Unexpected Outcomes Equal Opportunity

I had a recent opportunity to practice social distancing while camping through Colorado and Utah. I primarily dry camped on public land in a self-contained campervan.  Unfortunately, during my trip, there was a heatwave that pushed temperatures into the high 90's every day.  Tired of the dust, dirt, and lack of shade, I booked a campground where I could plug-in, clean up, and cool off.  The campground was at 10,000 feet, and when I arrived, it was 65° and raining.  I got what I was looking for it even if it wasn't necessarily in the manner I expected.
 
This experience parallels what happens when we pivot on product direction. We have a roadmap, we work our plan, but sometimes things are just not working out.  Looking for different outcomes, we decide to try something new.  The result positive, but the change we observed was not the one we predicted. To make sure your results were not a fluke, you can alter the experiment slightly to rule out experimenter error.  If the outcomes persist, you may have discovered something exciting. 

Unexpected results are not an indicator of a failed test, but rather an opportunity to take your strategy in a new direction.  When we keep ourselves open to observing our tests' outcomes instead of forcing them into a preconceived definition of success or failure, we may discover new and exciting directions for our products.