To craft an experiment is to act in order to see where the action leads. It is to ask the most basic question: “What if?” Experiments come in many forms: Some are unintentional, others are conducted by design, some are exploratory, others, confirmatory. Scientists use the term natural experiment to refer to situations that occur naturally, without experimental manipulation, yet allow a clean, comparative test. The fact that life events separate some but not all twins, for example, creates a natural experiment that can be used to sort out the effects of nature and nurture. But, in most cases, the only way to learn what we want to know is to design a test ourselves.

Exploration means taking action only to see what happens, without trying to make a prediction or test a hunch. An exploratory experiment is a probing, playful activity by which we get a feel for things.^[1] Exploratory experiments succeed when we are able to formulate more specific questions, or when they lead us to a hypothesis or educated guess. Then comes a more rigorous test, a confirmatory experiment, in which the objective is to learn whether the hypothesis is supported or refuted by the evidence.

Let’s take a closer look at Ben’s experimental method. At the start, in that familiar “I’m not looking to change but something’s missing” period, Ben pursued different interests and worked on various projects. He was not asking, “What if I were to do this for a living?” Not yet. But his experience revealed some patterns, confirming, for example, that he enjoyed having a hands-on role in an organization.

His natural experiments were simple “we talk with our feet” tests of his true inclinations. How Ben allocated his work time was much more telling in deed than anything he might have been able or willing to articulate in words. It was clear to him that he was spending more time outside the business school than inside. He was spending more time on nonprofit work than on academic research or consulting to for-profit organizations. And within the nonprofit realm, he was spending most of his time on the project with Tim. The aphorism “I know who I am when I see what I do” (a twist on Alice in Wonderland’s famous words to the Red Queen^[2]) proved true for Ben.

Natural experiments get the ball rolling. They give us a peek at possible directions. But they only take us so far. After a certain point, a hypothesis starts to materialize, and another kind of test is required. Exploratory experiments are designed to answer fairly open-ended questions: Would I enjoy doing X? Could I be good at doing Y? Would I be able to make a living doing Z? Once a possible self begins to take form, we need to take more active steps to test the possibility more rigorously. Otherwise, we stay in the realm of daydreams.

As his hunches about enjoying hands-on and nonprofit work strengthened, Ben sought more opportunities to do those things within the scope of his job as a professor. In fact, he began to see the advantages of pursuing his new interests from inside, rather than outside, the university. Realizing that his job was indeed a great platform, he explored a variety of business school roles and possibilities: He worked more closely with a new group created to study social enterprise, taught in a course for nonprofits, wrote a case study about new models for nonprofits, and attended conferences. As a result, his contacts in this new realm grew, and he saw, with increasing clarity, how well his expertise in organizational design applied to change leadership in the nonprofit realm. He created a new niche for himself. Now he had to figure out how to best exploit that niche and whether to do it as an impartial observer, as an academic, or as a player.

Taken From: Working Identity: Unconventional Strategies for Reinventing Your Career