).