ALEX NABAUM/THEISPOT.COM FALL 2019 MIT SLOAN MANAGEMENT REVIEW 65
A Constant Flow of Experiments
In our research, we have found that most big, estab-
lished companies are not designed to deliver a
continually evolving, innovative set of digital prod-
ucts and services. Their internal processes limit their
ability to continually experiment with, learn from,
discard, enhance, reconfigure, and scale up new ideas
to provide new value propositions. Because develop-
ing that competence is difficult, it has become a
differentiator for companies that figure it out.
Digital offerings are well suited to rapid test-and-
learn iteration because they are software based:
Software coders can develop a minimum viable prod-
uct, release it to customers or a test group, and get
immediate feedback. Based on the feedback, a com-
pany can quickly enhance or discard the product.
Companies taking this approach to develop viable
digital offerings tend to encourage widespread ex-
perimentation through hackathons, special funding
opportunities, and new organizational units like in-
novation centers dedicated to digital experiments. Or
they partner senior leaders with young technology
staff in a kind of reverse mentoring arrangement to
share knowledge of new technological capabilities.