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I had previously blogged about the concept of test and learn as a practice for continuous improvement. Continuous improvement can be for an activity that one is doing (e.g. running a business or playing golf) or for oneself (e.g. learning how to quiet the mind). What I haven’t yet talked about is how to design a better experiment for test and learn.

The first consideration for designing a better experiment is establishing a clear purpose or goal for the experiment. I like the word intention, which Webster’s Dictionary defines as: “what one intends to do or bring about” with intends defined as “to have in mind as a purpose or goal.”

In the example of training in martial arts, my intention is what I want to happen to my training partner when I move. For example, I might want them to lose their balance and fall backwards after they punch me. My intention is that they lose their balance and fall backwards. My experiment is test is what movement(s) I need to do to realize my intention. I then experiment with different movements (my test) to figure out which ones achieve my desired intention.

A second consideration is simplifying the experiment. By this I mean reducing the number of variables in the experiment. Using my example above, I might simplify my movement option to only moving my body without punching. In other words, if my intention to have my training partner lose their balance and fall backwards, I have to achieve that by only moving my body (no punching).

In a previous blog post, I shared an example of testing different mindfulness practices. In that example, I had a clear intention to clear my mind (less anxiety and rumination). I simplified the test by testing only two practices at the same time to see if one performed better than the other.

In summary, improve your test and learn by starting with a clear intention (or goal) and simplifying the number of variables.

Good luck!

David