Mahi Sall, Advisor, Fintech-Bank Partnerships, Payments and Financial Inclusivity
January 25th, 2023
Mahi Sall is the CEO & Founder of FinXpair, a Berlin-based strategic advisory boutique firm focu[...]
Experimentation: The Key to Building an Exponential Organization
Innovation | Jul 31, 2023
Image: Unsplash/Artem Podrez
In the rapidly evolving business landscape, adaptability and innovation are crucial. One of the most important aspects of this is building a culture of experimentation in your organization.
If you don't already subscribe to Peter Diamandis' blog, you're seriously missing key food for innovators.
Experimentation is the means by which Exponential Organizations (ExOs) make data-driven decisions. Each experiment creates a set of learnings that can be used to improve a product, service, and/or process, or test a new product or service. As emphasized by Jeff Holden, a renowned innovator and past XPRIZE board member, it's important to design your company as a potent experimental engine from the beginning.
The Power of Experimentation: Key Lessons
- A to B, then to C: Focus on getting from point A to point B. Once you’re at B, then you can see point C and plot a course toward it. This is also known as the MVP or Minimum Viable Product.
- Imagination and Experimentation, not Expertise and Experience: An ExO acknowledges that expertise alone is not sufficient and that relentless experimentation is essential for progress.
- Secrecy: Unless experimentation is the default policy throughout an organization, secrecy is critical when conducting experiments.
See: McKinsey: Tech Trends 2023 That Every Fintech, Bank, or Financial Service Provider Must Consider
- A Culture of Learning: Creating a culture that encourages taking risks is vital for unleashing the full potential of experimentation within an organization.
- Big Companies Can Also Experiment: Large, mature organizations often face challenges when it comes to adopting a culture of experimentation. However, some multinational corporations have recognized the value of running experiments in smaller markets to mitigate these challenges and test ideas more efficiently.
- Living on the Edge: By constantly experimenting, organizations stay closer to market realities.
Insights into Building a Culture of Experimentation
- Appoint a “head of experiments” to educate and prompt continuous experimentation
- Award teams that run experiments and learn, whether they succeed or fail
- Elevate the experimentation conversation to your regular staff meeting
- Encourage your management team to ask great questions
- Offer an incentive or series of prizes
Jeff Bezos, Amazon Founder:
“Our success at Amazon is a function of the number of experiments we run per year, per month, per day.”
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In conclusion, experimentation is a tool of transformative potential. It goes beyond mere testing and trial and error—it’s about cultivating a mindset of discovery, driving innovation, enhancing performance, and embracing the unknown. If you’re not experimenting, then you’re an incremental organization and not an ExO.
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