Book SummaryTiny Experiments, by Anne-Laure Le Cunff

1-Page Summary1-Page Book Summary of Tiny Experiments

In Tiny Experiments (2025), neuroscientist Anne-Laure Le Cunff contends that traditional goal-setting is fundamentally flawed: When we fixate on specific outcomes, without allowing ourselves room for exploration and adaptation, we often end up pursuing goals that don’t bring the satisfaction we expected or following paths that don’t align with our authentic selves. Le Cunff recommends taking an alternative, experimental approach. If instead, we allow our curiosity to drive our exploration and our growth to emerge through cycles of action and reflection, we can find a path to pursuing our ambitions that aligns better with how humans naturally learn and thrive.

Le Cunff worked in marketing at Google before...

Tiny Experiments Summary Why Traditional Goal-Setting Fails Us

From childhood, we learn that success follows from setting clear goals and relentlessly pursuing them. We create five-year plans, vision boards, and bucket lists, believing that plotting a direct course to our desired destination is the surest way to find a path to fulfillment. This approach seems logical: Decide what you want, make a plan to get it, and execute that plan with discipline and determination. But what if this approach to achievement is actually holding us back? Le Cunff challenges our most ingrained beliefs about goal-setting and explains that there are both practical and emotional costs to pursuing our goals the traditional way.

The Practical Costs of a Conventional Approach to Goals

Traditional goal-setting operates on what Cunff describes as a linear model: First you identify a destination, next you plot the most direct path there, and then you follow that path using willpower and discipline. We’re often taught to set “SMART” goals—goals that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound—and, once we’ve set those goals, to maintain unwavering focus on achieving them. But Le Cunff argues that this linear approach leads us to commit...

Tiny Experiments Summary What Le Cunff Recommends: Run Tiny Experiments Instead

Le Cunff says that instead of overcommitting to specific goals, you should try an alternative she calls “tiny experiments”: small-scale, purposeful commitments designed to help you explore possibilities by taking on minimal risk but still gaining meaningful insight. With these experiments, you can test different paths and gather real data about what engages and fulfills you, rather than relying on assumptions or external expectations. At the heart of this approach is a shift from viewing life as a linear journey toward fixed destinations to seeing it as a laboratory for learning and discovery. Each tiny experiment becomes part of an iterative process where action leads to insight, which informs your next steps.

(Shortform note: While Le Cunff draws from scientific methodology, the experimental approach isn’t limited to laboratories, but is fundamental to art as well. Jackson Pollock’s development of his famous “drip painting” technique, which appeared to viewers as spontaneous or chaotic, involved careful observation and adjustment. Researchers have discovered that he systematically experimented with three...

Tiny Experiments Summary How to Implement Tiny Experiments in Your Life

Le Cunff provides a framework for implementing tiny experiments in your life. This process involves three key phases: designing effective experiments, implementing them with awareness, and extracting meaningful learning through reflection and collaboration.

Design Effective Experiments

The first step is creating experiments that are both meaningful and manageable. Le Cunff suggests several strategies for developing effective tiny experiments. You can identify fertile ground for experiments by paying attention to:

• Areas where you say “I'm just not good at this” (which might indicate self-limiting beliefs about your capabilities or preferences you’ve adopted—and need to overcome)
• Activities you gravitate toward when procrastinating (which Le Cunff explains can signal areas of authentic interest)
• Skills or experiences you’re curious about but have avoided trying
• Patterns of resistance that might indicate misalignment with your authentic interests

Finding Your Experimental Starting Points

Jeff Tweedy’s approach to songwriting parallels Le Cunff’s ideas for identifying...

Shortform Exercise: Design Your First Tiny Experiment

Le Cunff contends that pursuing tiny experiments rather than rigid goals can transform how you approach growth and fulfillment. This exercise will help you design your first tiny experiment based on an area of curiosity or resistance in your life.

First, identify an area where you’re curious to explore or where you’ve told yourself “I’m not good at this” or “This isn’t for me.” What area will your first tiny experiment address?