HBR On Leadership Cultivating an Experimental Mindset in Your Organization
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Oct 1, 2025 
Stefan Thomke, a Harvard Business School professor and author of *Experimentation Works*, shares insights on the power of business experimentation. He highlights how experiments can reveal value often missed through intuition. Thomke discusses barriers to experimentation, the importance of a supportive culture, and practical strategies for integrating tests into decision-making. He also illustrates successful cases like Kohl's and Booking.com, emphasizing the balance between risk management and learning from failures. Overall, he underscores that an experimental mindset can be a game changer for organizations.
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Kohl's Store-Hours Experiment
- Kohl's tested opening stores an hour later after consultants proposed cost savings.
- Controlled experiments showed revenue didn't change much, validating a data-driven decision.
Scaling Experiments Became Strategic
- Large firms like Amazon and Netflix built internal experimentation teams for competitive advantage.
- Third-party tools now lower the barrier, making experiments accessible to more firms.
Surprising Results Trigger Defensive Reactions
- People often reject surprising experimental results because they clash with prior beliefs.
- That resistance can show up as questioning the tool rather than rethinking assumptions.
