Run a Tiny Experiment by Anne-Laure Le Cunff
Tiny Experiments, the book I wish I wrote myself and am super glad exists in the world.
I’ve been running 100 Days* for a few years alongside my career co-piloting for senior leaders navigating workplace challenges. What this means is that I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about how we set goals and then actually meet them.
Because I spend so much time on this, I read a lot about this. And, every once in a while, I get a book that I say “oh fuck I wish I wrote this.”
Enter, Tiny Experiments by Anne-Laure Le Cunff.
Who is Anne-Laure Le Cunff?
Dr Anne-Laure Le Cunff is the founder of Ness Labs and a UKRI-funded neuroscientist at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience, where she studies the neuroscience of curiosity and its applications to ADHD, AI, mental health, and lifelong learning. Her research focuses on applying neuroscience insights to support people across neurotypes throughout their education, career, and personal development. She previously worked as an executive on Google’s digital health team. She holds a PhD in Psychology & Neuroscience and an MSc in Applied Neuroscience, both from King’s College London.
In her own words from her website, “I help people apply their curiosity to think, feel, and live more deeply.”
What is Tiny Experiments?
Tiny Experiments is Penguin Random House / Profile Books publication that focuses on developing an experimental mindset. This is a powerhouse of a book. It’s tightly written, extremely actionable. And even though Le Cunff doesn’t appear to have children, the book isn’t written to suggest that no one has children - this is my biggest pet peeve with productivity adjacent books - I’m generally curious where are the children, and how are we expected to rally when we spent the evening with a vomiting toddler.
What are my Favorite Takeaways of Tiny Experiments?
I’m going to share a few of my favorite takeaways that we put into place immediately in 100 Days or with my private coaching clients! Take what works, leave what doesn’t, and most of all - go read the book!
🏆 Most goal setting doesn’t work
It either encourages toxic positivity/ice bath energy, or it breeds competition and isolation. We end up getting cynical, avoiding the task, or leaning so hard into our perfectionism that we burnout - or never start.
💗 Purpose is a catch phrase
It didn’t really exist until the 2000s and then boy oh boy did it blast onto the scene - and create a whole host of issues. Does purpose mean you follow the crowd? Follow what worked in your past? Follow some kind of secret passion? Basically, none of these work!
✍️ Taking note of current state to plan for future states
We often either spend all our time harping on the past, or imaging a future state that isn’t realistic. Instead, we should be taking stock of what’s currently and previous happening - and then apply our thoughts on how to move forward. This looks like applying attention and intention to your observations. Then, rather than apply judgement, instead offer to yourself a question and therefore a hypothesis to test out. This gives us something to work with that isn’t just being a jerk to ourselves.
An example from the book that this improv nerd likes:
Observation: I’m dreading giving presentations → Question: How can I become more confident? → Hypothesis: Improv classes might build my confidence
🧪 The design of a Tiny Experiment starts with a PACT
The framework:
I will (action) for (duration)
The details behind it: it’s not a habit, a resolution or some OKR or incredibly resource-intensive, it’s a PACT:
Purposeful - feels exciting and meaningful
Actionable - you can reliably perform the actions needed
Continuous - it must be simple and repeatable - but i doesn’t have to be daily. It could be daily, weekly, every weekend - but it’s not a one-time event
Trackable - it should be able to meet a yes/no binary - did you do the purposeful action? Yes or no?
🪄 Finding magic windows
Do you know when you do your best work? Most of us don’t because we’ve been forced to follow whatever work environment or life has thrown our way.
But! Once you spend time identifying the moments where you do your best work - you’re better at protecting that time for those activities
[Energy Audit] can be useful here
🕯️ Kairos Rituals
The idea of a small act that opens into a ritual. For example, when I’m doing deep thinking work, I often light a candle. I do this so often that my husband even knows if I’m in deep work. The other day he said, “oh! everything smells like a forest - you must be in the matrix!” (this is what he calls my mode for going all in). This could look like: moving to a specific spot to meditate, opening a fresh page in your journal, turning on a certain type of music, moving your body in a certain way. Anything that can be repeated and notes: ah, we’re here to begin this activity
🔁 How to create growth loops with the metacognition of Plus/Minus/Next
This I use ALL the time with my clients.
At the end of the day, or week you pause and write down:
Plus - what worked, what were your accomplishments
Minus - the obstacles you faced, the mistakes that occurred
Next - calling on insights from the plusses and minuses to shape action for the next working period. So that you can strategize what you need whether that protecting your time, seeking resources, or connecting with people.
It’s fast, easy, and future-focused - so you don’t just spend time navel-gazing on your feelings!
🔬 Decision making after a Tiny Experiment:
Once you’ve completed your time slot for your experiment, you might decide to:
Persist - keep it as is, we like it!
Pause - if it was draining or clashing with other activities, we can quit!
Pivot - it’s good, but it needs some tweaks to the scope or the tools needed
👯♂️ The Power of Community
There’s power in community, and the best way is to consider a phased approach before you decide to simply build one for fun:
Phase 1: Apprentice - learn, ask questions, participate fully
Phase 2: Artisan - try to help, give advice, deliver more
Phase 3: Architect - create your own space of community
To be fair: you don’t have to become an architect, it’s okay to remain as a participant or artisan in any community. I feel strongly about this one! Not everyone has to build a community - we also need to be community for other architects whom we admire and appreciate!
📓 Learning in Public
Le Cunff notes this as stepping into the arena - you should try a public pledge of the plan, you should do this publicly on a platform, and you should practice in public - this looks like normalizing the process of learning - the ups and downs, the behind the scenes - not just the “overnight results” we normally see touted.
Which of these do you want to try?
Looking for support on identifying your next experiment and working through the emotions, thoughts, and challenges that occur while you’re working through it?! Let’s partner.
*100 Days is a 14-week productivity group coaching program for entrepreneurs, founders, solopreneurs and side hustlers to action on their to-do’s that have been piling up inside theirs mental lists or notebooks