Work out an important decision before it becomes an expensive mistake
Ten working days on one hard question in your business. You get a grounded answer, an action plan with owners and a way to check the result.
The questions it answers
One question per Sprint. If you can’t yet say why things are happening the way they are, that is a Sprint question.
Turnover grows, the margin per site falls: why?
More sites, less left after handover, and the cause isn’t visible.
Where is the real bottleneck?
Estimating, the site managers or paying the subcontractors: everything rests on a few people, and it’s unclear what to fix first.
Stay in housing or move into industrial work?
Before the first tender in a new segment, know where your margin would be and who would run such a site.
A credit line before the next tender?
Before borrowing or putting in your own money, know what exactly it is for.
How the ten days go
What is needed from your side (meetings, access, people to talk to) goes into the proposal before we start.
The question and criteria
We frame one question, what a good answer looks like, and the constraints.
Signals
Conversations with the team and customers, your data, the market. Observations separated from assumptions.
Options and tests
We compare the options and test the key assumptions against data and in conversations.
Decision and commitments
An answer with its grounds and limits. Who does what by when, and how the result will be checked.
What you get
- An answer with its grounds and limits. Or the next experiment, if there isn’t enough data yet.
- An assumption map: what held, what didn’t, what still needs checking.
- A calculation or model, if the question is economic.
- An action plan: owners, deadlines, signs of success.
- A review date: what should change, and when we look again.
- If a system is needed: a data map, a mockup of the morning brief on your own numbers and a build spec with a fixed price.
When a Sprint is not the right fit
- You know exactly what to do and only need hands.
- There is no access to data and people, or the owner isn’t ready to take part in the decision.
What the result looks like
This is an example of how a Sprint result reads, not a client case: the company is made up, the situation is typical.
- Signal
- The owner of a general contractor wants to move from housing into warehouses. The company has never built one, and nobody knows what the margin would be or who would run such a site.
- Decision
- Don’t hire for the new direction yet. First price and bid two warehouse tenders together with a structural subcontractor.
- Commitment
- The owner is responsible. Review after the second tender result against a sign named in advance: a margin in the estimate no lower than on its housing jobs.
- Action
- Two tender estimates, the estimator’s hours on each tracked separately, a conversation with the subcontractor about price and schedule.
- Outcome
- Known on the review date.
- Learning
- Written down on the review date.
What if there isn’t much data?
I’ll say so on the first call. Sometimes the result of a Sprint is not a final decision but the next experiment and a list of data to collect.
Can we stop after the Sprint?
Yes. The Sprint ends with an answer, a plan and, if a system is needed, a build spec. Continuing is a separate decision.
What if the conclusion is “don’t launch”?
That is a result too, and sometimes the most valuable one.
How much of my time does it take?
It goes into the proposal: meetings, access and people to talk to.
Describe the decision
A couple of sentences about the business and the fork you’re at. I read it myself and reply via the channel you choose. If a Sprint isn’t right, I’ll tell you what is.
The first call is 20 minutes and free. If I can’t help, I’ll tell you straight away.
Saved. I have your request.
I read every request myself and reply via the channel you chose. If it helps, pick a time for a 20-minute call now.
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