Breaking Down the Business Context Barrier: A Value-Driven Approach to Stakeholder Conversations

“I don’t have the business knowledge or context.”

I dont know about you, but this is a barrier I face from colleagues alot. Ironically, it’s the mindset that often prevents us from having the very conversations that would help us gain that context.

Starting with Curiosity

The journey to understanding business value doesn’t start with technical knowledge – it starts with curiosity about people, and there job/role. In my years, I’ve learned that the most valuable conversations often begin with simple questions about the person across the table:

  • “What does your typical day look like?”
  • “What are the most challenging parts of your role?”
  • “How did you get into this area of finance?”

These questions might seem tangential to the data request at hand, but they serve multiple crucial purposes:

  1. They build trust and rapport
  2. They provide context about how the business actually operates
  3. They help you understand the human impact of the work you’ll be doing
  4. They often reveal insights that shape better technical solutions

A Real Conversation Example

Let me share a experience - I have made this up to make sure nothing sensitive is shared.

Initial Request: “We need a daily Profit and Loss report for the trading desk.”

Instead of jumping into data sources and calculations, the conversation went like this:

“Before we dive into the report, could you tell me a bit about your role on the trading desk?”

What followed was a 10-minute conversation where I learned:

  • They manage a portfolio of emerging market securities
  • Their team has to make position decisions before US markets open
  • They currently spend 2 hours each morning manually compiling overnight movements
  • They’ve missed trading opportunities due to delayed information

This context completely changed the solution we ultimately built. Instead of a daily P&L report, we created an automated overnight processing system that had the information ready before their early morning meetings.

Building Your Business Context

Here’s how to approach building business context through curiosity:

1. Start with the Person

  • Ask about their background
  • Understand their daily challenges
  • Learn about their goals and pressures, what keeps them up at night.
  • Show genuine interest in their work

2. Follow the Data Flow

  • “What do you do with this information?”
  • “Who else relies on these numbers?”
  • “What decisions does this data influence?”
  • “What happens when this information is wrong or late?”

3. Understand the Timing

  • When do they need the information?
  • What other processes depend on it?
  • Are there critical deadlines or market times to consider?

4. Map the Impact

  • How does this work affect other teams?
  • What are the downstream consequences?
  • What opportunities are they missing currently?

Beyond Technical Requirements

One of the most valuable lessons is business context isn’t just about understanding processes – it’s about understanding people.

Before:

A stakeholder requests a dashboard showing customer churn metrics.

Traditional Response:

  • Jump into defining metrics
  • Discuss data sources
  • Plan technical implementation

After:

First, understand the story behind the request:

  • Why is churn becoming a focus now?
  • What changes have they noticed in customer behavior?
  • How do they currently track and respond to churn?
  • What would success look like for them personally?

Understanding the Stakeholder’s Jobs to be Done

When we talk about building business context, what we’re really trying to understand are three key elements:

  1. Customer Jobs: What is your stakeholder trying to accomplish?

    • Functional jobs (e.g., generating monthly risk reports)
    • Social jobs (e.g., looking competent in front of senior management)
    • Emotional jobs (e.g., feeling confident about data accuracy)
    • Supporting jobs (e.g., comparing different data sources)

  2. Pains: What are their frustrations and challenges?

    • Undesired outcomes (e.g., inaccurate reports)
    • Obstacles (e.g., manual data compilation)
    • Risks (e.g., potential compliance breaches)

  3. Gains: What benefits are they seeking?

    • Required outcomes (e.g., basic reporting functionality)
    • Expected improvements (e.g., faster processing)
    • Desired enhancements (e.g., automated validations)
    • Unexpected benefits (e.g., new analytical capabilities)

Let’s see how curiosity-driven conversations can uncover these elements:

Example Conversation Flow:

Initial Request: “We need faster access to our position data.”

Jobs Discovery:

  • “Walk me through how you use this position data in your daily work?”
  • “Who else relies on you having this information?”
  • “What decisions do you make with this data?”

Pains Discovery:

  • “What challenges do you face with the current process?”
  • “How much time does this currently take?”
  • “What risks worry you about the current approach?”

Gains Discovery:

  • “What would an ideal solution look like?”
  • “How would faster access change your work?”
  • “What other improvements would make a big difference?”

