pilot experiment mindset

Test and learn rather than plan and implement.

You can’t build a reputation on what you’re going to do. — Henry Ford

If we treat life like a series of experiments, we can just get started. Not tomorrow. Now. We don't need all the information to plan something and then implement. We can go at it with a different mindset. A 'pilot experiment' mindset. This mindset is about testing and learning rather than coming up with the perfect plan. There is no failure. We are learning from any outcome.

In lab, we gather a reasonable amount of information about something and then we design a pilot experiment. The pilot experiment may 'fail' for a variety of reasons. That is okay. Many of these reasons cannot be predicted from the outset. That is why pilot experiments are so valuable. They get you closer to the real experiment that is necessary to learn whatever it is you are trying to learn. The failures lead to the successes down the road.

The pilot experiment mindset acknowledges that there is a limit to our knowledge prior to actually doing something. Sometimes action is best. We don't want to get stuck in analysis paralysis. We also do not know what we do not know. These are unknown unknowns and sitting at a desk cannot solve them. Getting into the thick of things helps build a list of known unknowns. Known unknowns can be tackled systematically. Unknown unknowns cannot.

In life, we can apply the pilot experiment mindset to try new things. Jump in. Let the experience guide us about what to do next. Take it step by step. We don't need a fifteen step plan. At each step, a new door will open. We will know where to go when we get there.

Trust yourself. Trust the future.