Experiments. The fuel of leadership progress.

Lately I’ve been noticing a re-emergence of the pass / fail dynamic in my work with leaders. Leadership moves are treated like a test with the outcome determining whether we’ve got the goods to make it as a leader. Have the feedback conversation: pass or fail. Delegate the project: pass or fail. Set up development plans: pass or fail. And because the stakes feel high, we do nothing. Or we do something, hate how it goes, and quietly vow never to do that again. 

There's a better way to think about it: run an experiment. 

Instead of "I need to nail this feedback conversation," try forming a hypothesis. Something like: I think I'm getting defensive reactions because I do all the talking. What if I started with questions instead? 

That's it. That's the experiment. Try it in the next conversation. See what happens. 

Two things can come of it. Either our hypothesis holds — questions open things up, the conversation shifts. Or it doesn't — maybe the other person clams up, and we need to find another approach. Either way, we’ve learned something. And learning something is progress. It's not failure. 

This shift – from pass/fail to hypothesis – is one of the most liberating things I've seen leaders make. Because it means there's no wasted experience. The gnarly conversations, the missed marks, the things that don't go the way you planned – they’re all data. They all help you shape the leader you're becoming. 

We learn to walk this way. We learn languages this way. We've made pretty much every human advance this way. Leadership is no different. 

So here's my challenge: what's one leadership move you've been avoiding because you're worried about getting it wrong? What's the smallest experiment you could run this week to test it out? 

Have a go. See what you find.