The Experimental Leader

“In The Experimental Leader, Melanie Parish has brilliantly applied the principles of DevOps—culture, communication, autonomy, feedback, and experimentation—to leadership fundamentals. Enumerated in this book are tactical steps you need to embrace a growth mindset in your daily work (and life) as a leader in tech. You’ll find yourself reflecting on your leadership style, reevaluating your team’s mission and vision, and enabling everyone in your organization to iteratively improve. Whether you currently manage a team or have your eye on the C-suite, this book is the first step in actualizing your leadership potential.”

Emily Freeman principal cloud advocate, Microsoft; bestselling author of DevOps for Dummies

“For technology companies, building tools to pilot product features and optimize customer experience with A/B testing and measurement of real-world interactions are not new. And yet, applying these same techniques to improving how our organizations perform their work is surprisingly nascent. Melanie Parish delves deeply to illustrate what it looks like when leaders, at all levels, apply the time-tested techniques of inquiry, evaluation, and constant refinement to a new frame: the daily practice of our work, how groups engage with each other, and ultimately how value is delivered. It works for apps beloved by billions, and it can work just as effectively for your teams and your business… and The Experimental Leader shows you how.”

J. Paul Reed senior applied resilience engineer, Netflix

“The Experimental Leader provides an entirely new way of approaching leadership—one that offers a methodical and measurable way to achieve real progress in creating a culture of innovation. By applying a scientific, experimental, and modern mindset to leadership, Melanie Parish not only shows leaders how to shed old, unhelpful habits but also gives them the tools to strive for—and achieve—better outcomes.”

Dr. Allison Sekuler Sandra A. Rotman Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience and vice president, research, Baycrest Health Sciences; managing director, the Rotman Research Institute and the Centre for Aging + Brain Health Innovation; professor, University of Toronto and McMaster University

“I’ve been in a leadership position in my profession for over twenty years and The Experimental Leader has given me an opportunity to refresh my approach to working with my team. I navigate, on a daily basis, a fast-moving and multifaceted environment on a television show. The Experimental Leader helped me to evaluate my current leadership skills and to identify and troubleshoot in areas where I will see positive change for myself and my team. I look forward to using experiments and techniques such a gemba walks and utilizing the ‘Test the Theory’ questions in each chapter. I will return to this book again and again. My best takeaway from The Experimental Leader that I will apply to my daily leadership challenges is ‘Intents describe what will be accomplished. Your people determine how the work will be done.’”

Shawn Reeves Emmy-winning costume designer