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Experiment more often and more cheaply

“The next big opportunity never looks that way at the outset. Big opportunities grow out of successive rounds of experimentation.”

To evolve more rapidly, organizations must experiment more frequently. Management processes that seek to arrive at the “one best strategy” through top-down, analytical methods must give way to models based on the biological principles of variety (generate lots of options), selection (find low-cost ways to test critical assumptions), and retention (ramp up spending once a strategy has started to gain traction). In the future, top management won’t “make” strategy but will create an environment in which there is lots of fast-paced, strategic experimentation.

42 Stories
62 Hacks
5 Barriers

Experiment more often and more cheaply

“The next big opportunity never looks that way at the outset. Big opportunities grow out of successive rounds of experimentation.”

To evolve more rapidly, organizations must experiment more frequently. Management processes that seek to arrive at the “one best strategy” through top-down, analytical methods must give way to models based on the biological principles of variety (generate lots of options), selection (find low-cost ways to test critical assumptions), and retention (ramp up spending once a strategy has started to gain traction). In the future, top management won’t “make” strategy but will create an environment in which there is lots of fast-paced, strategic experimentation.

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I think a generally underappreciated (even when it's explicitly discussed), but highly influential factor in any workplace is the power of metrics.
Hack by Sean Schofield on May 31, 2011
Real innovation is not built with greater isolation and introspection but is powered by smarter connections.
Hack by Andrew Armour on April 12, 2011
A colleague who I worked with 4 years ago tried to use the company bar, an existing employee perk, to generate an internal market for new product ideas.
Story by Daniel Pay on September 21, 2010
Current organizations are often geared to the financial cycles that they run. Whether these are tied to business planning, quarterly results or any other form of reporting mechanism.
Hack by Niko van Eeghen on March 20, 2012
Ruggedized tablets are the perfect addition to any hands-on company due to their ability to analyze data, ensure profitability, give customers and prospects what they need, and manage time spent on pa
Story by Samantha Hager on April 6, 2017
The Board members are risk averse in promoting radical changes from past behaviour.
Barrier by Ravinder K on June 4, 2010
This hack draws its inspiration from the way some places (e.g.
Hack by Borge Teigland on June 14, 2012
As a business consultant you are asked to increase the production of the exisitng shopfloor for a manufacturing organisation.
Story by Vinod Das S.K. on March 19, 2011
Its not good enough just to hire them. REhire them. Managers tend to pigeonhole employees, and employees tend to pigeonhole themselves.
Hack by Jason Bernstein on September 20, 2010
Several years ago, Company X moved away from having part-time employees in their operations and customer support departments.
Story by Josh Harrington on September 19, 2010

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