Many product owners and customers believe they know the problem they want to solve. That fake certainty causes them to define solutions, instead of solving the problem at hand.
John Le Drew and I pair-wrote an article describing this problem and how to solve it. See Eliminate Fake Certainty and Solve the Real Problem.
Yes, I've been experimenting with other pairs for writing. I have several experiments ongoing. We'll see if they result in articles.
Why am I experimenting? For several reasons:
- Pair-writing challenges many people, including me.
- I understand that pair-writing is not a solution looking for a problem. It is, however, a possibility.
- I want as many experiences as possible as I develop my book about writing. (Not the next book.)
Yes, that's a little meta considering the article. I'm not defining pair-writing as the one-and-only solution for writing “problems.”
If you want to see how one team approached eliciting the real requirements to satisfy the real needs, please do read Eliminate Fake Certainty and Solve the Real Problem.