Via Talks at Google

“In this nonlinear world, clinging to linear goals can only lead to frustration, to overwhelm, and very often to burnout. You know who has a completely different definition of success? Scientists.

For a scientist, success is not reaching a specific destination. Success is learning something new. Whatever the outcome, whatever the results, they’re able to look at it without self-blame or self-judgment. I want to convince you to start treating your work and maybe your entire life like a laboratory. I want to convince you that being curious is much more powerful than feeling certain.”

— Anne-Laure Le Cunff | Tiny Experiments | Talks at Google, watch at 7:46

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We’re taught to set goals by drawing straight lines: pick a destination, map the steps, execute. The trouble is, the world doesn’t hold still. Market shifts, new technologies, economic disruptions all cause the path to veer sharply and sometimes change the destination entirely.

Anne-Laure Le Cunff, neuroscientist and author of Tiny Experiments, argues that anxiety and burnout are predictable results of applying a linear strategy to a nonlinear world.

The fix: adopt an experimental approach. Treat life as a laboratory where we conduct and learn from tiny experiments. Scientists don’t walk into the lab already knowing the answer. They walk in with questions.

Being curious is much more powerful than feeling certain.

• When we crave certainty but can’t find it, the brain perceives the lack as a threat. Our thinking narrows to familiar solutions and closes off new ones prematurely.
• Approaching the same problem with curiosity keeps us in exploration mode. We become more open, more resourceful, and better positioned to learn from undesired outcomes because we don’t see them as setbacks.

Research confirms that curiosity produces faster problem-solving and less anxiety during the process. Both benefits at once.

Approach situations with curiosity by running tiny experiments.

• Start with the tiniest possible version. Lowers the barrier, produces fast feedback, and builds confidence through completion.
• Run one experiment at a time. Keeps the cause-and-effect clear, prevents attention from splitting, and protects against the impulse to overcommit.
• Reflect on the results. Reflection is what turns a completed experiment into actual learning. Without it, we’re just going in circles.
• Apply the lessons learned. The Plus-Minus-Next structure keeps it simple: identify what went well, what didn’t, what to adjust next.

Le Cunff’s own path with public speaking illustrates this well. Getting up and talking in front of an audience terrified her. That fear showed up as physical cramps and weeks of nightmares before any presentation. Her tiniest possible experiment: record herself on her phone for one minute a day, for 10 days, then post it to Instagram unedited. By the end, public speaking felt less scary. Her next experiments grew from there: monthly online workshops from home, then one in-person talk per quarter. A month ago, she took the TED stage.

What we learn depends on how we framed things upfront. Call it a fixed goal, and unexpected results feel like failure. Call it an experiment from the start, and the same unexpected results become useful data.

Experimenting gives us a process for navigating uncertainty.

Start small enough to begin. Run one experiment at a time. Reflect before moving on. Apply the lessons learned. The process doesn’t promise us a destination. It gives us something more useful: confidence that whatever happens, we can learn our way forward.

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Things to Try Today

Starting your first tiny experiment:

• Look for fixed mindset language in your self-talk (“I’m bad at public speaking,” “Meditation doesn’t work for me,” “I’m not creative”).
• Pick one statement and design the tiniest possible experiment to test it (10 days, 15 days, 20 days maximum).
• Define your experiment action and duration before starting.
• Schedule your first action in your calendar today.

Implementing Plus-Minus-Next reflection:

• Create a simple three-column template (digital or paper).
• Pick a current project or habit and reflect on the past week using the framework.
• Identify your “Next” action and commit to implementing it this week.
• Schedule weekly 10-minute reflection sessions for the next month.