Smarter Egg learning groups & the scientific method

Smarter Egg learning groups bring together a diverse set of business people with the purpose of providing a platform for all to learn from thought-provoking material as well as from each other.

Depending on the programme or the group structure, we use stimulating books, challenging ideas or often we just allow the group to act as a ‘board of advisors’ for individual participants. The net effect is that group members generate new ideas for their business while in the company of a supportive band of like-minded business people.

I had never seen these groups as a manifestation of the ’scientific method’ until I read Seth Godin’s post on this topic recently.

Quoting Seth:

In most interactions, we take a defensive posture. We try to defend the brand, or our turf or our job. The problem with defense is that it’s static. The best way to get smarter, to embrace and to cause change and to triumph in times of market turmoil is to adopt the scientific method.

Ask yourself, “what do I believe that’s wrong? How can I change the way I do things? What works? What doesn’t?”

Group participants report that they find themselves posing questions like these as they go through the learning process. However, each person has a different reaction and it is true to say that many begin with the ‘defensive posture’. When exposed to a new business concept or idea, they tend to look for evidence of how they already represent that idea. This may be borne of a genuine pride and sense of conviction in their existing business practice or it may also come from a sense of insecurity and fear. I see examples of both in our groups.

The purpose of our groups isn’t to expose people as being ‘wrong’. But we do challenge people to take a step back and ask ‘what if’ about many aspects of their business. One example springs to mind from one of our earliest groups. We were exploring some of the ideas in ‘The Four Hour Workweek’ by Tim Ferriss. One participant exclaimed “I hate the way these writers assume that everyone hates their jobs – I don’t!” I found myself agreeing with that view but was concerned that a defensive position may obscure potential learning. No need to worry. As others shared their interpretation of the ideas and how they had synthesised some of them into new habits or practices, the defensiveness melted away.

Back to Seth. This next piece is so apt for our learning experience that I’m contemplating reciting this before the start of our next group.

If you enter a conversation looking for something to test, measure and ultimately change, it’s likely you’ll find it. That change makes you more competitive, and you continue to cycle past your competitors. On the other hand, if you enter a conversation concerned about maintaining the status quo, it’s likely that this is exactly what you’re going to do.

Some people read business books looking for confirmation. I read them in search of disquiet. Confirmation is cheap, easy and ineffective. Restlessness and the scientific method, on the other hand, create a culture of testing and inquiry that can’t help but push you forward.

A culture of testing and inquiry. Bring it on!

Tags: learning groups
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