We’ve heard the scientific method since
grade school: ask a question, conduct background research, construct and test a
hypothesis, analyze data, and draw conclusions. Repeat for maximum results. This
method is frequently repackaged to fit other disciplines. Most recently, thanks
to Blank and Dorf, the latest discipline is the business sector. The scientific method controls variables
and determines optimum results through step-by-step testing. As lab researchers
frequently states, “data is data” and it is hard to argue with the facts.
Sadly, it’s not hard to ignore facts. Unfortunately,
there are graveyards of nascent companies that have failed to put their
businesses through the rigors of the scientific method or to listen to the facts they
encounter. Rather they've fallen in love with their products or are afraid to talk to people about them.
Cookbook Calculator has learned early on
from the mistakes of these failed ventures. The data we collect drives our
future business. Background research is conducted by talking with potential
users and customers.
Instead of donning white coats and dealing with beakers, we’re setting up tables, picking up the phone, getting in the car, or showing up at offices and simply talking to people. Along the way we
learn which questions resonate with people, which fall short, which need to be
tweaked. It’s business evolution in real time.
As most research scientists will point
out there is often a great disparity between the projected results and
the actual results. How well one learns from this disparity and can figure out
a way to minimize the gap quickly, cheaply, and effectively is now proof of a
good entrepreneur. It involves not being afraid of failure, but going after a
result full force.
For us, this involves investigating the
disparity between what we perceive as a good idea and what the needs of a
community are. Chances are high that it will be necessary to reevaluate the
original set of hypotheses, that’s how good
science works. And that’s how we plan to make good business work too.
