Strategy & Risk Reduction Patterns

Question 1

When is the pattern “REDUCE COST OF EXPERIMENTATION” used

Answer 1

When an organization has ideas that need to be validated but aren’t due to costs associated with experiments being too high.

People aren’t trying enough experiments due to cost being high

Reduce the sunk cost effect for experiments that are run with high cost. Failed experiments should be abandoned

Question 2

What barriers exist when the “Reduce Cost Of Experimentation” pattern is used?

Answer 2

• Typically experimentation cost is high
• permission is required to execute
• a lot of related planning documentation
• a lot of coordination of meetings
• getting result of the experiment takes a long time

Question 3

What are the benefits of the “Reduce Cost Of Experimentation” pattern?

Answer 3

• More experiments take place.
• Teams can be more innovative when they know they can easily try out ideas.
• Instead of extensive research and guessing when a complex problem arises, a rapid process of hypothesis/results/analysis provides the solutions.

Question 4

What are the steps for implementing the Reduce Cost Of Experimentation pattern

Answer 4

• Put in place a process for experimentation that is simple, straightforward and seamless
• Needs to be inexpensive and easily accessible action
• Outline and publicize a process, or provide periodic training for how to create appropriate hypotheses with measures and then design small experiments to test them
• Aim to remove bureaucratic roadblocks such as managerial approvals and extensive documentation for every action,
• Provide technical infrastructure that is light, fully automated, and requires only a tiny budget.