Transform Your Business by Encouraging Experimentation and Change

Deliberate planning and careful execution make for a successful venture.

learn more about Dee French

By Dee French

Thomas Barwick | Getty Images

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Outstanding leadership is required to affect positive change in your organization. It takes deliberate planning and execution. It doesn't occur as a natural by-product of an unexamined routine.

To create change within your business, a leader must actively plan for transformation. You can determine how to implement that change by looking to your staff. Transformation is all about people. It takes human resources to initiate and execute a strategy. On the other end, the plan will impact the same humans, so they have a stake in the business transformation's success. When your people invest themselves in a successful outcome, they are more likely to be paramount in planning and execution.

Related: To Survive and Thrive, You Need a Growth Mindset

In the present business climate, administrators and supervisors need to present creative, original plans and thoughts to gain consideration, acquire more clients and raise benefits. The ability to recognize where and how these changes need to happen comes with experience. Put in place the systems, resources and organizational designs that allow for large-scale experimentation.

The untapped potential of any organization is limited only by the creativity of individual change-makers. When a company invests in experimentation, that investment inspires employees' creativity and initiative-taking and brings significant and rewarding change to the company. To be a fruitful pioneer, you must demonstrate an interest in your team members and what they each bring to the table. The more open you are to other people and their ideas, the more innovative your team becomes.

Start by identifying your primary goal for change at your company, then use the experimentation process to map out the steps and smaller changes you and your team must make to help your goals become a reality. Evaluate the services and products that warrant your resources and invest your energy and focus on your greatest opportunity to increase revenues and profits.

Related: How to Give Creativity a Voice in the Workplace

Here are six ways you can foster creativity and promote experimentation in your company:

  1. Inspire your staff to share their ideas. Make sure your employees feel included in this process by welcoming their creative solutions. Find strategies you can use to encourage inclusion in the workplace.

  2. Test out new ideas in small, controlled environments, almost like a science experiment. You should adequately document every stage of the process and evaluate the benefits of specific changes concerning your main goal. By doing this, you can see your ideas in action and determine if they are worth implementing on a large scale.

  3. Make your goals for change clear, so people know where to start with their ideas. If staff understand the end goal and how you want to transform the company, they will likely be more focused on helping you achieve that goal. People drive change, and no one person can do it alone.

  4. Devote time and resources to your experimentation. If you want profound change, you have to get serious about how much time and resources you are willing to devote to experimenting. Significant change requires a big effort on your part.

  5. Identify the small changes that can result in significant gains. Sometimes, lots of little changes, which might not seem like much individually, can collectively push forward massive progress in your company. Make sure you take the time to recognize the success of little changes and keep in mind that some experimentation can be small-scale but with a strategic impact.

  6. Document everything so you can replicate what worked and avoid what didn't. Document each experimentation so that your team can easily replicate it if it's successful. Doing so makes it easier to facilitate a change, especially if a particular process has detailed instructions based on a previously documented success. Change is most straightforward when you've created replicable systems.

Creativity and experimentation are most effective when shaped into tools that actively generate solutions. By creating an environment that nurtures strategic experimentation, you allow everyone to contribute to change, which invites new ideas and perspectives that you may not have considered before. Investing the resources to develop these ideas into relevant procedures and systems can have a substantial effect on your company's direction and profits.

Your company is always growing and changing. Encouraging experimentation is a necessary part of being successful and adaptable. Taking these steps to promote change can allow you to focus on your company's future growth and the values and ideas you want to be central to this transformation.

Dee French

Entrepreneur Leadership Network Writer

Business & Life Strategist | Talent Acquisition | Global Speaker

Dee French is an author of three books and has been published in numerous publications. She is the founder of Efficiency Consulting. She teaches entrepreneurs leadership-development strategies that help them get more done, have a stronger mindset and build their business.

Related Topics

Editor's Pick

Everyone Wants to Get Close to Their Favorite Artist. Here's the Technology Making It a Reality — But Better.
The Highest-Paid, Highest-Profile People in Every Field Know This Communication Strategy
After Early Rejection From Publishers, This Author Self-Published Her Book and Sold More Than 500,000 Copies. Here's How She Did It.
Having Trouble Speaking Up in Meetings? Try This Strategy.
He Names Brands for Amazon, Meta and Forever 21, and Says This Is the Big Blank Space in the Naming Game
Business Solutions

Learn to Build a ChatGPT Bot for Only $30

If you want to see what AI can do for your business, grab this course bundle today.

Business News

I Live on a Cruise Ship for Half of the Year. Look Inside My 336-Square-Foot Cabin with Wraparound Balcony.

I live on a cruise ship with my husband, who works on it, for six months out of the year. Life at "home" can be tight. Here's what it's really like living on a cruise ship.

Health & Wellness

5 Essential Steps to Expand Your Vision and Start Living Your Dream Life

It's time to break free from your comfort zone and expand your vision. When you refuse to settle for a mediocre life, you can start building a life you love.

Thought Leaders

The Collapse of Credit Suisse: A Cautionary Tale of Resistance to Hybrid Work

This cautionary tale serves as a reminder for business leaders to adapt to the changing world of work and prioritize their workforce's needs and preferences.

Business News

These Are the Most and Least Affordable Places to Retire in The U.S.

The Northeast and West Coast are the least affordable, while areas in the Mountain State region tend to be ideal for retirees on a budget.

Business Ideas

55 Small Business Ideas To Start Right Now

To start one of these home-based businesses, you don't need a lot of funding -- just energy, passion and the drive to succeed.