Welcome to “Driving Businesses by Developing People” written by me, David Huynh. For those who do not know me, I am a people-focused business professional who builds team members to generate results. Thank you for joining me. If you are not on my email list yet and want to dive deeper into the intersection of business and people with me, you may subscribe here:
Scientists are regularly exploring the limits of human knowledge. They are consistently treading through unknown territories. They even have a method named after them, the scientific method, for breaking ground in these novel and unknown areas. This method is commonly taught starting in grade school and should continue to be practiced whether we are mixing vinegar and baking soda, tackling new business challenges, or trying to improve at a sport. Throughout our lives, we may come across tasks that are completely novel to us. If we want to excel in these circumstances, we simply need to follow the flow chart we saw back in our childhood.
I hope this chart brings back good memories of presenting your findings with a standing cardboard tri-fold. In all seriousness, even if we are familiar with the method, the challenge lies in the application of the method. Excelling in unknown territories relies on executing the scientific method systematically with an active mind.
Purpose: Define the unknown
Each individual has their own "unknown territory", which will refer to any task that is novel to said individual. In other words, a task that one does not know how to solve nor fully understand all of the relevant variables. For a scientist, an unknown territory could be manufacturing a material stronger than Graphene, currently the strongest substance per unit of weight known to man. For a beginner golfer, an unknown territory could be hitting out of a sand trap. For a new sales manager, an unknown territory could be motivating a team member to produce better results while also being happy about it. The ultimate purpose then is to understand the unknown, whatever it may be, such that we can excel in the task.
Research: Leverage the known
After we have defined our purpose, we can begin to leverage known information. Territories may be unknown to us, but may not be a completely unknown territory to the world. For example, the scientist looking to manufacture the strongest substance needs to review existing research covering attempts from others to manufacture strong substances. The golfer can watch videos on how professionals approach sand trap shots. The manager looking to motivate team members could read my recent article on Motivating Team Members. Access to information is continuing to increase and we need to leverage this fact to build our base of knowledge.
Hypotheses: Propose a solution
Knowing the purpose and leveraging existing information will set up a solid foundation. After developing this baseline understanding, we can form a hypothesis or propose a solution. When creating this proposed solution, we should have logical justifications for why we believe the solution will solve our novel task. Attempting to propose a solution with justifications in an unknown territory can be daunting, but it is critical for our personal development and overall understanding. If we do not make a hypothesis, but rather jump straight into execution and wait for a result, we will not truly understand how different elements are connected to one another.
To fully understand the importance of hypotheses, let us view the scientist, manager, and golfer through two lenses. The first perspective will be executing without a hypothesis and the second will be forming a hypothesis before executing.
For the scientist looking to produce the hardest substance on Earth, let us suppose there is reason to believe lines of carbon with triple bonds followed by single bonds to be the strongest material. Proceeding to run a test without thinking through why could prove to be time consuming. There are countless number of materials that a scientist can test. If they test every single one without an underlying hypothesis, knowledge growth will only be linear. In other words, the scientist will only find out the strength metrics of the tested molecule, but will not be able to extrapolate findings. Alternatively, if the scientist proposes that carbon triple bonds and single bonds are more condensed and stronger than graphene's chemical structure, a failing result will would allow the scientist to rule out multiple materials with a similar chemical composition, as opposed to just one material if no hypothesis was made. Hypotheses that test overarching principles will allow the scientist to understand overarching chemical relationships, which will lead to compounding knowledge growth.
For the golfer hitting from the sand trap, if the green is 50 yards (46 meters) away, the golfer should hypothesize whether a half swing, quarter swing, or something in between is necessary. For those not familiar with golf, a full swing would generate more power and cover a further distance and a swing with a shorter arc would cover a lesser distance. Therefore, if the golfer knows the distance and consciously decides how far back to swing, the landing position of the ball relative to the green will provide key directional feedback. If the ball went too far this time with a half swing, the next time the golfer gets into a similar position, she or he should know to take a shorter arc for the swing. Imagine if the golfer did not consciously decide to make a hypothesis on the swing before taking the shot; regardless of where the ball landed, the golfer would not have feedback from this repetition because a conscious hypothesis, a guess at the swing arc, was not made.
