One of the things I love about being a generalist is that I find solutions in the most unexpected places. One of the most useful solutions I’ve found over the past five years of helping folks with starting and growing their businesses in Southeast Minnesota actually comes from the software industry. That solution is called the design sprint.
Honed at Google by Jake Knapp and others, the design sprint process takes months of decision-making and boils it down to just a few days. Tens (or hundreds!) of thousands of dollars in development costs are saved in the process, not to mention the time saved.
There are four key principles that underlie the design sprint process: “together alone,” “don’t rely on creativity,” “tangible > discussion,” and “getting started > being right.” Let’s break them down individually.
“Together alone” is probably my favorite and most important. What this principle means is that while the team is working together, everyone contributes their thoughts individually – “alone” – in the form of writing down their own thoughts for each exercise. There is no discussion. This improves outcomes in a number of ways: it prevents folks from being afraid to share their thoughts – either in front of peers or their boss; it prevents domineering personalities from drowning out the quiet contributors in the room; and it prevents groupthink, allowing every voice to be considered equally. I even take this principle a step further, and have participants vote in secret as well, as I’ve seen groupthink play out even in a team as small as two!
“Don’t rely on creativity” was the one I didn’t understand (I wrote comic books professionally for several years) until I presented this process to a group of high schoolers, a number of whom nodded vigorously when I shared this slide. It turns out that some folks are intimidated by the idea of having to be creative, and the design sprint process gives them freedom from that pressure. All you have to bring into the room is yourself and your experiences – “creativity” is not required.
“Tangible > discussion” cuts to the chase – literally. You vote on ideas that are written down, instead of discussing points in circles, accelerating decision-making in the process.
“Getting started > being right” gets to the heart of what the design sprint was made for – getting stuff done. Yes, it’s possible to think and talk about solutions for months, but making a decision and testing it is far more efficient and cost-saving than discussing endlessly until everyone agrees on something, only to find out that that decision was the wrong one.
These four principles are deployed using a four-step design sprint process loop: note (write your thoughts down), stick (up on the board), vote (on the notes), prioritize (based on votes). Then repeat.
Another thing I love about the design sprint process is that it is flexible depending on what your needs are – your team can use it as the basis for a weekly meeting, a two-hour mini-sprint, or a four-day retreat.
So how can a process developed for the software industry help your business? Because it works regardless of what industry you’re in! I’ve used this process to help public speakers, bakers, physicians, non-profits, and engineers, to name a few. And it works regardless of if you’re by yourself or working with a team.
One of the things I love best about working for non-profits who help folks with their businesses is that we provide these design sprints for a full spectrum of clients – be it teaching the process in a workshop, providing mini-sprints for free to our Small Business Development Center (SBDC) clients, or facilitating retreats for larger employers.
We’ll be hosting free workshops about the design sprint process regularly at the Owatonna Area Business Development Center, so contact us via our website (Owatonna.biz) if you’d like to attend one to learn more, and we’ll keep you in the loop – the design sprint process loop, that is!
This blog post was originally published in the Owatonna People's Press.