Your engineering team is probably solving problems that don't need engineering

And as a result you’re burning through the most expensive, hardest-to-replace resource you have on work that didn't need to exist.

By the time you realize the problem, you're three quarters of the way through a roadmap that a single customer conversation could have erased.

Two things you can do to break the cycle:

Before any technical work starts, have someone (not an engineer) talk directly to the customer.

Ask what outcome they actually need, not what features they imagine.

One of my teams assumed a client wanted sophisticated functionality. A single conversation revealed they wanted something far simpler.

For every proposed technical solution, ask: "Can this be solved by changing the process instead?"

A workflow adjustment or a new communication channel often eliminates the problem faster than any code will.

The teams that ship fastest aren't always the ones that build the most.

They're the ones who figure out what not to build.

Originally posted on LinkedIn.