The Art of Asking the Right Questions in Product Strategy 🤔

👋 Welcome to Inspired Momentum!

When it comes to product strategy, asking the right questions is often more important than having all the answers. The right questions lead to clarity, spark innovation, and help teams focus on what truly matters.

In this issue, we’ll explore:

1. Why asking questions is a critical skill in product strategy.

2. The types of questions that drive better decisions.

3. A list of powerful, actionable questions you can use today.

Let’s dive in!

🔍 Why Questions Are the Secret to Great Product Strategy

Too often, teams jump into solutions without fully understanding the problem. Questions help uncover:

• The real needs of your users.

• The root cause of challenges.

• Opportunities for innovation and growth.

Great questions open the door to collaboration, deeper thinking, and more informed decisions.

🎯 The 3 Types of Strategic Questions

1. Discovery Questions

   These help you understand the landscape, your users, and their pain points.

   • Example: “What problem are we solving, and who is experiencing it?”

2. Challenging Questions

   These push your team to consider alternative perspectives and challenge assumptions.

   • Example: “What if we’re wrong about our target audience’s priorities?”

3. Action-Oriented Questions

   These focus on the next steps and creating momentum.

   • Example: “What’s one small experiment we can run this week to validate our idea?”

💡 15 Powerful Questions to Supercharge Your Product Strategy

Understanding the Problem:

1. “What is the root cause of this issue?”

2. “What would happen if we didn’t solve this problem?”

3. “What are users currently doing to solve this problem?”

Exploring Opportunities:

4. “What trends or market shifts could impact our product?”

5. “How can we leverage our strengths to create something unique?”

6. “What unmet needs exist in our current customer base?”

Challenging Assumptions:

7. “What are we assuming about our users that we haven’t validated?”

8. “What would our product look like if we simplified it by 50%?”

9. “What could disrupt our strategy in the next 6–12 months?”

Focusing on Growth:

10. “What is the easiest way to increase user retention?”

11. “What part of the user journey needs the most improvement?”

12. “How can we reduce friction in our onboarding process?”

Driving Action:

13. “What metric should we focus on improving this quarter?”

14. “What’s stopping us from testing this idea today?”

15. “How will we know if this strategy is working?”

🛠️ Practical Tips for Using Questions in Your Strategy

1. Facilitate Open Discussions: Create an environment where team members feel comfortable asking bold or challenging questions.

2. Prioritize and Focus: To avoid becoming overwhelmed, start with 2 to 3 key questions per meeting or project.

3. Document the Process: Capture questions and answers to keep track of your team’s insights and decisions.

4. Combine Questions with Data: Pair qualitative questions with quantitative insights for a balanced approach.

🚀 Case Study: How Asking the Right Questions Transformed Slack’s Growth

When Slack first launched, they focused on one key question:

“How can we make team communication better than email?”

By exploring this question, they identified pain points with email: lack of collaboration, difficulty searching archives, and slow response times. This focus helped Slack create a product that directly solved these issues, driving rapid adoption and growth.

Your Takeaway: Asking specific, user-focused questions can lead to products that truly stand out.

💡 Quick Challenge: Start Asking Better Questions Today!

1. Pick one upcoming product meeting.

2. Use 3 of the strategic questions from this newsletter to guide the discussion.

3. Observe how these questions change the quality of the conversation and decisions.

📣 Let’s Collaborate!

What’s your favorite question to ask during product discussions? Reply to this email and share your insights. I’d love to feature your input on future issues!

Until next time,
Filippo

P.S. Share this issue with a teammate who loves deep discussions—they’ll thank you for it!