Stop Asking Why. Ask What the Practical Implication Is.
"Why do we need this?" puts people on the defensive and rarely gets you a real answer. Swapping in "what is the practical implication of this decision?" surfaces whether the person proposing it actually understands the use case — and pulls everyone back toward business value.
Transcript
Here's a very easy and practical tip that will change your discussions and your way of thinking, and it's pretty useful.
Ask your team, ask yourself — or whenever a suggestion comes up in conversation for a change of feature, a change of strategy, business process — ask: what is the implication, the practical implication, of this decision?
It replaces "why do we need this." So typically we think about: why is this needed? Why puts people on the defensive. But besides for that, it actually asks a very important question. And often enough, folks are making good suggestions, but they don't understand really the use case or the real implications of their decision.
This will help folks around you align with the business value that you're really looking to get from the work you're putting in.
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