研究や先端的な仕事では，なにをやればいいかの道筋が決まっていない．これをやっておけば，大丈夫ということはないのだ．ここで優れた研究を行う重要なアプローチの一つは，小さいtryをたくさん行うことだ．小さいtryを行って，そこからさらに手がかりを得て，次の小さいtryを行う．このサイクルを高速に繰り返す．小さいたくさんのtryを自在に繰り出せるよになれば，研究にかぎらず何事でも成功できるだろう．ビジネスでも，スポーツでもこのアプローチは重要だ．たとえばベンチャー起業の重要な考え方のリーンスタートアップも，同じ考えだ．
小さいtryを多く行うには，君自身が次のtryを考えなくてはならない．馴れるとホントに小さいtryは一日に何サイクルもできるようになる．ちょっと手の込んだものでも，フルに時間を使えば（1日に5～8時間を費やすなら）2～3日でできるだろう．平均的には大小あわせて週に10程度のtryができるだろう．しかしどういうtryをするべきかを全て教員に相談すると，教員が律速になってしまって，サイクルを多数回すことはできない．もちろん最初からよいtryを学生自身が考えることは難しい．そこで最初は次のtryを考えたら教員にチェックしてもらうとよいだろう．いろいろアドバイスを受けるだろうけれど，それを通じてどういうtryをすればいいかが分かるようになる．やがて十分よいtryをできるようになれば，いくつかのtryとその結果をまとめて教員に報告できる．そうすれば教員が律速になることがなく，君自身が自由に羽ばたくことができる．
ではよいtryを行うコツはあるだろうか？研究においては，tryはよい結論つまり，短く表現することができ，他の研究への波及効果が大きい結論に到達できるように設計する．そのためには，「これをやって，もしこういった結果が得られれば，こういうことが言えるだろう．」，と予想することが大事だ．また研究では，「こういうことが言える」が先行研究ですでに言われているのなら，よい結論とは言えない．そのため，先行研究に通じておくことも，自分自身でtryを考えるうえで必要だ．
次のtryを考えられる人なのかどうかは、君の能力に大きな違いとなる．ある人は自分自身でtryを考えだすことができ、別な人はできないとしよう。前者が週に10回トライができて，後者は指導者と相談する回数（週一回としよう）しかトライができない。するとtryの数，つまり能力が10倍違ってしまうのだ。学生はしばしば人の能力にそれほど大きな違いがあるとは考えない．学生が従来経験した，知的能力を定量化する機会は試験に限られている。 ほとんどの試験では、平均スコアは約70-80、最高スコアは100、悪スコアは50-60になるように設計されているので，悪いスコアと最高スコアの差は２倍しか違わない。 しかし、研究を含めて正解がない知的作業の能力については，優秀な人と劣る人との能力は10倍違うのだ！この大きな能力の違いを研究以外でも実感しているので，学生の皆さんには自分でtryを考える能力を身に着けて欲しいと思っている．一度身に着ければ一生の財産になる．
In research and cutting-edge work, what to do cannot be determined in advance in particular at the second stage of two stages. There is nothing if you do this you will not be successful. One of the important approaches to doing excellent research is to do a lot of small tries. Make a small try, get more clues from it, plan and do the next small try. This cycle should be repeated at high frequency. If you get ability to do a lot of small tries, you will be successful not just for research but for everything. This approach is important for both business and sports. For example, “lean startup” of important idea of venture business is based on the same idea.
To do a lot of small tries, you have to think about the next try. If you get used to it, you can really make a small try a number of cycles per day. Even a bit elaborate task, if you spend full time (if you spend 5 to 8 hours a day) you will be able to do it in a couple of days in most cases. I guess that in average you can do 10 small and big tries combined per week. A necessary thing to do so is that you need to find a next try. If you need to consult with your mentor for each try, probably you can talk with him/her once or twice a week and this constrains how many tries you can make. Of course it is difficult for the student to think of a good try from the beginning. So at first you should think next try and ask your mentor whether it is good. Probably you get many advices to modify your plan, but you can learn from this process. In a few or several months, you will become to find good enough tries to do. When you reach at this stage, mentor is not speed limiter anymore, and you can conduct several tries and report them to your mentor at once.
Is there a trick to do a good try? In the study a good try leads a good conclusion, which can be expressed in a short form and has wide effects on other researches. To that end, it is important to think the relation between the try and conclusion, like "If I do this and get this kind of result, I can say something like this." Also, good conclusion of research must be new. Therefore, what you need to be aware of prior research is necessary to think next try by yourself.
Whether you can consider next try or not makes big difference in your ability. If we compare two people, one can consider a next try by him/herself and one needs to be told next try by a mentor. The number of tries different 5-10 times. This means that for this strategy ability of the former person has ability of 5-10 times larger than the latter person. Often student does not see there can be such big difference in person’s ability, because students’ experience for quantifying intellectual ability is limited for examinations. Most examinations are designed that average scores are about 70-80 with the highest score at 100, and bad score may be 50-60. So the difference between bad and the highest score is just two. However, as I explained the ability of intellectual work like research or cutting-edge works, the ability between excellent and poor people is different 10 times! Such big difference actually exists not only in research but in more general planning type works. Therefore, I really wish that my students obtain ability that she/he can find a good next try by her/himself. Once you get this ability, this will be a treasure for lifetime.