Experiment Nation: The Podcast

Why Most Experimentation Programs Fail featuring Manuel Da Costa

Jul 26, 2025
In this conversation, Manuel Da Costa, founder of Effective Experiments and Efestra, shares his 15 years of expertise in the experimentation field. He highlights the crucial 'Trust Gap' between practitioners and decision-makers, emphasizing that running more experiments isn't the goal—making impactful decisions is. Manuel introduces the Learning Loop concept and offers strategies to bridge this divide. He argues for the need of experimentation leaders to be heard as strategic advisors, advocating for meaningful insights that drive real business transformations.
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INSIGHT

Trust Gap Limits Experimentation Impact

  • Most experimentation programs fail to be transformative due to a "trust gap" between practitioners and executives.
  • This gap causes insights to be ignored, keeping experimentation teams in tactical roles instead of strategic advisors.
INSIGHT

Survival Mindset Traps Specialists

  • Experimentation advice often traps practitioners in a survival mindset focused on politics and proving worth.
  • This mindset prevents teams from evolving into strategic advisors who can influence top-level business decisions.
INSIGHT

Tool Marketing Skews Experimentation Focus

  • The way experimentation tools market themselves focuses on volume of tests, which shapes how organizations view experimentation.
  • This emphasis on quantity over learning contributes to undervaluing the insights that lead to better decisions.
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