Career Curiosity Experiments
Test possible careers directly and follow the questions that remain energizing
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~months to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 95%
Rather than selecting a career from descriptions, prestige, or a supposed lifelong passion, this method treats career choice as a sequence of experiments. The person identifies questions that feel genuinely compelling, then obtains direct exposure through a project, short engagement, class, shadowing opportunity, or practitioner conversation. Interviews emphasize what experienced people wish they had done differently because success stories are often distorted by luck and hindsight. After each experiment, the person records which activities sustained curiosity, which drained it, and what new questions emerged. A promising direction earns a larger experiment rather than an irreversible commitment. When curiosity and learning flatten, the cycle begins again. The method turns uncertainty into evidence while keeping early moves inexpensive and reversible.
Origin
Extracted from Masters in Business through Safi Bahcall's account of moving from physics to consulting, biotechnology, entrepreneurship, and writing by following his curiosity.
Core principles
- 01Direct experience teaches more than abstract career advice
- 02Curiosity can be a more reliable guide than a fixed passion
- 03Career exploration should use small, reversible experiments
- 04Other people's regrets often reveal more than their success stories
- 05Good questions compound into better opportunities
How to run it
- 1
Identify live questions
Write down fields or problems that make you want to understand how they work. Distinguish genuine curiosity from status, external expectations, or a passing preference.
Pro tip Notice which questions you pursue without being assigned.
Watch out Liking a product or hobby does not necessarily mean enjoying the work behind it.
- 2
Run a small experiment
Get hands-on exposure through a project, internship, shadowing session, volunteer assignment, or short course. Keep the first commitment reversible.
Pro tip Choose an experiment that resembles the daily work rather than its public image.
Watch out Reading alone cannot reveal how the work feels in practice.
- 3
Interview practitioners for regrets
Ask people in the field what they wish they had done differently and which mistakes mattered most. Compare answers across several thoughtful practitioners.
Pro tip Ask for specific decisions and consequences rather than generic advice.
Watch out Success explanations may overstate skill and understate timing or luck.
- 4
Review your response
Record what generated energy, what felt tedious, what you learned, and which questions remain. Use evidence from behavior rather than an idealized self-image.
Pro tip Review after enough exposure to get past first-day novelty.
Watch out One unpleasant interaction may reflect a workplace rather than an entire field.
- 5
Scale the next experiment
Invest more time in the direction with the strongest sustained curiosity. Repeat the cycle whenever learning plateaus or new evidence changes the fit.
Pro tip Increase commitments gradually as confidence grows.
Watch out Do not turn an experiment into a permanent identity too early.
In the wild
Bahcall became curious about work outside academia, visited an office, joined McKinsey as a bridge into business, and then pursued the desire to build something with direct human impact. His ability to translate between scientists and financiers led him toward founding a biotechnology company.
→ A sequence of exploratory moves revealed a career combining science, business, and social impact.
A graduate curious about drug development arranges laboratory shadowing, helps with a short research project, and interviews scientists about decisions they regret. The graduate discovers greater interest in coordinating scientific and commercial teams than in bench work and tests a biotech operations role next.
→ Small experiments replace an abstract career choice with evidence about role fit.
Common mistakes
Waiting for a single passion
Demanding certainty about one permanent calling can prevent useful exploration. Curiosity provides a practical next direction without requiring lifelong commitment.
Learning only through reading
Descriptions and advice cannot reproduce the incentives, routines, and emotional texture of doing the work.
Asking only how people succeeded
Success accounts often conceal luck and hindsight. Questions about regrets and mistakes tend to produce more transferable information.
Is it for you?
Best for
It is best for graduates and professionals considering a transition among several plausible paths.
Not ideal for
It is not ideal when an immediate financial or legal constraint leaves no room for even a small career experiment.
From the transcript
“I don't follow banana pudding. But I do follow my curiosity.”
“first of all, go around an experiment, because that's the only way.”
“But ask them what we just talked about, which is what do you wish you'd done differently?”
From the episode
Safi Bahcall on Why You Need to Take Crazy Risks
Safi Bahcall