Training Industry Magazine - Winter 2024 - 27

EXPERIMENTATION
IS ABOUT
RECOGNIZING
YOUR IDEAS AND
ASSUMPTIONS ARE
HYPOTHESES TO
BE TESTED.
are some fundamental steps you can
take to help drive the experimentation
conversation across your business. The
key skill needed here is problem-solving.
Plus, a sprinkling of getting comfortable
stepping outside your safety net and
embracing cross-company exploration.
There are four core points you need to
consider here:
* Cross-business alignment.
* Clarity in communication.
* Ask why more frequently.
* Start small to get bigger.
Plus, underpinning them all: Acknowledge
that you're probably wrong.
What is an
Experimental Mindset?
An experimental mindset is an
approach to thinking and working that
is characterized by a willingness to try
new things, learn from failure and adapt
to change. It is a mindset that is open
to new ideas and possibilities, and that
sees failure as an opportunity to learn
and grow.
People with an experimental mindset
are constantly looking for ways to
improve their work and the world
around them. They are not afraid to
take risks or to make mistakes. They
know that failure is a natural part of the
learning process and they are willing
to learn from their mistakes.
On a more practical level, adopting
an experimental mindset means
you're constantly looking for ways to
verify your approach and do things
differently. Running experiments
means that you're likely to fail a lot,
but when you succeed, the impact
outweighs the cost of those failures.
Being able to prove that any failure is
worth the risk is a core component of
adopting this mindset, and it's why it's
even more important to build crossbusiness
alignment.
Cross-Business Alignment
Is Key
It's often said that L&D teams need
to enhance their relationship-building
skills across the business, but this is
even more important when you want
to start thinking differently about how
you do things. Forging relationships
with different teams can bring fresh
perspective, but also allows you to dig
into some of the challenges other teams
are facing and ask questions about how
that could change.
In turn, this allows you to identify
relationships you can leverage to drive
your vision forward, but also provides the
chance to highlight individuals who may
be resistant to change. Marketing your
efforts via key relationships can help to
strengthen your sway within the business.
If you're all working towards a similar goal,
there will be opportunities to strengthen
the culture change needed.
Earlier in 2023, the CIPD reported that
67% of L&D teams agree their strategy is
well aligned to their organizational and
people priorities. While this seems like a
relatively positive statistic, it is 10% lower
than in 2021, where 77% of teams felt
they were well aligned. There has been
recent scrutiny into L&D team business
alignment, so although it might seem
obvious that there is a clear decrease,
what might actually be visible is the
result of teams thinking more critically
(and rightfully so) about how well aligned
they really are with wider business
priorities. The same can be said for the
recognition of the impact L&D teams
are having and how they contribute
business value to the organization.
TRAINING INDUSTRY MAGAZINE - WINTER 2024 I WWW.TRAININGINDUSTRY.COM/MAGAZINE
Before you can begin experimenting
in earnest, you might need to spend
some time shifting mindsets. But it
might also be worth spending some
time checking in on how well-aligned
you really are with the wider business.
Each of these things might take time
and effort - but without taking these
steps, you're ultimately setting yourself
up to fall down once the experiments
start to fail. Without the knowledge
that the point of experimentation is to
test assumptions and fail, people will
only see a lack of immediate impact.
Mindset is everything here.
Clarity in Communication
If you're trying to convince senior
executives of the value in experimentation,
you need to be really clear in what and
how you're communicating. This means
being able to answer the " why " and the
" how " easily:
* Why should we do this?
* Why should we open ourselves
to risk?
* How will we deliver on this?
* How much investment is required?
Building on from cross-business
alignment where relationship building is
key, this takes it one step further so you
can bring people on board by providing
them with enough information to make
informed decisions. A focus on business
performance is essential here.
The other skill you'll need to develop
in this situation is storytelling, as it
allows you to build empathy and create
relationships between where you are
now and where you would like to get to.
Ultimately, humans are social creatures.
Stories allow us to experience a sense
of connection. Different techniques
can trigger different emotions in us.
Awareness of this impact shouldn't be
overlooked when you're trying to gain
buy-in or shift mindsets. It's one of the
reasons PwC labeled storytelling as
the missing link for HR transformation.
Helping people to share your vision in
a way that means something to them is
hugely impactful.
27

https://trainingindustry.com/articles/strategy-alignment-and-planning/strategic-alignment-the-foundation-of-a-great-training-organization/ https://www.cipd.org/globalassets/media/knowledge/knowledge-hub/reports/2023-pdfs/2023-learning-at-work-survey-report-8378.pdf https://trainingindustry.com/magazine/fall-2023/the-power-of-storytelling-how-human-connections-transcend-ais-impact/ https://trainingindustry.com/magazine/jan-feb-2020/how-to-leverage-technology-in-building-learning-agility/ https://www.pwc.com/us/en/services/consulting/business-transformation/library/data-driven-storytelling.html https://www.trainingindustry.com/magazine

Training Industry Magazine - Winter 2024

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Training Industry Magazine - Winter 2024