Sprint book club questions

1. 1.

   The book argues a five-day sprint can answer questions that take months by conventional methods. What is it about the sprint structure that produces this compression — and why don't most organizations work this way by default?

2. 2.

   The 'no phones or laptops in the sprint room' rule is one most teams find hardest to follow. What is it protecting against — and do you think the rule is essential or can it be adjusted?

3. 3.

   The book requires a named Decider who makes final calls. What happens in organizations or teams where authority is unclear, diffuse, or contested — and is the sprint methodology feasible there?

4. 4.

   Individual sketching before group discussion is central to the sprint's ideation method. Have you seen this work — or fail — in your own experience of group problem-solving?

5. 5.

   The sprint produces a validated answer to one focused question. What questions is it not suited to answer — and how do you decide what deserves a sprint versus a different approach?

6. 6.

   Five users in a Friday test session are described as sufficient to identify meaningful patterns. Does this number feel right to you — and when would you want more?

7. 7.

   The prototype built on Thursday is explicitly not a real product — it's a facade designed to test one thing. What are the risks of that kind of testing, and when might fake prototypes mislead you?

8. 8.

   The book was written by Google Ventures partners, and many of the examples are technology startups. Does the methodology translate to very different contexts — hardware, services, government, education?

9. 9.

   Sprints constrain the problem to what can be answered in a week. What happens to the questions that are genuinely too complex for a sprint — and is there a risk that sprints are biased toward questions that can be simplified?

10. 10.

    If you've been through a design sprint, how did the reality compare to the book's account? What worked, what didn't?

11. 11.

    The sprint replaces most meetings with structured independent work. What would have to change about your organization's culture for this to be accepted — and is culture the main obstacle?

12. 12.

    Rapid prototyping and user testing in five days requires a certain kind of risk tolerance. How do you think about the balance between speed and thoroughness in your own work?

How to run the discussion

• Pick six to eight, not all of them. An hour of real discussion covers fewer questions than anyone expects, and racing the list is what makes a book club feel like homework.
• Open with what people noticed, not what they concluded. Asking for a verdict first hardens opinions before anyone has heard each other.
• Let the disagreement run. The questions below that split a room are the ones worth the time; the ones everyone answers the same way can be skipped.
• Ask the quiet person a specific question. A direct, narrow question is far easier to answer than an open invitation to contribute.