This method accelerates a leader's development integrating neuroscience and agile practices.

1. Learn Sprint
Developing Leaders for
immediate and scalable change
Mario Kojima

2. Learn Sprint is an accelerated learning
method through solving complex problems
in rapid cycles of hypothesis, innovation,
and learning.
The method integrates the neuroscience of
learning and the agile method to generate
insights and actionable solutions repeatedly.
Educate
Examine
Explore
Experiment
Embed
1
2
3
4
5
The Five Dashes of the Learn Sprint

3. Neuroscience of learning
Attention
Learning something new requires
focused attention. To learn new
information, it must be of interest or
meaningful and there must be limi-
ted distractions - Neuroplasticity. It
is almost impossible to learn some-
thing new while multi-tasking.
Expert and non-expert organize
information in chunks of diferent
size. Attention has limits of only
15-20 minutes before needing a
refresher.
Generation
Generation is the act of creating
your own connections to new or
presented ideas. Our Social Brain
requires and thrives on interactions
with other brains. People learn
from one another, sometimes
without even realizing that they are
doing so. Metacognition means
thinking about thinking. Two rele-
vant ways of thinking metacogniti-
vely are: 1) It is possible to be
aware of what you know and don´t
know, and 2) It is possible to think
Emotion
The level of emotional arousal
matter for making learning last, and
positivity is better than negativity.
The method of labeling an emotion -
“Feeling angry” - shown to clear
away low level emotional distrac-
tions. A method of emotional regu-
lation called reappraisal is changing
one´s initial interpretation of a
stimulus or situation to a positive
opinion. Our Mirror Neurons make
emotions contagious - and neurons
that fire together, wire together.
Spacing
Spacing between learning and
review sessions is the most coun-
terintuitive and yet perhaps most
important of the four learning
principles. The law of diminishing
returns applies to learning dure to
our cognitive capacity. Spacing
allows the brain to digest new
content and over time build new
connections, even when learners
are at rest. Revisiting the informa-
tion three times is ideal in terms of
maximal benefit.
Attention is essential for the
analysis in Dash 2. Generation is the source of
insights in Dash 3.
Emotion contagious is criti-
cal in the pressure to build
a prototype in Step 4.
Spacing is the reason that
Dash 5 should have one day
after the Sprint ended.
AGES Model
LEARN
SPRINT

4. Agile method - Product Owner
Product Owner
The PO is responsible for
maximizing return on
investment by identifying
product features, transla-
ting these into a prioriti-
zed list, deciding which
should be at the top of the
list for the Sprint. The PO
is responsible for the Pro-
duct Backlog
Product Backlog
The Product Backlog lists
all features, functions,
requirements that consti-
tute the changes to be
made to the product. It
helps select trade-offs.
Sprint Review
A Sprint Review is held at
the end of the Sprint to
inspect the increment and
adapt the Product Back-
log. The PO discusses the
Product Backlog as it
stands.
The participant assigned
to the readings (article or
case) is automatically the
Product Owner. She is res-
ponsible for the Product
Backlog and the Sprint
Review.
The Product Backlog is a
list of analysis, innova-
tions, or solution features
that the Team can execute
during the Sprint. It must
contain only activities
that the Team can com-
plete.
The PO is responsible for
evaluating the final work
of the Team during the
Sprint. She will compare
the delivery with the
items selected from the
Product Backlog.
SCRUM LEARN SPRINT

5. The Team
The Development Team is
self-organizing and cross-
functional , with all the
skills as a team necessary
to create a product
increment. The Team
recognize no titles and
accountability belong to
the Team as a whole.
Sprint Planning
The work to be performed
in the Sprint is planned at
the Sprint Planning. The
PO and the Team select
the high-priority items in
the Product Backlog.
“Done”
When a Product Backlog
item is described as
“Done”, everyone must
understand what “Done”
means.The purpose of
the Sprint is to deliver
increments of product.
Agile method - The Team
The Team is self-organi-
zing. No one (even the Fa-
cilitator) tells the Team
how to turn Product Ba-
cklog into increments of
potential solutions.
The Team selects the most
critical items in the Pro-
duct Backlog that they es-
timate feasible to finish in
the 45 minutes of the
Sprint. There can be seve-
ral Sprints subsequently.
The Team aligns with the
PO the definition of
“Done.” It must be clear
for the Team when they
have executed enough for
ending the Sprint.
SCRUM LEARN SPRINT

