The 5 Experimentation Culture Gaps of Death

Why do so many organizations struggle with their Experimentation Culture? And how can we win the experimentation and continuous improvement game? Establising a Culture of Experimentation that leverages all your potentials available, is so much bigger than just A/B-Testing. But for both, Testing and the bigger Experimentation game, there are some major obstacles that need to be overcome. Let’s discuss them.

Last week (11 March 2025) I had the honor to meet Frederick Mieke from Varify.io® A/B Testing. Many of my clients don’t use A/B-Testing at all. But nevertheless, very soon, we found huge common ground and our talk shifted to a crucial topic:

The 5 Experimentation Culture Gaps of Death – Talk with Frederick Mieke from Varify A/B-Testing

Continuous improvement is INCREDIBLY VALUABLE, but many organizations struggle to incorporate experimentation into their daily routines. Today, let’s have a look at the “why”.

typical challenges in A/B-Testing

It’s NOT ONLY about the typical known challenges in A/B-Testing:

➡️ having enough traffic for “statistical significance”
➡️ coping with fact that 70-80% of tests fail
➡️ solving technological issues

deeper challenges of experimentation culture

But it’s also and MAINLY about deeper challenges of experimentation culture in general:

🚨 rethinking decisioning principles, often up to the C-Level!
🚨 smart balance of research vs. getting things done,
🚨 changing core processes of organizations,
🚨 psychology and internal communication,
🚨 overcoming skepticism and resistances.

These 5 “gaps of death” affect all levels of an organization. Experimenting via A/B-Testing tools here only scratches the surface. It’s much bigger. As nearly everything gets digitized, the real power lies in embracing all given possibilities.

An experimentation culture rejects non-improving changes and accepts only those based on data and facts. Across all levels. And this can collide with classical approaches to decision-making in so many ways.

So, Is it enough to simply let a junior marketer do some A/B-Tests?

And now, as Frederick pinpointed this very well, not few organizations “simply let a junior marketer do some A/B-Tests”. And think this topic is solved.

What happens?

You name it, the A/B-Testing project fails…

Frederick and I are discussing this further. How can we give more and better guidance for organizations navigating this difficult terrain?

TL;DR

By addressing and solving the 5 Experimentation Culture gaps of death, you increase chances for successful experimentation. Or to put it into a more general context, you take a big leap in leveraging digitisation.

Let’s bridge these gaps of death.
It’s so urgently needed nowadays.

Let’s ignite serious innovation and speed this up – gladly in your organization as well.
Contact me for your free sparring call:

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