For over 30 years, Seven-Eleven Japan was the most profitable retailer in Japan. It achieved that stature by relying on each store’s salesclerks to decide what items to stock on that store’s shelves. Many of the salesclerks were part-time, but they were each responsible for maximizing turnover for one part of the store’s inventory, and they received detailed reports so they could monitor their own performance.
The language of hypothesis formulation was part of their process. Each week, Seven-Eleven Japan counselors visited the stores and asked salesclerks three questions:
- What did you hypothesize this week? (That is, what did you order?)
- How did you do? (That is, did you sell what you ordered?)
- How will you do better next week? (That is, how will you incorporate the learning?)
Source: Why Hypotheses Beat Goals