Method & Compass

Do something different; notice what happens

A micro-experiment is a tiny variation—a ripple in the field. Your job as micro-experimenter is simple: introduce very small changes into your normal routine and then notice what, if anything, happens next.

Method:

Do something different
Notice what happens

Compass:

Did I do something small?
Did I notice anything I didn't expect?

If you always use a black pen, try a blue one. Put your right shoe on first instead of your left (or vice-versa). Choose a different chair at the dinner table. Interrupt the way things usually go—but just barely.

Pace yourself. Two or three micro-experiments a day might be a good place to start. And if a move feels risky, loaded, or hard to do (or undo), it probably isn’t a micro-experiment. Scale down.

That’s about it. We’re not big on ceremony here.

Potential micro-experiments:

Take one breath
Lift one finger
Notice one sound
Wear mismatched socks
Stir coffee counter-clockwise
Look up instead of down
Say the word, “maybe”
Pause… or don’t
Change rooms
Do something small…
And then do it smaller

Maybe something changes. Maybe nothing changes. Maybe something unexpected happens.

All of it counts.

Your job is to do something small but different. Reality’s job is to answer back.