Podcast Summary: At Work with The Ready

Episode 38 – “Running Better Experiments at Work”

Hosts: Rodney Evans & Sam Spurlin
Date: December 1, 2025

Episode Overview

Rodney and Sam tackle the essential but often misunderstood topic of experimentation in the workplace. Rather than arguing for why experimentation is important—an idea they assume listeners are sold on—they focus on how to actually run experiments that work within organizations. They share hands-on insights about designing experiments, managing expectations around failure, and the often-overlooked cultural and structural barriers. The tone is candid and witty, with a balance of practical advice and philosophical musings on organizational complexity, leadership resistance, and the emotional realities of learning through failure.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Why Experimentation Matters in Modern Work

• Complexity Demands Experimentation: True organizational change requires accepting that most systems are too complex for perfect planning. The only path forward is “an iterative experimental approach” ([05:47], Sam).
• Science vs. Business Mindset: Despite organizations understanding the value of experimentation in fields like drug development, they resist applying the same logic internally, hoping for certainty where there is none ([08:34], Rodney).

2. Barriers to Effective Experimentation

• Cultural Resistance: Fear of failure and performative cultures (those that pay lip service but avoid real risks) keep experimentation from thriving ([04:35], Rodney).
• The “Messy Middle”: Experiments that are neither lightweight nor full-steam organizational initiatives tend to stagnate—they lack sufficient buy-in without being small enough for rapid learning ([18:43], Sam).
• Authority and Resourcing: “Usually what really good experimentation is missing... it's authority and resourcing” ([10:30], Rodney). Lack of clear ownership and time, funding, or permission often dooms ideas to the "side of desk" graveyard.

3. The Right Scaffold for Experiments

• Disciplined Structure: For experimentation to work, teams need “just enough scaffolding”—enough clarity, resources, and authority, but not so much bureaucracy that it stifles initiative ([09:49], Rodney).
• Performance Marketing Example: The Ready’s own disciplined experiment in performance marketing succeeded because of explicit roles, investment, timeframes, and “a bunch of people...shutting up and letting that happen” ([12:40], Rodney).

4. Experimentation Mindset and Posture

• Posture, Not Mere Process: Success depends not just on the experimenters’ approach but on the posture of the whole team—trusting, patient, non-interfering ([15:48], Sam).

  "You need everybody around experiments to also have that posture. Otherwise, you've got this mismatch..." ([16:32], Sam)

• Most Experiments Should Fail: True learning only happens when failure is acceptable and expected.

  “If 90% of your experiments are successful, they're not really experiments.” ([17:40], Rodney)

5. Sharing and Scaling Learning

• Transparency is Key: Local experiments are most valuable when their learnings are made visible across the organization. However, achieving useful knowledge management remains a huge challenge ([23:20], Rodney; [24:20], Sam).
• Context Matters: Failed experiments in one area can still offer valuable lessons or positive results elsewhere. The trap is assuming a single result applies universally ([24:20], Sam).

6. Emotional and Practical Realities of Experimentation

• Messiness, Sunk Cost, and Hard Calls: Deciding when to “kill your darlings” is emotionally difficult; most experiments won’t have a clear win/lose outcome, and discernment is a messy, subjective process ([32:12]–[34:40], Rodney).
• Limiting Work in Progress: Running fewer experiments at once supports better focus, learning, and decision-making.

  “I'd rather actually limit experimentation in progress, have sort of a fixed number of them running at any one time and finish one before we start the next one.” ([35:05], Rodney)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Opening Banter:

  “Undermining scientific method. How dare you, sir? The scientific method—the foundation of our modern world.” ([00:00], Rodney)

• On the dangers of over-controlling experiments:

  “We want speed, we want experimentation, but then also we want...a lot of control and a lot of say in a lot of things that don't matter. And you can't actually have all of that at once.” ([15:18], Rodney)

• On killing your darlings:

  “Prepare to kind of hate this because no experiment gets launched because everybody thinks it’s a stupid idea... most fail, and you’re likely going to have to kill your darlings.” ([47:58], Rodney)

• On disappointment and learning:

  “Maybe the glib thing... is the true measure of an experiment is not whether or not it worked but whether we learned from it. Which... is true... also, is hard.” ([48:11], Sam)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:00–03:37: Thematic check-in—personal experiments from Rodney (journaling with ChatGPT and astrology) and Sam (analog alarm clock)
• 03:36–08:34: The case for experimentation in complex/adaptive systems; parallels with drug development
• 09:35–13:45: Where organizations tend to fail: bureaucratic vs. chaotic approaches, missing authority and resources; performance marketing case study
• 14:42–18:43: The “messy middle” of experiments—why midsize, half-committed tests often stall; importance of skin in the game
• 22:20–25:22: The challenge of scaling learning and knowledge management from experiments
• 27:14–28:14: Fighting traditional business school mindsets; experiments aren’t “random mutation” but context-sensitive application
• 32:12–34:40: Emotional difficulty of experimentation, sunk cost fallacy, judgment, and decision-making messiness
• 35:05–36:02: Limiting work in progress and finishing experiments before launching new ones
• 37:37–39:14: Practical tips for creating more space and cultivating a learning mindset
• 39:14–44:22: Experiment template walkthrough—a practical tool for structuring and clarifying proposed experiments
• 45:04–47:58: Only design experiments you personally can steward; avoid “solutioneering” for others

Practical Tips & Takeaways

How to Cultivate Better Experiments at Work

• Make Space: Block out dedicated time for learning and experimentation, not just performance ([37:37], Sam).
• Use an Experiment Template: Define tension/opportunity, background, proposal, options considered, facts, assumptions, constraints, risks, impacts, and decision-makers ([39:14], Rodney).
• Clarify Authority: Ensure it's clear who can approve, resource, and execute the experiment ([44:22], Rodney).
• Only Suggest Experiments You Own: Don’t propose projects for others without their buy-in—focus on ideas within your span of control ([45:04], Sam).
• Expect—and Prepare for—Failure: Disappointment is inevitable. Build in emotional resilience and open retrospection ([47:58], Rodney).
• Value Learning Above Outcomes: The most important outcome is insight, not just success or failure ([48:11], Sam).

Wrap-Up

Rodney and Sam close by reinforcing that building an experimentation muscle is as much about culture and mindset as it is about process. The "real work" is emotional, practical, and ongoing—requiring courage, humility, and patience.

“All right, Sam. I think we’ve given them what we can on experimentation. Now they just have to go do stuff.” ([48:47], Rodney)

Have an experiment to share or a work pattern you can’t crack?
Contact: podcast@theready.com

Engineering: Taylor Marvin
Production: Jack Van Amberg
Created by: The Ready