Lessons learned from my fellowship (part 4)
After I read Jake Knapps excellent “Sprint – How to solve big problems and test new ideas in just five days” book last year I was very enthusiastic to apply the methodology during my fellowship. Unfortunately, this is one goal I didn’t achieve: it was just impossible to have the project team members available together for five days in a row. Each team member was involved in multiple projects and involved in cross-team meetings: the open spots in their calendars were scattered along the week. Lessons learned #8: to apply a 5-day methodology you need the power to block the calendars for 5 days. The good news is that the tools shared in “Sprint” can be applied of course also as part of sprints with longer cycles.
What I appreciated very much during my fellowship were the frequent “Show and Tell” sessions with the other teams and with the users we had interviewed. This also helped to test assumptions, to elicit new ideas, and to identify pitfalls. Again, what may sound obvious for designers is not for e.g. consultants. Lessons Learned #9: Let the users of your solution frequently validate your solution prototypes. “Value Proposition Design” is a book from entrepeneur Alexander Osterwalder which offers an excellent overview on methods you can use during the test phase of your project.
What is your recommendation to establish the iteration mindset in a consulting organisation?
