100% refrigerated air. It’s the CRO Roundtable Roundup!
Thanks to Matt Beischel, Iqbal Ali, Shiva Manjunath, Slobodan Manić, and Craig Sullivan for joining us.
Want to get in on the action and talk with cool CRO people like this?
One Sentence Takeaway
I’m a busy person; give me the TL:DR
Understanding and bridging the cultural and organizational divides between CMOs and CROs is key to advancing data-driven experimentation.
The Notes
What we discussed this week
- Getting a CMO’s Perspective on CRO
- What experimentation means to a CMO
- Aligning CRO and CMO perspectives for better collaboration
- CMOs may feel pressured to act decisively, not experimentally
- Strategies to Engage CMOs in CRO Efforts
- Ask what would make them care about CRO work
- Emphasize how experimentation supports bold, strategic decisions
- Frame CRO as enabling confident decision-making, not replacing it
- Cultural Differences in Experimentation Attitudes
- European orgs appear more data-driven in hiring and events
- U.S. leadership often leans on intuition over data
- Logistics of community events differ by region
- Challenges in Promoting Experimentation
- Slowness of testing misaligned with board meeting timelines
- Experimentation is misunderstood as “just button color changes”
- Power Dynamics in Decision Making
- Junior staff often lack visibility into C-level decision factors
- Need for leadership to communicate rationale when rejecting test-based proposals
- Trust and transparency are critical to experimentation culture
- Philosophy of Art and Feedback
- Bad feedback = “That’s bad” without explanation
- “Interesting” is a neutral cue needing context
- Skill isn’t necessary for meaningful art; passion and communication matter
Hey Experimenter!
We’ll be kicking off the summer 2025 Experimentation Elite conference with our first-ever LIVE CRO Talks Roundtable! We want to see you there; come say hi!
- When: June 4th & 5th
- Where: Birmingham, UK
Use discount code CROTALKS10 for 10% off.
The Quotes
Standout quips from this week
- “Sometimes there’s a perception of abdicating decision-making to data, and that’s maybe seen as weakness.” — Matt Beischel
- “What can we do to make you care about our work deeply and not just be annoyed by seven emails?” — Slobodan Manic
- “Bad art is stuff that’s got no soul or is passionless.” — Iqbal Ali
Book Club
Relevant reads recommended this week
No books this week, sorry!
CRO Link Digest
Useful and thought-provoking content shared this week
- Nielsen Norman Group – globally trusted team of UX experts, dedicated to providing reliable guidance and practical skill-building for design and research professionals
- Claude AI – next generation AI assistant built by Anthropic and trained to be safe, accurate, and secure to help you do your best work
- Women in Experimentation (WIE) – community focused on promoting female voices in experimentation
Off-Topic Sidebars
Experimentation isn’t the only thing we talk about at the CRO Roundtable. There’s often a healthy dose of discussion on shared interests, personal passions, and hobbies.
- Flying Pig Marathon relay in Cincinnati
- Disney races and themed running shoes
- Massive Iberian Peninsula blackout and NATO investigation
- The logistics of producing comic art on a deadline
- Comic artist Rob Liefeld as an example of sacrificing quality for speed
Sidebar Shareables
Amusing sidebar content shared this week
- Rob Liefeld Talks About Drawing Feet Again – article from Bleeding Cool