For the sales manager looking to motivate team members, an approach could be to immediately ask a superior for guidance. There is nothing wrong with asking for help, but asking for help before taking the time to hypothesize solutions will generate less knowledge growth. Similar to the scientist, there are several actions a manager could take, ranging from increasing salary to training employees to address under-performing areas. If the superior simply provides a solution, knowledge growth is linear because the manager will now understand one more possibility. However, if the manager approaches the superior with a proposal already, such as suggesting assigning roles to individuals based on their interest, and then receives validation or feedback. The next time a problem arises, the manager will have a heightened level of independence of thought.
From my observations, the hypothesis step is often overlooked. At the same time, this step is also the most pivotal because consciously proposing a hypothesis increases our rate of learning, sets us up to receive directional feedback, and challenges us to think independently.
Experiment: Construct an accurate test
After we have consciously made a hypothesis, we can begin thinking about how to test it. Accurate experiment creation boils down to understanding fixed and changing variables. Ideally, the only changing variable would be the aspect we are looking to test. If done correctly, our experiment will help us tie the changing variables to the end results, which should be repeatable. If repeatable results cannot be made, either a variable changed or the result is at least partially tied to chance.
The scientist will need to make sure variables such as temperature, air pressure, and the measuring device remain constant, while only varying the testing material and amount of force applied to break the material. Leaving the confines of a laboratory, constants are harder to control. The golfer will need to take into account other changing variables that may change from swing to swing such as wind speed, wind direction, and position within the sand trap. An experiment can be ran, but these additional variables need to be taken into account when making adjustments for the next swing.
Among the scientist, the golfer, and the sales manager, the sales manager will have the hardest time controlling all constants, because a team member's emotions and goals may change or even available projects could change. Anytime we are dealing with humans, there is naturally a higher amount of uncertainty. However, similar to the scientist and golfer, the sales manager can build an understanding of these potential variables and access their relevance to the team member's motivation level. For example, if the manager increased salary and wanted to gauge the effect on motivation, work quantity and quality need to be measured before and after the raise. While running this test, we will need to take into consideration other variables that could be affecting their performance, such as personal issues, auras coming off other team members, or seasonal affects on sales cycles.
[Note: In the future, 'Experiment' will receive its own dedicated article as I realize there are many more nuances to elaborate here]
Analysis: Notice the nuances
Based on the results from experiment, we can gauge the accuracy of our initial hypothesis. The initial hypothesis may vary in accuracy but the importance lies in measuring the deviation and understanding the connection of this deviation to possible variables. As mentioned earlier, an unknown territory is one where we do not understand all of the variables. After we have developed and tested a hypothesis to try to isolate variable(s), our analysis should connect the deviating results to variables. Thus after one cycle, we should gave gained information for how certain variables affect the system. After multiple cycles, the relationships between the variables become more clear and the unknown territory will start to become known.
Conclusion: Propose more solutions
Through this process, we would have received feedback and results that will either validate or nullify our hypothesis. In either case, we are not done. To truly excel in novel areas, we need to take our conclusions and form new hypotheses. After multiple hypotheses, tests, analyses, and conclusions, we should have a stronger understanding of the previously unknown territories. The scientific method can be applied to any part of our lives, not just grade school science experiments. As we apply the method to our daily lives more frequently, we will build more connections between variables and results. This gained knowledge of inter-connectivity of variables will allow us to excel in unknown territories.
______
If you would like to further refine your personal or your company's leadership and management capabilities, I provide management consulting services, career coaching services, and corporate trainings. Please connect with me on LinkedIn to inquire further.
If you have any comments or questions, I would love to hear the feedback in the comments below or via email. If you found this piece useful, please share with individuals who might also benefit from my content.