Experimentation-based-management (XBM) is a branch or variant of evidence-based-management (EBM). EBM is an emerging movement to explicitly use the current, best evidence in management decision-making. It was first presented by Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert I. Sutton in a seminal Harvard Business Review article published in 2006 in which they invited managers to ground decisions in the latest and best knowledge of what actually works. Pfeffer and Sutton were inspired by evidence-based medicine, a movement that has taken the medical establishment by storm over the 90’s.
EBM developed as a response to a set of emerging factors in health care: concerns about practice variation; the rapid growth of medical technology, leading to a proliferation of diagnostic and treatment options; the patient empowerment movement; and psychological research that raised questions about the quality of human judgment and decision making. Research uncovered that physicians did not use much of the research which was out there – only about 15% of their decisions were evidence based. Thus the movement to make sure that decisions in medical care are based on the latest and best knowledge of what actually works.
These factors can be easily transposed to the practice of management. As expressed by Pfeffer: “Decision makers do things because they believe in them or because the competition is doing it. Management is filled with fads and fashions and executives do whatever is in. They also do what they’ve done before and worked or what they are good at. Rarely do they do things because it makes sense in their organization’s particular situation and circumstance”.
The EBM website spells out five principles of EBM:
Experimentation-based-management (XBM) takes principle number three and brings it to the forefront. It’s mainly a difference of spirit and tone. XBM emphasizes discovery, invention, and an expeditionary mindset. This blog is about defining XBM and contributing to its body of knowledge.
EBM developed as a response to a set of emerging factors in health care: concerns about practice variation; the rapid growth of medical technology, leading to a proliferation of diagnostic and treatment options; the patient empowerment movement; and psychological research that raised questions about the quality of human judgment and decision making. Research uncovered that physicians did not use much of the research which was out there – only about 15% of their decisions were evidence based. Thus the movement to make sure that decisions in medical care are based on the latest and best knowledge of what actually works.
These factors can be easily transposed to the practice of management. As expressed by Pfeffer: “Decision makers do things because they believe in them or because the competition is doing it. Management is filled with fads and fashions and executives do whatever is in. They also do what they’ve done before and worked or what they are good at. Rarely do they do things because it makes sense in their organization’s particular situation and circumstance”.
The EBM website spells out five principles of EBM:
- Face the hard facts, and build a culture in which people are encouraged to tell the truth, even if it is unpleasant.
- Be committed to “fact based” decision making — which means being committed to getting the best evidence and using it to guide actions.
- Treat your organization as an unfinished prototype — encourage experimentation and learning by doing.
- Look for the risks and drawbacks in what people recommend — even the best medicine has side effects.
- Avoid basing decisions on untested but strongly held beliefs, what you have done in the past, or on uncritical “benchmarking” of what winners do.
Experimentation-based-management (XBM) takes principle number three and brings it to the forefront. It’s mainly a difference of spirit and tone. XBM emphasizes discovery, invention, and an expeditionary mindset. This blog is about defining XBM and contributing to its body of knowledge.