Experiments

Below is a photo of a drink cabinet at a grocery store.  Lots to choose from.

First, it strikes me as odd in a world where we have this much to choose from to meet our individual preferences for something as simple as satisfying our thirst, that so many people think that one-size-fits-all approaches to things like health care and education are good ideas.

Second, what I love about each one of these drinks is that they are all ongoing experiments.  The hypothesis for these experiment:  Do people find enough value in these products to buy?

But drinks aren’t the only experiments going on here.  The drink cabinet,  its placement within the grocery store and the grocery store this is in are all experiments that are continuously testing a similar hypothesis.

The products we enjoy and that make our lives better are results of successful experiments.

For those who think one-size-fits all approaches are a good idea, take a hard look at this cabinet.  If we were to keep one drink, which would it be?  What flavor?  What size?  Would you even want to live in a world where we have only one choice?  Sometimes I feel like drinking one of these (like Gatorade when I’m exercising) and I drink others at other times (Honest Tea for lunch maybe).

If we were to measure the result of drinking anyone of these, on paper, the results would look very similar.  Do they quench your thirst?  Yes.  Does it keep you hydrated?  Sure.  That reminds me of measuring the results of school voucher programs based on test results.

But, ask people which drink they prefer and when, an you’ll get vastly different answers.  One drink just doesn’t cut it, as evidenced the results here.

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