In product conversations, the ask usually comes first.
“Can we automate this?”
“Can we get more visibility?”
“Can we move faster on this?”
The intent is valid. But the ask is often just the surface.
And if you act on it as-is, you might end up building what looks good—but doesn’t move the needle.
The Ask Reflects Friction—Not Always the Root
Let’s unpack that with real scenarios.
1. The Ask: “Can we automate this approval flow?”
This comes up often in shared services, finance, and HR workflows.
But when you study the process, you’ll find the approvals aren’t the real bottleneck—it’s the number of exceptions.
Teams spend more time handling edge cases, checking outdated master data, or following up for missing inputs.
In such a case, blindly automating the flow only speeds up the structured 20%. The real value lies in handling the messy 80%—through validations, rules that evolve, or by giving approvers context upfront.
What’s needed:
Adaptable logic, not static automation.
A system that handles how work actually happens, not how it’s drawn on a slide.
2. The Ask: “We need a dashboard to track this.”
A product team requests a dashboard to track sales team activity.
The real issue? No one’s clear on what activity actually correlates with conversion.
You can build the dashboard. It’ll show calls made, emails sent, and deals touched. But unless you surface patterns—or remove the noise—it doesn’t lead to better decisions.
In some cases, what’s more helpful is a feed of outliers, or a weekly summary showing where attention is needed.
What’s needed:
Decision clarity, not visual clutter.
Build to inform, not just to show.
Why It Happens
These asks aren’t wrong.
They’re just incomplete.
People frame requests based on what they’re experiencing.
And when you’re too close to the problem, it’s hard to see the system that causes it.
That’s why execution teams—product, engineering, strategy—have a responsibility not just to build, but to interpret.
From Request-Driven to Outcome-Oriented
A better approach isn’t to reject the ask—it’s to dig one layer deeper.
- What’s the actual inefficiency behind this?
Is it a misalignment of context? A data gap? A trust issue? - Will this solution hold when volumes grow?
Is it solving for today’s problem, or setting us up for tomorrow’s? - Are we solving the right layer?
Sometimes the ask is about automation—but the fix lies in simplifying the process itself.
It’s Not About Overbuilding—It’s About Solving Well
The best teams don’t just respond to the request.
They look for the outcome behind it.
That’s how internal tools become infrastructure.
That’s how delivery moves from feature velocity to business impact.
It’s easy to say yes to what’s asked.
But it’s far more valuable to ask:
“Will this actually make a difference?”
