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.

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, Executive and Optimal Performance Coach 360, Change Leadership & Culture Transformation Consultant