"The sprint is GV’s unique five-day process for answering crucial questions through prototyping and testing ideas with customers."
- Sprint, page 9
"A sprint resembles that perfectly orchestrated heist. You and your team put your talents, time, and energy to their best use, taking on an overwhelming challenge and using your wits (and a little trickery) to overcome every obstacle that crosses your path."- Sprint, page 29
The power of TEAM is a consistent thread throughout the book. The sprint team consists of key players and decision makers:
Decider – the person who will make the decisions for the team or for this particular project. This person may be, for example, a department head, CEO, product manager, or founder.
Finance expert – someone who can explain where the money comes and goes. This person may be the CFO, CEO, or business development manager, to name but a few.
Marketing expert – this is the person who is responsible for crafting your company’s message, i.e.: the CMO, PR, community manager, marketer.
Customer expert – someone who regularly talks to your customers on a one on one basis. Some examples may include customer support, sales, researcher, etc.
Technical/logistics expert – an individual who understands what your company can build and deliver, i.e. an engineer or CTO.
Design expert – this is the person who designs the products your company makes. Common titles include designer and product manager
Other key players are the Troublemaker and the Facilitator. The Troublemaker is that person who has strong and contrary opinions, and who might make you uncomfortable about including them in the sprint. This person is a key ingredient because he or she is able to see problems differently from everyone else. “There’s a fine line between a rebel and a jerk, of course, but don’t avoid people just because they disagree with you… the sprint process turns competing ideas into an asset.”
The Facilitator should be someone different than the Decider. The Facilitator should be able to remain unbiased during the decision making process. Sometimes it is best to employ an outsider to be the Facilitator.
Also, keep in mind that you don’t want too many people to be a part of the sprint. Seven seems to be an ideal number. If you need to include any extra experts, bring them in on the first day of the sprint to collaborate and voice their expertise.
"The word ‘team’ is pretty cheap, but in a sprint, a team is really a team."- Sprint, page 35
To effectively work as a team, everyone must be given the opportunity to present their ideas, solutions, and votes, which creates inclusion and a sense of ownership in the project. The detailed techniques of decision making within the sprint process help reduce biases and skewed opinions. Everyone presents a sketch of possible solutions but does not add his or her name to the sketch or is allowed to explain the rationale behind it. The sketch must be self-explanatory enough for everyone to understand the sketcher’s rationale. This helps to prevent favoritism from sneaking in. “In the real world, the creators won’t be there to give sales pitches and clues. In the real world, the ideas will have to stand on their own.” Each step in the decision making process includes a script to follow that reduces the likelihood that the conversation will go off on a tangent and encourages honest decision making. The sprint process is to the point. It is more efficient than the normal “brainstorming group” as we know it. With a sprint, things get done in a systematic and timely manner.
"Instead of meandering, your team’s conversations will follow a script. This structure is socially awkward, but logical… It’s all designed to get the most out of the team’s expertise, accommodate for our human strengths and shortcomings, and make it as easy as possible to come to a great decision."- Sprint, page 128
This process lays out how to remove the fluff and BS from decision making. The partners who created the sprint considered human behavior and emotions when perfecting the process. If two solutions can’t be combined and both are viable, prototype and test both. Short term memory isn’t reliable – write notes down on a sticky note. Got a long-winded team member? No worries, fortunately there’s limited space on a sticky note! Need to organize the top favorites? Everyone votes using dot stickers. Less talking and more doing. Straight and to the point. No arguing, no fussing, just voting and carrying on. Sprinting is so efficient. This is how it is possible to hash out almost anything in just five days.
I’m glad I picked up Sprint. It has taught me efficiency and teamwork. It is a great DIY guide to testing a product and/or service. What big problem do you need to solve quickly? What new idea would you like to test in just five days?
Braden Kowitz founded the Google Ventures design team in 2009 and pioneered the role of “design partner” at a venture capital firm. He has advised close to two hundred startups on product design, hiring, and team culture. Before joining Google Ventures, Braden led design for several Google products, including Gmail, Google Enterprise, Google Spreadsheets, and Google Trends.
