Who?
#104 - Apr.2024
In a recent meeting, I heard a question: "Who will be the first one to call out in panic if we don't build this?"
There was silence in the room...
It was a simple question. Or at least we all think It was. But no one had a clear answer to it.
A simple question, but a very important one.
All of us are sometimes caught in the momentum of delivering things, even if we don't have a clear idea of who will benefit.
Or, in most cases, we are trusting our assumption of what the problem is, rather than investing time discovering and confirming such assumptions.
This framing of "who will be [sad, annoyed, helpless, frustrated] if we don't build [X]?“ is a great exercise to know who you are building for.
Try this question yourself.
Next time you are reviewing something your team is building ask yourself:
- Who will be the one eager to see this become a reality?
- Who will reach to you immediately if the project is cancelled?
- Who will be sharing with others their frustration because something you were working on is now in the parking lot?
You'll find that if you can't answer this question right away, chances are, you don't understand the problem yet.
