The proposed Thompson cycle -- learn > build > measure -- discounts the difficulty of leaving the learn node and entering the build node when you first start.

The proposed Thompson cycle -- learn > build > measure -- discounts the difficulty of leaving the learn node and entering the build node when you first start. Perhaps it's different for designers, but my experience with people in other areas is that people get trapped in a learn > learn infinite loop. So one of the advantages of the Ries cycle -- build > measure > learn -- is that you gain a critical bit of forward momentum right at the start.