“Disney says go left!”
I still remember this piece of advice from a guidebook my family used when planning a Disney World trip. Supposedly, you could save waiting time by always choosing the left path whenever a line split.
Even as a kid, I was skeptical.
Is this actually true? Do half the books tell people to go right so everyone doesn’t end up in the same line? How would they even know this works?
When you encounter a surprising piece of information, curiosity is your best friend. Before diving into action on advice that is hard to explain and potentially costly (wasting precious vacation time), it’s worth pausing to ask:
- What evidence supports this claim?
- How much time will it save?
- Does this work universally, or only sometimes?
One of the best ways to start your investigation is also the most straightforward – check additional, independent sources. Do they come to the same conclusion? Do they explain why?
Let’s turn back to our pasta sauce challenge from last time. My goal is to make an everyday, tomato-based, quick and easy sauce that will level up my pasta lunches. I am not the first person to try to solve this problem. Even though I want to find a unique solution that’s best for me, learning from others’ solutions provides a strong starting point.
In research settings, stepping back to explore the big picture before diving into details is often called a landscape analysis. By examining where solutions converge — and where they differ — patterns begin to emerge. These patterns help refine your problem space: the set of variables actually worth testing.
If every recipe uses garlic I know I’m going to want that too. And if some use basil while others use oregano, I know this is something I’m going to want to test out.
To establish my own starting point I looked at a few different recipes:
- Store bought sauce: tomatoes, water, onion, olive oil, salt, garlic, and basil.
- “Perfect Easy Red Sauce” (The Food Lab): olive oil, butter, onion, garlic, oregano, red pepper flakes, tomatoes, basil, and salt.
- “Best Marinara Sauce Yet” (AllRecipes): tomatoes, tomato paste, parsley, garlic, oregano, salt, black pepper, olive oil, onion, white wine
Even this quick survey reveals clear patterns. Tomatoes, onions, garlic, olive oil, and salt are key ingredients across all recipes that are going to form the backbone of my sauce. I can also see where there are variations – herbs and spices, fat (oil vs. butter).
This insight immediately focuses experimentation. Instead of tweaking everything at once, the foundational structure is clear — and the variables worth exploring become obvious.
By surveying the landscape, I transformed an overwhelming question —
“How do I make the perfect sauce?”
— into a manageable one:
“Which variations meaningfully improve this already-solid base?”
Next, it’s time to start experimenting. One variable at a time.
Part 4: Change One Thing at a Time
Thinking Empirically 