6. Agile Coach
The Scrum Master is the
servant-leader for the
Team. The Scrum Master
serves the Team in coa-
ching, helping them to
create high-value pro-
ducts, and removing
impediments to the pro-
gress.
The Sprint (Time-Box)
The heart of Scrum is a
Sprint, a time-box during
which a “Done” product
increment is created. Each
Sprint may be considered a
project with no more than
one month.
Restrospective
The Sprint Retrospective
in an opportunity for the
Development Team to
inspect itself and create a
plan for improvements to
be enacted during the
next Sprint.
Agile method - Agile Coach
The Agile Coach has two
crucial tasks. First, main-
tain collaboration within
the Team. Second, search
for additional fra-
meworks and tools for
the work.
The Agile Coach is res-
ponsible for ensuring the
Time-Box of 15 minutes
for each dash. The agility
of the method comes di-
rectly from the fixed time
to analyze or innovate.
The Agile Coach facilita-
tes the post-activity of
sharing the lessons lear-
ned of the whole team. It
is imperative to discuss
how to spread the lear-
ning.
SCRUM LEARN SPRINT

7. Dash 1. Educate - Preparation
1. What is the problem in the case/article?
• Make sure you know the problem that needs to be diagnosed. Consider
whether the characteristics of the problem suggest causes.
• Think about the frameworks that seem most appropriate to the situation.
Quickly review the specifics of the frameworks if you aren’t sure of them.
• Pursue the diagnosis by looking at case information through the lens of
the cause you are most certain about.
• For each cause, make a separate pass through the case looking for
evidence of it.
• In a case with a protagonist, consider whether she is a potential cause.
If you think she is, work out how she contributes to the problem.
2. What is the solution? Is it relevant to us?
• Review the criteria you have come up with so far.Which do you have the
most confidence in?
• Apply the criterion that seems to identify the most evidence in the case.
• Investigate the strongest decision option with the criterion you have the
most confidence in. Or, if you’re reasonably certain about which is
weakest, see if you can dismiss that option quickly.
• If there are conflicts about the decision between individuals or groups,
think about why that is. Look at the decision from the point of view of
each of the parties to the conflict.
• If the protagonist is in a difficult position in relation to the decision, con-
sider why that is.
3. How do we evaluate alternative solutions?
• What are the terms of the evaluation going to be (e.g., strengths/we-
aknesses)? Do any stand out in the case (e.g., an obvious strength of an
individual)?
• Start by applying the criterion that seems to identify the most evidence
in the case.
• Investigate the most positive rating or the most negative with the crite-
rion you have the most confidence in.
The Product Owner prepares the Product Backlog using
the main point of the readings. She presents her analysis
at the beginning of Dash 2.
Case Study Checklist

8. Dash 2. Examine Time-box 15min.
1. Define the problem/question. What is the big question or questions that need
to be answered? Try to avoid listing many separate questions. Focus on the “big picture” and
ask one or two significant questions (which will undoubtedly turn out to have some subques-
tions, but rather than listing the subquestions at the start, we want to clarify the larger issue
that we’re trying to address).
2. Gather preliminary data that allow construction of initial hypotheses about the
causes of and answers to the questions. Example: What do we already know about the pro-
blem?
3. Develop a set of competing descriptive hypotheses about the causes
and their associated prescriptive hypotheses. Example: The firm’s profitability problems
could be caused by:
Descriptive hypothesis Prescriptive hypothesis
Unattractive industry structure Exit industry
Lack of appropriate capabilities Develop capabilities
Less profitable target markets Repositioning
4. Select the most promising descriptive hypothesis for testing.
Example: Experience and the available data point to the hypothesis that target markets are
the problem as the most likely one.
5. Formulate the prescriptive hypothesis for testing. Structure an argu-
ment that lays out the supporting logic for the design hypothesis.
6. Identify the analyses that need to be performed and design the study
needed to collect the data. Example: Perform a market-segmentation analysis by customer
group, with estimates of profitability, by interviewing x number of geographically dispersed
customers.
Hypothesis-driven problem solving
The Team chooses challenges from the Product Backlog.
Then, the Team conducts the Sprint Planning. The main
activity of Dash 2 in formulating an initial hypothesis.

