457. Tiny Experiments with Anne-Laure Le Cunff
From Psychologists Off the Clock by Debbie Sorensen, Jill Stoddard, Yael Schonbrun, Michael Herold & Emily Edlynn
April 28, 2026 · 44 min · Episode 457
About this episode
Anne-Laure Le Cunff discusses the importance of curiosity and small experiments in achieving success.
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…
People in this episode
Hosts: Debbie Sorensen, Jill Stoddard, Yael Schonbrun, Michael Herold, Emily Edlynn
Guest: Anne-Laure Le Cunff
Topics covered
- curiosity
- experimentation
- goals
- cognitive scripts
- mental health
- self-improvement
Keywords
- success
- imposter syndrome
- experimental mindset
- learning
- goals
- cognitive scripts
- mental health
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Nest Labs, Google
Books & works: Tiny Experiments
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