Amid remote tools and AI hype, a familiar framework reminded me what good product practice looks like - momentum, real user insight and a space to think.
The Sprint isn’t outdated. Your team just got soft.
We’ve replaced structured collaboration with Slack pings, strategic clarity with Miro spaghetti, and real-time decision-making with 47 async comments and zero ownership. And we wonder why nothing moves.
The truth? Most teams don’t need more AI. They need fewer excuses. A Decider. A timebox. A shared mission. The Design Sprint forced that. Not because it was trendy, but because it demanded momentum over consensus and insight over politics.
You can sprinkle GPT over your backlog all day. But if no one is empowered to make the call, ship the prototype, or face a real user, you’re just rehearsing productivity theater.
Want actual velocity? Bring back constraints. Give someone the authority to say "this is what we’re testing." Carve out space to think—on purpose. And if five days is “too much,” you don’t have a time problem. You have a courage problem.
The Sprint isn’t outdated. Your team just got soft.
We’ve replaced structured collaboration with Slack pings, strategic clarity with Miro spaghetti, and real-time decision-making with 47 async comments and zero ownership. And we wonder why nothing moves.
The truth? Most teams don’t need more AI. They need fewer excuses. A Decider. A timebox. A shared mission. The Design Sprint forced that. Not because it was trendy, but because it demanded momentum over consensus and insight over politics.
You can sprinkle GPT over your backlog all day. But if no one is empowered to make the call, ship the prototype, or face a real user, you’re just rehearsing productivity theater.
Want actual velocity? Bring back constraints. Give someone the authority to say "this is what we’re testing." Carve out space to think—on purpose. And if five days is “too much,” you don’t have a time problem. You have a courage problem.