How to create a culture of experimentation

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What is a culture of experimentation?

The phrase “culture of experimentation” sounds like a buzzword made up by a McKinsey consultant (who was likely paid an obscene amount). But, it’s the foundation for every successful growth tech company.

So, what is it?

It’s a manifestation of 2 simple principles:

1.Evidence is more important than hypotheses

Decisions at companies are made under the assumption that we know what’s best for our customers.

And then they roll out that feature and nothing happens 🤯. Instead, you need to go from “This WILL work” → “This MIGHT work”. You let a test dictate what happens instead of forcing a change.

2.Data is more important than seniority 

Everyone has experienced being trampled by a HiPPO.

HiPPO stands for “Highest Paid Person's Opinion” and it’s when the highest paid person's opinion carries more weight than anybody else's in the room. At a company with a culture of experimentation, HiPPOs should rarely exist. If the most junior person has data that disproves the CEO’s opinion then there’s only 1 winner: The person with the data.

Why a culture of experimentation is important

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