Comments on: 8 Provocative Questions that Encourage Lateral Thinking https://www.bridging-the-gap.com/asking-provocative-questions-to-encourage-lateral-thinking/ We'll Help You Start Your Business Analyst Career Wed, 25 Sep 2013 21:44:53 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.6.2 By: 53 Tips For Discovering All the Requirements | Learn Project Management https://www.bridging-the-gap.com/asking-provocative-questions-to-encourage-lateral-thinking/comment-page-1/#comment-429694 Wed, 25 Sep 2013 21:44:53 +0000 http://www.bridging-the-gap.com/?p=4816#comment-429694 […] – Use Provocative Questions. Provocative questions can encourage lateral thinking, which will lead you to assumptions, constraints, and business drivers you might not discover […]

]]> By: Provocateurs Gather the Best Requirements | devblogging.com https://www.bridging-the-gap.com/asking-provocative-questions-to-encourage-lateral-thinking/comment-page-1/#comment-429693 Thu, 21 Jul 2011 02:37:58 +0000 http://www.bridging-the-gap.com/?p=4816#comment-429693 […] Reed wrote a great article this week (hat tip to Kevin Brennan) on asking provoking questions that leverage lateral thinking techniques to get better insight into the true requirements. […]

]]> By: Adrian Reed https://www.bridging-the-gap.com/asking-provocative-questions-to-encourage-lateral-thinking/comment-page-1/#comment-429692 Mon, 08 Nov 2010 17:23:55 +0000 http://www.bridging-the-gap.com/?p=4816#comment-429692 Hi David, many thanks for the comment. I completely agree that during requirements gathering it’s essential to focus on the “problem space” rather than the solution. This is the best way of ensuring that the project meets the business and project objectives.

You are right that each question has a particular application, and it may or may not be appropriate for a particular project (or project phase).

Question 8 is particularly useful when a stakeholder/project sponsor already has a solution in mind. We’ve probably all worked on these projects – where a sponsor essentially says “I want to implement xyz…. Let’s start a project to do that”. As analysts we can use critical questioning to get to the logical requirements. This will enable us to ensure a robust solution analysis takes place.

Question 1 is useful to get a sense for the stakeholder’s vision. It asks them what their ideal solution or outcome looks like. When they are describing this, it’s likely that they’ll describe certain attributes or features which will translate to requirements. It is the BAs role to abstract away any non-relevant solution language, and extract the essence of the logical requirement.

I certainly do agree that these questions need to be used selectively, with a particular aim in mind.

Thanks again for the comment, much appreciated. Hope you enjoyed the article!

Take care,

Adrian.

]]> By: Asking provocative questions to encourage lateral thinking « Adrian Reed's Blog https://www.bridging-the-gap.com/asking-provocative-questions-to-encourage-lateral-thinking/comment-page-1/#comment-429691 Mon, 08 Nov 2010 15:15:43 +0000 http://www.bridging-the-gap.com/?p=4816#comment-429691 […] pleased to say that my most recent blog article has been published on “Bridging-the-gap.com”, where I have contributed as a guest author.    I’d love to hear what you think, so please […]

]]> By: David W. Wright https://www.bridging-the-gap.com/asking-provocative-questions-to-encourage-lateral-thinking/comment-page-1/#comment-429690 Sun, 07 Nov 2010 03:18:08 +0000 http://www.bridging-the-gap.com/?p=4816#comment-429690 Good questions about a project, but not really about Requirements. I would especially want the requirements defined before considering the options offered in #8, or before asking #1. Solution is the end result, but don’t start with it. It’s like deciding to buy a truck when you don’t know if you even need a vehicle.

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