I'm a digital subscriber to the New York Times and I follow one of the business editors, Jeff Sommer on Twitter. So it was natural for me to listen to the NY Times Weekend Business Podcast.
The podcast helped me gain perspective on the week's business news. A bonus was that Sommer's questions to the reporters he interviewed almost always added something to their stories. But now the podcast is gone. Why?
In the final podcast, Jeff Sommer said that the podcast was an experiment. I'm not privy to anything at the Times, but that language sounds like many of the businesses I've dealt with over the years. Usually, they use the term "experiment" incorrectly.
An experiment should test something. In business you try something to see whether it will increase revenue, decrease expenses, or make life easier. If it does, you do more of it, perhaps running another experiment on a grander scale or in a different area.
An experiment should have a protocol. In a business experiment that's an explicit definition of what you will do and what results you expect. Sometimes the results are not countable, so you have to define who will judge the experiment and what criteria he or she will use.
To get the most out of your experiments be explicit about what you're trying and why. Define how you will run your experiment. Define the results you expect and how they will be measured. Then, follow your own rules.
Boss's Bottom Line
Experiments are a great way to try new things without introducing the stigma of possible "failure." A successful experiment is one you learn from, not one that comes out the way you predict.
Thanks to Wally Bock's Three Star Leadership Blog
http://blog.threestarleadership.com/2011/12/27/adieu-weekend-business-podcast-adieu.aspx
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