This Is Why We Test

“In theory there is no difference between theory and practice – in practice there is.”

(Yogi Berra)

Ideas in your head rarely work out the first time when you go to implement them in the real world. There is usually a step or two (or if we’re honest, three or four or five) that end up missing. Key pieces that will totally make or break the success of whatever it it you are trying to accomplish. This is why we test our ideas…to find out the gaps in our thinking and implementation.

When you do, and it fails (something you can pretty much guarantee on), you now have the opportunity to evaluate and adjust based on experience. Sometimes it is a simple fix. Sometimes, our entire base assumptions are called into question.

Why is it that the saying “The Third Time’s the Charm” is true? Often, two attempts will give you enough feedback to adjust so the third attempt is successful.

“Fire Bullets, Then Cannonballs” is a concept developed in the book Great by Choice by Jim Collens that illustrates the same principle “First, you fire bullets (low-cost, low-risk, low-distraction experiments) to figure out what will work—calibrating your line of sight by taking small shots. Then, once you have empirical validation, you fire a cannonball (concentrating resources into a big bet) on the calibrated line of sight.” More>>

Test first, then scale…

Don’t wait until the last minute to test either. When you are under pressure, it’s tempting to skip…but make sure you make the time to test. The worst time to find out something isn’t working is at the live demo, in front of a big audience, or you boss.