From Discovery to Value Creation

Once you understand the jobs, pains, and gains, you can focus on creating value through:

  1. Pain Relievers:

    • Automating manual processes
    • Implementing data quality checks, and scenarios of how you expect the data to behave
    • Creating early warning systems, for SLA alerting and measuring for proactive communication.
    • Streamlining workflows

  2. Gain Creators:

    • Adding analytical capabilities
    • Enabling self-service features
    • Improving data visualization
    • Creating new insights

The Compound Effect of Value-Driven Curiosity

The beautiful thing about this approach is that it compounds over time. Each conversation builds your business context:

  1. Immediate Benefits:

    • Better solution design
    • Stronger stakeholder relationships
    • More engaged conversations

  2. Long-term Benefits:

    • Deep understanding of business operations
    • Ability to anticipate needs
    • Recognition as a business partner, not just a technical resource
    • Network of knowledgeable contacts across the organization

Making Value Creation Concrete

One key lesson from value proposition design is that abstract pains and gains aren’t enough - we need to make them concrete. Here’s how:

  1. Quantify the Pain

    • “After how many minutes does the wait become problematic?”
    • “How many hours per week does manual compilation take?”
    • “What’s the financial impact of a data error?”

  2. Measure the Gain

    • “What percentage improvement would make a significant difference?”
    • “How much faster would the process need to be?”
    • “What specific metrics would indicate success?”

  3. Document Value Creation

    • Map specific solutions to specific pains
    • Link improvements to concrete business outcomes
    • Track and measure the impact

Learning from Masters of Value Discovery: The Jobs Approach

Steve Jobs was reknown for his product discovery and creation. While his style was uniquely his own (and sometimes confrontational), his approach to understanding and creating value offers valuable lessons:

1. Look Beyond the Surface Request

Jobs never simply built what people said they wanted. As he famously noted, “People don’t know what they want until you show it to them.”:

  • Don’t just accept requests at face value
  • Dig deeper into underlying needs
  • Think about future needs, not just current ones
  • Consider the broader impact on the business

2. Focus on the Experience, Not Just the Function

Jobs obsessed over user experience, even for parts that users wouldn’t see (like the circuit board layout in the original Mac). For data professionals, this means:

  • Consider the entire user journey with data
  • Think about the emotional impact of solutions
  • Pay attention to details that make work smoother
  • Design for elegance, not just functionality

3. Connect Technical Solutions to Human Needs

At Pixar, Jobs bridged the gap between technical capability and artistic needs. In data work, we can:

  • Translate technical features into business benefits
  • Show how solutions improve daily work life
  • Connect data capabilities to business storytelling
  • Make technical solutions accessible and intuitive

4. Challenge Assumptions

Jobs wasn’t afraid to challenge stakeholder assumptions. While we might not use his exact style, we can:

  • Respectfully question established processes
  • Propose alternative approaches
  • Push for simpler, more elegant solutions
  • Challenge “that’s how we’ve always done it” thinking

  1. Keep a Business Context Journal

    • Note key terms and concepts you learn
    • Document processes you discover
    • Map relationships between different business areas

  2. Follow Up Conversations

    • “I was thinking about what you said about X…”
    • “Could you help me understand more about…”
    • “Has anything changed since we last spoke about…”

  3. Connect the Dots

    • Look for patterns across different requests
    • Identify common pain points
    • Share relevant insights across teams

From Context to Value

Once you build this foundation of business context, extracting value from conversations becomes natural:

  1. You speak their language

    • Understanding terminology builds credibility
    • Conversations flow more naturally
    • Requirements are clearer

  2. You anticipate needs

    • Spot potential issues early
    • Suggest improvements proactively
    • Connect related business needs

  3. You build better solutions

    • Address root causes, not just symptoms
    • Consider broader business impact
    • Design for future needs

Conclusion

The next time you feel that “I don’t have the business context” barrier rising, remember that everyone started exactly where you are. The difference is they let their curiosity lead the way.

Start with genuine interest in the person across the table. Let their story guide you to understanding. The technical solutions will flow naturally from there, and you’ll build lasting relationships that make every future project easier.

Remember: Business context isn’t a prerequisite for these conversations – it’s the result of them.