Can the Scientific Method Solve Business Problems?

by Chris Fillebrown

The scientific method is an solution-strategy for business problems. The essence of the scientific method is ‘trial and error’. Sounds like the way you solve problems in your business, right? The scientific method was designed for regulating the trial and error process.

The basic pattern of the scientific method is

Formulate a hypothesis
Test the hypothesis through experimentation
Compare the expected result with the hypothesis

Even though the scientific method is used for solving problems in the physical sciences, this pattern applies directly to business problems.

So, how do you become more scientific about the way your run your business? Be more like a scientist! Get yourself a lab book – a composition book or a spiral notebook from your favorite office supply store. Take notes about how you solve problems in your business. Scientists take notes about what they do and why they are doing it. Date all of your notes so that you can return to your thoughts at a particular point in time in the future. Do you remember how and why you did what you did to solve a problem a year ago? You do if you wrote it down! Remembering what you did is as simple as getting out your notes and reading them. You want to be able to repeat successful strategies, and to avoid failed strategies. Operating your solution-strategy like a scientist will improve your business memory. When you use successful solution-strategies, your business will succeed.

So how do you look at a business problem through the eyes of a scientist?

You formulate a hypothesis by stating the problem you want to solve, and then you list out the steps that you will take to solve it. Basically, formulating a hypothesis is documenting your plan to bring about a desired result. It is important to write out your plan in your lab book. You will refer back to it later, so take notes as you go.

You test your hypothesis through experimentation when you execute your plan. As you perform each of the tasks in your plan, take notes about the details. Record your thoughts about each element of your plan. Again, these details will be important when you evaluate the success of your solution-strategy.

You compare the expected result with the actual result when you are at the end of the ‘experiment’, when your plan has been executed. How did you do? Did you achieve your desired result? If you did, did you follow the steps you originally planned? Are there some of the steps that you would change if you face the same problem again? Did your plan change once you exposed it to the real world?

If you organize your solution-strategy for business problems using the scientific method, you will be a better problem solver. You will become more consistent with your approach to solving problems, and the results of your efforts will become more predictable. As you become more systematic with your use of this solution-strategy, your confidence will increase. You will engage bigger problems and you will be more successful in your efforts.

Frame of Reference is committed to advancing the use of solution-strategies to solve problems.