To plan for the future, businesses usually look to their past. But what if your company is in uncharted territory?

Columbia Business School professor Rita McGrath has a different idea: Design experiments to test your assumptions using “discovery-driven growth.”

“The measurement and rewards systems in most companies are antithetical to the kinds of things you need to do to learn. They place a premium on being right. They place a premium on meeting your goals. They place a premium on having lots of facts,” she tells IdeaCast guest host Paul Michelman. “The reality is by the time you have facts, your opportunity for strategic action is very limited.”

Key episode topics include: innovation, discovery-driven growth, business planning, new markets, uncertainty, new ventures, business development, learning, experimentation, and gathering insights.

HBR On Strategy curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock new ways of doing business. New episodes every week.

Listen to the original HBR IdeaCast episode: Use Failure to Grow Your Business (April 2009)
Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast
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