The best question I ever stole from a client

I was on a call where somebody asked, almost in passing: what would you do with the five hours if you had it?

The room changed. Up to that point we had been talking about software in the abstract — features, integrations, the usual. Then suddenly everyone was talking about their actual week.

Why it works

It moves the conversation from cost to value without ever mentioning money. Nobody has to defend a budget. They just have to describe what they would do with time they do not currently have.

It also tells you instantly whether the project is real. If someone cannot name what they would do with the time, the time was not the problem, and you are about to build something that solves nothing.

What people actually say

Almost nobody says they would relax. They name the thing they have been meaning to get to for two years. Visit customers. Train the new starter properly. Finally look at why the margin dropped on that product line.

That answer is the business case, in their words, unprompted. It is worth more than any ROI model I could build, because it came from them.

I have used it in every discovery since. I have never once credited the person I took it from, so: thank you, and I am sorry.