Brian Lift
a structured framework designed to distill and socialize the core domain expertise that guides strategic thinking. It transforms scattered research and data into a cohesive knowledge base, ensuring decisions are grounded in sharp, defensible insights.
It helps understand the “why” behind product bets, accelerating collective learning and aligning the team’s mission
Sources
This section lists the external references that shaped your understanding of the domain. The goal is to provide a comprehensive view of where your knowledge came from, ranging from:
- Books and Academic Papers: Foundational knowledge and formal research.
- Industry Blogs, Sites, and Papers: Current best practices and domain-specific knowledge.
- Subject Matter Experts and Public Voices: Real-world experience and community discussions (e.g., podcasts, forums, Slack communities).
The focus is on the synthesis of a strong fact base, not just the formality of the source.
Evidence
Evidence summarises the most important, objective facts uncovered during your research—things known to work or fail in the domain. These are the data points, statistics, and proven principles.
Insights
Insights are your synthesis of the evidence into actionable conclusions. This is where you explain what you concluded about what truly matters in the domain and why. They connect the facts to real-world implications for your product.
Insight vs Evidence
🌱 Evidence - Think of evidence as raw ingredients — like data points, transcripts, charts, or feedback.
- What it is: Facts, data, quotes, or observations you’ve gathered.
- Purpose: To support reasoning, not to interpret it.
- Example:
- 60% of learners dropped out of the course after week 3.
- Users said they felt lost after the first quiz.
💡 Insight - Think of insight as the cooked meal — something you can act on.
- What it is: The meaning you extract from evidence — a pattern, tension, or truth that explains why something happens.
- Purpose: To guide decisions or reveal opportunity.
- Example:
- “Learners drop out after week 3 because the content shifts from guided to self-paced — they lose structure and motivation.”
| Aspect | Evidence | Insight |
|---|---|---|
| Nature | Observation / Fact | Interpretation / Understanding |
| Source | Data, interviews, analytics | Synthesis of multiple evidences |
| Function | Supports or proves something | Explains or guides action |
| Example | “Users skipped onboarding video.” | “Users skip onboarding because they expect interactivity, not a long video.” |
Spiky Points of view
This is the most impactful section. It lists the clear, strong principles you would defend—your non-negotiable stances. These principles must flow directly and logically from your Insights and Evidence. They are the bets you are making.
Example
Brain Lift
(Theme: Math Fluency, Topics: Learning session length and frequency, Refreshing students’ fluency) Sources
- Ogden R. Lindsley: “Precision Teaching: Discoveries and Effects,” 1992. (Link)
- Carl Binder: “Behavioral Fluency: Evolution of a New Paradigm,” 1996. (Link)
- Kaydee L. Owen: “Implementation Support Improves Outcomes of a Fluency-Based Mathematics Strategy,” 2021. (Link)
- Direct Instruction (DI) and Precision Teaching (PT) models use short daily practice sessions (e.g., 10 minutes for DI, 1–5 minutes for PT) to build fluency.
- For tech-based fact practice, the total dosage (interaction between number of sessions and number of weeks) significantly predicts effectiveness, accounting for about 23% of the variance in outcomes. In contrast, frequency or session length alone do not.
- Effective tech-based practice parameters vary: sessions often range from brief 10-15 minutes (e.g., DI, XtraMath) to moderate 15-25 minutes (e.g., Reflex), with frequencies from 2-3 times per week up to daily, over intervention periods typically lasting 8-15 weeks or more.
- Retrieval practice and spaced repetition (whether across days or within the same day) are highly effective for developing long-term retention and automaticity.
- To optimize learning efficiency, feedback during these sessions should be immediate and explanatory.
- Four 10-minute retrieval sessions on consecutive days improve fact retention in K–5 students (d = 0.38–1.41).
- Reaching 30–40 CQPM in elementary grades typically requires 40–100 hours of focused practice per year.
- Interleaving (mixing different problems or concepts within a practice session) improves students’ ability to discriminate between problem types. Compared to blocked practice (practicing one skill type at a time), it enhances long-term retention and transfer.
- Interleaved math practice greatly benefits delayed tests (d ≈ 0.8 after 30 days) compared to blocked practice, without requiring additional practice time.
- Memory reconsolidation, triggered when information is retrieved after a delay during spaced practice, is a key mechanism for strengthening long-term memory traces.
- Four 10-minute retrieval sessions on consecutive days improve fact retention in K–5 students (d = 0.38–1.41).
- Embedding a 1-week gap before revisiting prior skills enhances long-term retention of multi-digit computation in elementary grades.
- Total practice dosage, not session length, drives significant gains.
- Hitting a weekly minute quota explains about 25 % of the variance in growth, so fluency apps should track and nudge until that quota is met.
- Spaced repetition plus interleaving turns short practice into long-term memory.
- Re-surfacing each fact three times a week, mixed with other skills, cuts the usual 15% post-term fluency drop to under 5%.
- Scheduling mini-games that revisit mastered sets at widening intervals bakes this spacing automatically.
- Fluency drill sessions must be designed as daily, short bursts of 10-15 minutes.
- Fluency builds with short, regular sessions, not long marathons.
- Drills must include a combination of new facts and dissimilar, already-fluent facts.
- To ensure long-term retention and peak fluent recall (speed and accuracy), previously mastered facts are actively and continuously woven into ongoing practice sessions.
- This core reinforcement mechanic reintroduces fluent facts alongside current target facts that are still being worked on for fluency, promoting robust, interleaved learning.
By completing a Brain Lift, a team ensures its strategic direction is anchored in collective, structured domain expertise, leading to crisp, high-leverage decisions.
Source: Cross over product strategy assignment.