If you want to maximize your chances of solving a tough business problem, you can’t put all of your eggs in one basket.

You need to place “purposeful bets,” strategic experiments that let you test solutions, learn what works and what doesn’t, and iterate to make your best ideas even better—all while risking as little time, energy, and money as possible.

In The Click Moment: Seizing Opportunity in an Unpredictable World, Frans Johansson shares how to use purposeful bets to get the greatest possible benefit with the least amount of risk.

“What step can you take that actually tests the validity of some aspect of your project? Design this smallest executable step as a test, and then get going.”

Resource management is the key issue here. Imagine your company’s revenue is dropping like a stone, and you only have about six months to turn things around. If you go “all in” and spend that entire time on one idea, it could be game over if it doesn’t work.

But if you instead focus on smallest executable steps, and make several purposeful bets, you’re increasing the odds of discovering the right path to a solution.

Examples of smallest executable steps include:

• Running a limited pilot program instead of committing to a full campaign.
• Creating a simple prototype of a new service or product before deciding on a final design.
• Testing an idea with a portion of your customer base before rolling it out.

By taking the smallest executable step, you’ll be able to make the best use of your limited resources, test more of your ideas in the real world, and maximize the probability that at least one of them will hit the mark.

What will you do today to start designing purposeful bets to help maximize your chances of discovering the best solutions?

Will you take the smallest executable steps possible so that you can try more than one approach?