Almost every decision we make in business is testing hypotheses.
That's true whether you're aware of it or not. Don't believe me?
Let me walk through a notional example:
I run a company called Nuts and Bolts. We sell exactly that.
And recently, we decided to buy a booth at a local event. While on the surface, this doesn't look like testing a hypothesis, it is.
Whether stated or unsaid, you believe your potential customer will attend this event. And by having a booth there, you're testing this hypothesis.
If you sell many nuts and bolts, then your hypothesis was correct.
If you don't sell many, then your hypothesis was wrong (in this instance).
You could go deeper and say you have a hypothesis for who the potential customer is, and by going to where they are at, you're testing it.
When you think in terms of hypotheses, you're able to learn faster and improve quicker.
In contrast, when you confuse truth with a hypothesis, you will get stuck and grow slowly. This is because you'll believe your hypothesis to be the truth and never rigorously test it, which leads to progression.
As I've grown in my marketing journey, I've seen the lines of marketer and scientist blur. Not in the sense that we test everything and think in scientific terms.
What I mean is that the best marketers think a lot like scientists.
They formulate hypotheses-from foundational truths-they can test through experiments.
They first try to prove things false rather than accepting them as true.
They admit to being wrong with a smile on their face.
If every marketer acted more like a scientist, I believe we would have much better marketing in the world.
Am I off on this one?
What do you think about hypotheses and thinking like a scientist?
🧠 + ❤️ // JO