At Least It's Not a Marathon: Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days

Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days by Jake Knapp with John Zeratsky & Braden Kowitz

Bantam Press

Pp. 264

In this ‘How to’ manifesto, a group of guys from Google Ventures show us a ‘new’ business method. Of course, it is not really new and we’ve heard it all before, packaged differently. A rich white guy has a period of self-reflection, which leads him to want to work smarter rather than harder. As one would expect of a Google product, it’s written in an approachable and accessible sanitised way, with some good basic knowledge and an eye on the bank account.

The question the boys tackle is how to take an individual activity and focus on finding a solution. The basic idea is to provide a DIY guide for running your own sprint (five-day problem-solving exercise) with a clear daily focus and checklists (including shopping lists for necessary materials) in the back, along with FAQs and a link to the website (thesprintbook.com) for more information and resources.

The authors recommend removing all phones, laptops and tablets from the room to focus more fully on the immediate task. “These devices can suck the momentum out of a sprint. If you’re looking at a screen, you’re not paying attention to what’s going on in the room, so you won’t be able to help the team. What’s worse, you’re unconsciously saying, ‘This work isn’t interesting.’” They acknowledge that not everyone has the luxury to set other work aside for a week (who picks up the slack?), so this method can only really work in a big organisation. Interestingly, it can only really work in person, which is a shame in these ‘unprecedented’ times when nearly all meetings are conducted over video conferencing systems. The concepts involve using simple graphics and sketch designs: many of the suggestions are worked out on white boards and with sticky notes.

They maintain that deadlines force one to focus when pitching ideas while they also recognise that smaller parts of the sprint can be used if there is insufficient time to run the whole week. The ideology can be applied to making a small decision or dealing with a frustrating problem, and customer interviews can be conducted at any time. The highlights of the process are the focus on asking the experts, interviewing potential users, and making decisions on solutions.

They make an effort to use female pronouns – “The Decider needs to choose one target customer and one target event on the map. Whatever she chooses will become the focus of the rest of the sprint.” – but all the references are Silicon Valley frat boy (Star Wars; Apollo 13; Ocean’s Eleven; Lord of the Rings; Led Zeppelin; Huey Lewis and the News). The examples they use for the businesses which benefited from a sprint are: a coffee outlet; a hospitality robot; a software company; and a medical assessment service. A quick glance at the bios at the back (masquerading as thank-you notes), reveals that they spent their ‘ordinary’ childhoods computing, recording, designing sailing yachts, playing basketball and producing music.

There are some good ideas in this sprint methodology, but you have heard them all before. Now that they are repackaged in a slick, accessible, practically comic-book-style, you are likely to hear them repeated again and again, if you strain to hear the sound over that of the cash registers ringing.

My Newest Favourite Thing: Fabergé Eggs

I love the little Google designs, don't you? They point out all sorts of fascinatingly irrelevant information. For example, I would never have known that today was the 166th birthday (do you still get birthdays when you're dead?) of Peter Carl Fabergé.

Those eggs used to fascinate me - they still do. I love eggs, as I believe I have mentioned previously, because the shape is just perfect. I used to collect marble, laquered and wood versions, but couldn't quite stretch to those beautifully jewelled varieties.

Tsar Alexander III commissioned the House of Fabergé to make an Easter egg for his wife the Empress Maria. The tradition continued and from 1887 Carl Fabergé was given complete freedom with regard to design, which then become more and more elaborate. The only stipulation was that each one should contain a surprise. I would guess that a plastic crocodile wouldn't cut it - take that, Kinder!

After the death of Alexander III, Nicholas II had one made each Easter for both his wife and mother. The tradition continued until the October Revolution, and 50 eggs were made, of which 42 have survived. The House of Fabergé made other eggs too, but these ones are known as the Imperial Eggs and I'm sure are worth a very pretty penny.