Tossing Myself the Experiments Line

by Ron Macklin, MacklinConnection Founder

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Often I notice situations in which someone is responsible for producing an outcome that I have produced previously. My Self Talk is screaming, “Pick me, pick me,” or “You just sit right back and let me show you how it’s done.” Then I toss myself the “experiments” line. 

Everything I do is an experiment. It is how I figured it out when I was successful before. I notice how quickly I forget I was running an experiment, whose results were unknown when I started. How easily I can change the story in my head and hold my strategy as if it’s a mechanism or fact. Since it worked the last time, my strategy is the right answer, EVERY TIME. (OK, that was some of my Self Talk screaming at me.)

I remind myself that I could have been lucky; the situations may appear to be the same now, but they may not be. And – I love this one – I may have forgotten key steps because I am not “in the game” as I was before. The results I produced before were good, and they could be dramatically improved, especially if we were to design and craft new experiments.

I also notice those who now have the responsibility to produce are scared of making mistakes. They want to look good implementing and avoid looking incompetent. This shows up as wanting to have the correct answer before they start, which can cause stress, leading to errors or preventing them from starting the action.  

That is where I toss the line, “What experiments could we run?”

Their list of experiments is normally pretty good, and some are even great test experiments, ones they can run before implementing them in the marketplace.

That is when I toss the Captain Ron line: “Well, if anything’s going to happen, it’s going to happen out there.”

Running experiments in the lab or on the practice field can give you an indication of what will happen in the marketplace or in front of a screaming audience, but it’s only an indication. It is not a prediction. I also notice the increased stress when we release to the marketplace or play for real. The stress heightens awareness so much we can forget it’s still an experiment, which will produce results from which we are going to learn, make changes, and continuously improve.

I remind my teams of Apple and the continuous updating of their software. Apple is running experiments, getting results, modifying their experiments, and getting results. I find this is how we humans work. I do appreciate Ralph Waldo Emerson, who wrote: “All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.” 

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