As you learned in Module 4, the E & E process begins with experimentation. In order to evolve, we need to begin by actively experimenting. In this section I’ll get into more detail about experimentation and what you need to know in order to most effectively harness its power.

1. Experiment actively, over & over & over again

Experimentation doesn’t just happen once; it happens over and over and over again.

The more steps we take and the more experiments we try, the better our chances of hitting on an opportunity that will evolve beautifully.

“Sometimes we get where we’re going by stumbling, but we can only stumble if we’re taking steps forward.”

– Author unknown

Sometimes people get frustrated after trying one or two experiments. “I don’t feel like I’m getting anywhere!” they tell me.

My response?

Again, experimentation isn’t something you do just once or twice. Experimentation is a part of the E & E lifestyle! It’s something that you’re constantly doing again & again & again over your entire lifetime, and you’re doing it for its own sake rather than simply to get somewhere.

Remember that finding your career path is a continual, lifelong process, not a straight line from Point A to Point D. It’s more about “staying with the breath” and enjoying the process than it is about having a need to arrive “right now!”

One of the main differences between great people & great companies– and those that are merely mediocre– is their ability to actively, aggressively, consciously experiment and to try lots of different things.

So experiment, experiment, experiment! Remember, your rate of experimentation is one of the biggest distinguishing factors between those who find their true paths and those who do not. Don’t get discouraged if your first (or second, or third or fourth) experiment doesn’t “work out.” It’s all a necessary part of the journey! That said…

2. Understand that there is no failure.

In the process of doing a WHOLE BUNCH of small experiments and making lots of little bets, some of our experiments won’t work out quite as we may have hoped or anticipated. Inevitably, not all of our experiments will lead us somewhere. Some of them will be “failures,” but— wait a second.

Actually, they’ll ALL lead us somewhere.

Watch the video clip below for essential insights.

Remember, in E & E, failure is NECESSARY. In fact, FAILURE IS ENCOURAGED! (In fact, I suggest throwing yourself a little party every time you “fail!”)

FAILURE PARTY, WOOOOO!

* * *

“Failure isn’t built into the system of education, but it’s built into the system of life.”

– Dr. Kent Hoffman (see full interview here)

* * *

“Keep stepping out and having amazing experiences. None of them are failures. None of them are bad. All of them got me to where I am today.”

– Paige Burkes (see full interview here)

* * *

“It is not the critic who counts,
not the one who points out how strong the man stumbled
or how the doer of deeds might have done better.
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena,
whose face is marred with sweat and dust and blood;
who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again,
who knows the great enthusiasms,
the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause;
who if he wins, knows the triumph of high achievement;
and who, if fails, at least fails while daring greatly –
so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls
who know neither victory nor defeat.“

– Theodore Roosevelt

* * *

“Success isn’t final; failure isn’t fatal.”

– Unknown

* * *

The third (and last) point about experimentation is this:

3. For reduced risk, do small experiments.

Remember back to Module 1 when I talked about the failures of traditional career planning? One of them involved “Big spending,” or “Internet shopping with all you’ve got,” which happens when we go Internet shopping and we spend ALL our money on one jacket… only to find out that we don’t like the jacket after all. CRAPOLA!

To quote from Module 1:

“This is IT!” we exclaim. “THIS IS WHAT I WANNA BE WHEN I GROW UP! (I think. I mean, I hope… at least, it’d better be…)” and so we devote years of our lives and thousands of dollars to getting a degree or doing this or doing that, only to find ourselves saying, after years of hard work and sacrifice, “Crap. This wasn’t quite what I expected.”

Or we exclaim, “This is IT!” and we quit our jobs to pursue a new business opportunity that we’re SURE will work out (this is Internet shopping, too, btw), only to fall flat on our faces. “Crap. This wasn’t quite what I expected, either.”

Here’s what’s awesome about E & E, guys: by taking small, incremental steps and by making lots of little bets, we can avoid this pitfall.

Because our bets are small and not all-encompassing, when an experiment “fails,” it is just that: a failed experiment, not a massive disaster.

Step by step, little by little, we evolve our way into new opportunities over time. We spend just a few dollars on an untested jacket instead of spending all we’ve got— and then we evaluate and continue the process from there. By the time we’re ready to buy a big fancy expensive jacket, we can be fairly sure that it’s right for us.

When Chris Rock was testing lots of comedic acts on small audiences (see the “failure” video above), he was avoiding the third deadly sin of E & E. By the time he was ready to perform in front of HUGE audiences, he already knew which comedic acts were likely to cause the audience to erupt into BARRELS OF LAUGHTER!

By making small bets instead of big ones, he was able to minimize the risk that comes along with disastrous all-out Internet shopping.

And for my own personal perspective on taking big risks, check out the guest post I wrote for Advanced Riskology about the big leap I took when I left my accounting job. A (highly) recommended resource for decision making and risk-taking is the book Decisive: How to Make Better Choices in Life and Work by Dan and Chip Heath. If you’re struggling with making important decisions, I suggest you give this book a read.

* * *

Ok, so you know how to experiment (and you’ve also completed your first experiment as  part of your Module 4 homework– right?).

So what’s next? 

Evaluation, that’s what.

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Next: Move on to Section 5.2: Evaluate