Inspired by the column by Nizan Guanaes, in Valor Econômic Newspaper
In his column in the Valor Econômico newspaper, Nizan Guanaes asserts: “In the 21st century, the answer is the question.” The idea may seem obvious, but it explains why so many products are confusing, so many services fail the basics, and so many companies spend money where the customer sees no value. There is no shortage of data—there is a lack of the right questions.
Simple questions disarm old habits: why do bath labels have tiny letters no one reads? Why don’t airlines include Wi-Fi in the ticket price? Why do stores and restaurants choose names that repel rather than attract? Why don’t countries with huge tourism potential treat it as a priority? These missteps persist because rarely does anyone ask “why?” before repeating the model.
Asking the right questions isn’t about conducting generic surveys. It’s about observing real usage and listening without being defensive. Many innovations we consider normal today came from questions that were considered silly: “What if you could order a car through your phone?” “What if you stayed in someone else’s house?” The “obvious” only seems obvious after someone dares to question it.
How to Turn Questions Into Quick Improvements?
- Do a customer round: Follow the journey from start to finish. Ask, “What bothers you here?” Write it down without justifying.
- Create five minutes for uncomfortable questions: In every meeting, make room for questions that are usually avoided. Many savings come from this.
- Define what to remove, not just what to add: If a step doesn’t help the user, eliminate it. Simplification is an immediate gain.
- Swap debate for short testing: Instead of debating for hours, show a draft to ten customers and ask, “Would you pay for this? Why?”
- Monitor everyday signals: Forms that ask for the same information, confusing signs, unnecessary lines – each is an invitation for a direct question: “Does it need to be like this?”
To help, here are five questions that pave the way:
- What is difficult for the customer that we can make simple this week?
- Which part of our process does no one understand but everyone pretends to?
- If we started from scratch today, what wouldn’t we include?
- What promise does no one notice (and thus, doesn’t miss)?
- What inexpensive detail would make the experience memorable?
In the end, asking changes the type of decision we make. We move from “I think” to “I saw”- from personal preference to real need. The right question is the shortest shortcut to the answer that matters – exactly as Nizan Guanaes pointed out.
That’s it.
