In Sprint: How to Solve Big Problems and Test New Ideas in Just Five Days, written with John Zeratsky and Braden Kowitz, Jake Knapp explains how to solve the biggest problems, answer the most difficult questions and/or generate the best ideas with what he characterizes as a “sprint team.”

What’s involved?

1. Recruit a team of seven (or fewer).

o Decider (group leader)
o Facilitator (makes success possible)
o Finance expert (one who best knows your organization’s finances)
o Marketing expert
o Customer expert
o Tech/logistics expert
o Design expert

2. Identify most important problem to solve, most important question to answer, etc.
3. Identify “expert” candidates, perhaps from outside the organization to include on an as-needed basis.

“Sprints offer a path to solve big problems, test new ideas, get more done, do it better, and do it faster. They also allow you to hAve more fun along the way. In other words, you’ve absolutely got to try one for yourself. Let’s get to work.”

Think of a sprint team as analogous to a SWAT team. It has a tightly-structured five-day schedule to complete its assignment.

Everything is thoroughly explained in this book.

Jake Knapp is a partner at Google Ventures, and the creator of GV’s sprint process. He has advised over 100 startups including Nest, Slack, 23andMe, and Flatiron Health. Jake is currently among the world’s tallest designers.