I wish someone had told me to experiment…

We can learn a lot from the art of experimenting – understanding the reaction of different factors in relation to one another and analysing the rate of change.

If you studied physical science or biology at high school, you probably recall some of the processes involved with running an experiment. From writing your hypothesis, to documenting the variable and outlining your conclusion(s).

When I ran experiments during practical exams there were times when things did not run according to plan – I either had to redo the steps to make sure that I hadn’t missed a small detail or I had to make the decision to carry on and hope that the chemicals would react accordingly, because I increased the volume of other compounds further down the line in the process.

I didn’t realise it then, but I was actually teaching myself to think through situations using experimentation.

So, that’s why I wish someone had told me to experiment and why we can all learn something from just starting an iterating as we learn.

“I wish someone had told me” is a series of posts that feed into our inquisitive nature at CN&CO. Each week we hear from someone in our network about something interesting or surprising that’s recently happened or occurred to them – or lessons they learnt. These blogs are a way to pay it forward and form part of CN&CO’s belief that the world can be a better place – and we all have a responsibility to make it so. Read more in this series here.