A scientist’s guide to career and life pivots with Dr Anne-Laure Le Cunff and "Tiny Experiments". How to move forward and build success when you don’t know the goal and don't have a plan.

Change Wired

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3d ago 52:46

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What if there's never gonna be a perfect plan and total clarity?

On today's episode Dr. Anne-Laure Le Cunff, the author of "Tiny Experiments: How to Live Freely in a Goal-Obsessed World", shares how tiny experiments can transform our approach to life, work, and meaningful change without rigid goals or predetermined paths. Her experimental mindset offers a powerful alternative to traditional planning - designing low-risk experiments to uncover your path one step at a time.

We will touch on:

From shiny to misaligned. Anne-Laure shares how a great job and smart teammates still left her internally “off”, impacting health and relationships - so she stepped off the ladder.

The risky jump (and reframe). A first startup “because that’s what you do” created avoidable financial stress. The second transition flipped the script: keep some income for safety and treat the next step as an experiment, not a bet-the-farm goal.

A scientist’s lens on identity change. Before you “optimize,” observe: practice 24 hours of self-anthropology (field notes without judgement) to notice energy, curiosity, and friction points.

Tiny Experiments in one line: “I will [action] for [duration].” Short, low-risk trials beat vague, year-long resolutions.

Bring the team. Run a shared “lab cycle” (30 days). Success = new knowledge, not a binary win/lose.

Mindful productivity > hustle. You’re not a calendar robot; protect moments and engineer creative windows with simple rituals (music, stretch, tea, micro-walks).

Procrastination is a signal, not a sin. Use Head/Heart/Hand to diagnose: misaligned rationale, low emotional pull, or missing skills/tools/support - then fix the right thing.

Generativity vs. Legacy. Aim to make a small, present-day impact you can see now; legacy may emerge as a by-product.

... and so much more!

Ready to design your first tiny experiment?

Catch the full Change Wired episode with Anne-Laure Le Cunff and explore practical tools for mindful productivity, career transitions, and thriving in a goal-obsessed world.

Links & resources mentioned

Anne-Laure’s bio & personal site: https://anne-laure.net
Ness Labs (newsletter & articles): https://nesslabs.com/newsletter
Book: Tiny Experiments: How to Live Freely in a Goal-Obsessed World
Amazon
Target
Audible.com
Starter read on Mindful Productivity: “Mindful productivity: a sustainable way to work and think”

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Brought to you by Angela Shurina

Behavior-First Change Leadership & Culture Transformation Consultant
EXECUTIVE & OPTIMAL PERFORMANCE COACH

Chapters

1. Introduction to Experimental Mindset (00:00:00)

2. Transitioning Without a Roadmap (00:10:15)

3. Legacy vs. Generativity (00:17:32)

4. The Science of Self-Observation (00:30:05)

5. Mindful Productivity and Procrastination (00:38:42)

6. Collective Intelligence and Social Flow (00:47:36)

1559 episodes

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