9. Dash 3. Explore Time-box 15min.
Reframing
To better address your business challenges,
first revisiting your definition of the problem
may prove more productive than searching
immediately for a solution. The framing of a
question ultimately drives the nature of the
answers. Narrow or conventional scoping of
problems and opportunities may obscure or
even prohibit the most creative solutions.
Mind Mapping
Mind mapping is the tool we use to cull large
amounts of data in order to spot patterns
and develop insights. It is a clustering tech-
nique. By grouping observations, it’s easier
to see patterns emerge and distill the insi-
ghts that accompany them. Pattern recogni-
tion comes up again and again in design
thinking as a critically important skill.
Ethnography
The idea of diving deep into customers’
perspectives seems obvious to most
businesspeople. We often fail, however,
to apply ethnographic tools to our inter-
nal partners and stakeholders. Their
support is essential to the success of our
innovation efforts, and understanding
their problems and needs can often be
as valuable as understanding custo-
mers’.
Journey Mapping
Journey mapping is one of the most
powerful weapons in the designer’s
arsenal. It traces a stakeholder’s
“journey” as he or she performs a
series of steps involved in an expe-
rience, with special attention to the
emotional highs and lows. It is most
often used to map a customer’s jour-
ney, but when used in the redesign of
internal processes to gain a deeper
understanding of employees’ work
routines, as Toyota does, it can yield
important insights as well.
The Opposable Mind
As F. Scott Fitzgerald famously said,
“The test of a first-rate intelligence is
the ability to hold two opposed ideas
in the mind at the same time and still
retain the ability to function.” The test
of a first-rate design solution is the
ability to find a higher-order idea that
reconciles what seems like an inevita-
ble trade-off, as Roger Martin has
described in his book The Opposable
Mind.
Design Thinking tools
The Team starts to look for insights in further analysis or
through Design Thinking. The Agile Coach helps in finding
frameworks and tools and ensures the Sprint Time-Box.
Agile
Coach
helps
find
additional
tools
connecting
to
experts.

10. Dash 4. Experiment Time-box 15min.
Prototyping
The term prototyping conjures up images of polished mock-ups of
future products. Banish those from your mind. Design thinking pro-
totypes are more often simple visualizations such as storyboards,
flow charts, or even PowerPoint slides (not filled with bullet points!).
Their job is not to look good—it is to make your ideas tangible and
concrete to your key stakeholders so they can give you better, more
realistic feedback.
Personas
Personas are made-up people, standing in for real ones. Instead of
being conjured up in your imagination, however, they are created
out of bits and pieces of data gathered from actual people during
ethnographic research. As such, they are archetypes representing
different clusters of characteristics. They are often an important tool
or uncovering unarticulated needs and for inspiring the generation
of innovative ideas.
Minimum Viable Product
We have already talked a lot about prototyping. An MVP takes us
one step further. It is a high-fidelity prototype that has the minimum
level of acceptable functionality built into it. A prototype might be a
nonfunctional representation of a website or a wooden sculpture of
a car. An MVP is a beta (or even alpha) website that we can click
through or a version of the wooden car that we could drive around
a parking lot.
Experimentation tools
The Team focuses on delivering the “Done,” which was
defined in the Product Backlog. The PO facilitates the
Sprint Review and assesses the execution of the Sprint.
Product
Owner
conducts
the
Sprint
Review
to
assess
the
MVP.

11. Dash 5. Embed - Post Sprint
STICKY. Can I remember the Sprint?
The ability to quickly bring information learned to mind is
“ease of recall”, and it is essentially what we mean when we
call a new knowledge “sticky”. The more information one
gets to process the less likely they will do it, or do it effecti-
vely without errors. “If I cannot remember X, I will not use X.”
MEANINGFUL. Do I care about the Sprint?
Meaningful learning will motive leaders to use them. Even if a
learning is easy to recall, there´s no guaranteeing it will lead
to behavior change. It must also carry some meaning for the
person, otherwise it edges more into the realm of pop music
- information we can´t get out of our heads, but ultimately
does little for us.
COHERENT. Does the Sprint fit with what I
am asked to do?
Reconciling conflicting messages is mentally draining. The
content of the learning will be perceived as being coherent
with other company expectations when the behaviors
outlined in the learning make sense and align conceptually
with what is communicated via other channels across the
organization.
Levels of learning
The Agile Coach conducts the Sprint Retrospective
evaluating the level of learning in the Sprint. The Team and
the Product Owner decide if a next Sprint is required.
Daily Dash - Next Sprint
1. What did I do yesterday that helped the Team meet the Sprint Goal?
2. What will I do today to help the Team meet the Sprint Goal?
3. Do I see any impediment that prevents the Team or me from meeting
the Sprint Goal?