## Why It Matters Understanding the true reason behind a feature request is critical to ensuring that teams build meaningful and impactful solutions. Without a clear "Why," development can turn into busy work, reducing motivation, blocking better problem-solving approaches, and preventing prioritization based on actual value. A lack of understanding can also lead to misalignment with the product vision and wasted resources. ## The Risks of Ignoring the "Why" - **Lack of Impact**: Building features without understanding their purpose can result in work that does not contribute to business or user goals. - **Lower Motivation**: Teams lose engagement when they don't see the rationale behind their efforts. - **Missed Opportunities**: Without knowing the underlying problem, teams can't explore better, more efficient solutions. - **No Tradeoff Consideration**: Without a clear reason, it's impossible to properly assess effort versus impact. - **Weak Prioritization**: Requests without justification lack context for comparison against other initiatives. ## How to Uncover the True Problem >[!missing] > Strategies to root cause analysis To ensure every feature request is backed by a solid rationale: - **Document the "Why" Clearly**: Make it a required field in intake forms and PRDs. - **Always Ask: "What Problem Are We Trying to Solve?"** - **Gather Evidence**: Ensure there is supporting data or real user pain points justifying the request. - **Use the Five Whys**: Keep digging deeper by repeatedly asking "why" to uncover the root cause.  ![[Pushing Back Against Vague or Authority-Based Requests]] ## Building a Culture of Justification To make questioning the "Why" a standard practice: - **Make It a Requirement in PRDs**: Ensure every request includes a problem statement and expected impact. - **Empower Teams to Ask Questions**: Encourage open discussions and normalize the expectation of justification. - **Tie KPIs to the Why**: Measure the success of features based on the original problem they aimed to solve.