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What if success isn’t about grinding toward big goals but about following curiosity through small, imperfect experiments that lead somewhere better?
On Psychologist Off the Clock, award-winning neuroscientist and entrepreneur Anne-Laure Le Cunff, founder of Nest Labs and author of Tiny Experiments, shares how a health scare while working at Google helped her shift from rigid, linear goals to an experimental mindset rooted in curiosity.
You’ll hear about common “cognitive scripts” (the sequel, crowd pleaser, and epic scripts), how to design tiny experiments to test beliefs without framing outcomes as failure, and how to reframe success as learning.
The conversation also covers “surface area for luck,” the difference between legacy and generativity, and ends with reflections on goals, values, and meaningful community support.
Listen and Learn:
- How Anne-Laure’s career was fueled by imposter syndrome, and led to a life-threatening wake-up call that pushed her to rethink priorities and embrace a more experimental, balanced path
- Why rigid, linear goals only work when everything is certain, and why it’s more effective to replace them with curiosity and experimentation
- Why many of your goals come from hidden “cognitive scripts,” and by questioning them, you can move from autopilot to intentional choices
- Doing “tiny experiments” and observing results without judgment before deciding what to adjust or repeat
- Why instead of treating outcomes as success or failure, you should approach situations like small experiments, where everything that happens, especially mistakes, is just useful data for learning and adjusting
- The “Surface area for luck” and why the more you try new things, meet people, and put yourself in different situations, the more you increase the chances of unexpected good opportunities happening in your life
- Focusing on making a real-time, meaningful impact on people and communities around us through everyday acts of care and mutual support
Resources:
- Tiny Experiments: How to Live Freely in a Goal-Obsessed World https://bookshop.org/a/30734/9780593715130
- Anne-Laure’s Website: https://anne-laure.net/
- Tiny Experiments: https://tinyexperiments.org/
- Connect with Anne-Laure on Instagram https://instagram.com/neuranne
- Ness Labs Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ness_labs/?hl=en
- Ness Labs X: https://x.com/ness_labs
- Ness Labs Website: https://nesslabs.com/
- Michael’s Confidence Course: Remain Calm. Confidence Ahead http://herold.coach/course
About Anne-Laure Le Cunff
Anne-Laure Le Cunff is an award-winning neuroscientist and entrepreneur. She is the founder of Ness Labs, where her weekly newsletter is read by more than 100,000 curious minds. Her research at King’s College London focuses on the psychology and neuroscience of lifelong learning, curiosity, and adaptability. Her book, Tiny Experiments, is a transformative guide for living a more experimental life, turning uncertainty into curiosity, and carving a path of self-discovery. Previously, she worked at Google as an executive on digital health projects. Her work has been featured in Rolling Stone, Forbes, Financial Times, WIRED, and more.
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- 454. Remain Calm. Confidence Ahead with Michael Herold
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