“There is no such thing as a failed experiment, only experiments with unexpected outcomes.” -R. Buckminster Fuller

Thinking isn’t testing.

When I was little, I used to think the way to tell if you really knew something was by sitting down with a test and then reflecting on your score. 

If you could memorize every organelle, you would have verifiably good knowledge of biology. If you could memorize the names and dates in your history book, you would be a good historian. 

The thing is, none of these tests were true tests, because they really only tested my memorization. 

When I finally realized what it meant to test your ideas was when I did my first semester of college, and I had to conduct assignments in the real world, with other people, or in the city I was living in (San Francisco). 

We didn’t have tests; we had miniature projects in which we had to apply what we learned to real problems. 

Why did we do this?

Because true knowledge and effective learning do not happen solely by thinking; they happen by doing. 

Now, as someone who often lives more in her head than in the real world, I want to let you in on a secret: most of the ideas I ever had didn’t get very far. 

It’s not because they were bad (although I have certainly had some bad ideas).

It was because they never made it out of my head. 

For that reason, I have decided to explore ways to effectively test my ideas- even the ones that are abstract- so that I can easily identify the ones that I should pursue hard. 

Below, I’ll summarize some of the approaches I’ve found most effective and some of the ways you can give them a shot too. 

Test #1: Don’t wait to be ready.  

Taking action will give you clarity on what to do next. 

So don’t wait until you know every exact detail of every step of the process. Don’t wait until you are “in the mood” or “feel like it”. 

I have learned this lesson many times over, but there is one time that really stands out. 

A few months ago I attended a conference for women in tech in Oakland, and got to meet a host of inspiring women working in a variety of jobs. 

During lunch, when I sat down with my friend at one of the tables, we got to hear one woman at our table tell us a story that was both funny and eye-opening. 

She described herself back in college, sitting in a math class where everyone was performing a task in Excel. 

Nervous about whether she was smart enough to be in that class, she then saw one of her peers raise their hand. 

With a mischevious grin, she told us his question, then chuckled. “After that,” she shared. “I had no doubt about whether I belonged there.”

While she had once doubted whether she was smart enough to be in the class, now she had full confidence that she was equipped to succeed. 

If you’ve ever let your fear of not being good enough postpone your pursuit of a goal, consider this: you are way more capable than you give yourself credit for. 

The biggest obstacle in your way is not your preparedness; it is fear of failure. 

So take a small step now. Maybe it’s not the grandiose action you envisioned- that’s not important. 

What really matters is that you start, ask questions, and get your ideas out of your head and into the world. 

Once you do, you will have to face the reality of what your ideas mean, and maybe even realize that the path to success is a lot simpler than you imagined.

Test #2: Give yourself constraints.  

Whether it’s a deadline, a budget, or a specific type of assignment- constraints take the abstract and turn it into the real. 

Better yet, constraints have the power to take a tough problem and introduce ground-breaking creativity. 

I first encountered this power as a young girl, when I would write for short story competitions. 

Sometimes, competitions only gave you a word limit, and some basic formatting instructions. Font must be Times New Roman size 12, double-spaced, with a title page. Don’t include your name in the document. You must be living in such and such countries and be of such and such age. 

The most exciting competitions?

They would give you random constraints. Maybe it was a prompt. I remember once, it was just a number or a picture. 

These competitions were the most fun, because paradoxically, limiting yourself forced you to reach into a treasure trove of unconventional new ideas you wouldn’t otherwise explore. 

Lots of us have constraints set on us naturally, and find this discouraging. 

What if we flipped the script?

Maybe constraints are there to help us succeed. 

Test #3: Increase the quality of your input.

Have you ever met someone who became a pro athlete by eating fast food daily and doing no physical activity?

I’m not talking about looking thin after a round of Ozempic. What I mean is strength, endurance, and flexibility. 

Star athletes don’t become star athletes randomly. 

They fuel their bodies with the right foods to improve their performance and support recovery. Then, they train, stressing their bodies just enough to take their talent to the next level. 

When it comes to healthy living, it’s a lot easier to see the impact visually, but the same concept applies to creative or intellectual work. 

If you’re building, you will need the right fuel. 

Is your mind fueled predominantly by stressful news and cat memes? Or is it fueled by books and podcasts about the ideas you really care about?

Do you spend most of your conversations gossiping about other people, or cheering them on?

Do you spend your free time doom-scrolling, or getting away from your screen?

You don’t have to become a hermit and never engage with others online, nor do you have to never laugh at a funny meme again. 

Think of it like your diet. 

You don’t have to quit eating candy, but your body will support you better if you make sure you are getting enough protein, fats, and carbohydrates as well. 

If you want to increase the quality of what you produce or think, increase the quality of what you fuel your mind with. 

So read. Ask questions. Listen to podcasts.

Test #4: Shrink to expand. 

Define the core hypothesis, shrink the idea, and outline what success looks like. 

One day, I want to do a PhD. What I really would like is to be able to test out different ideas in an actual lab, but as a sophomore in college, it’s not so easy. I don’t run a lab, and if I were to help out in one, it would be someone else’s ideas I would be exploring, not my own. 

For many months, I puzzled over this with some despair, until a recent conversation with one of my professors, who suggested I think about it a little differently. 

Instead of getting stuck on my lack of a lab, she suggested I take notes when I read research articles. 

Ask questions about the research gaps I identify. Think about what I would do if I did have a lab, equipment, and funding. 

When she broke it down like this, I realized something huge: I was so stuck on the big vision that I had skipped this small first step. 

I had made perfect the enemy of good, and in doing so, not gotten anywhere. 

So now? 

Now I am simply building the habit of keeping up with developments in the fields I would like to study more. 

Then, when I can do research of my own, I will have an even stronger foundation. 

Just keep testing. 

Testing your ideas is not a binary. It’s not like after you’re done, you either implement or kill them off. 

The reality is more like an infinity of different iterations. 

If you strike gold, you can keep pursuing an idea at an even larger scale. 

On the other hand, if you feel like your idea has failed, you can scale it down. 

In the end, we are always experimenting and updating, even without realizing. 

But don’t take my word for it- go test it out for yourself. 

Thought To Action 

1. Ask “What If” Every Day: Start or end your day by writing one bold “What if…” question. What if your shoes were edible? What if your routines were designed for joy? These questions open space for unexpected insight.
2. Do a 5-Minute Redesign Challenge: Pick an object you use daily (a water bottle, backpack, phone case) and sketch or describe how you’d redesign it to be more circular, comfortable, or creative.
3. Make Space for Creative Input: Commit to one hour a week where you absorb inspiration—watch a documentary, visit a museum, or read outside your field. Creativity is fueled by unexpected collisions.
4. Redesign Something That’s Annoying You: Find one product, system, or space in your life that bugs you—and reimagine it. You don’t have to fix it in reality, just give yourself permission to sketch possibilities.
5. Start Your Future Job Library: Curate a mini reading list around your dream career or project. Not sure where to start? This post will show you how to learn from curiosity, not credentials.

Sources

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