The more expertise you have, the easier it is to start with the answer. In technical or professional services that often means leading with capability: here is our expertise, here is what we have built before, here is how it applies to your situation. It’s a natural instinct when you’ve spent years building knowledge and expertise. It sounds confident, yet it is rarely curious. 

That instinct is understandable, but leading with a solution before understanding the problem skips the step that determines whether the solution fits. Capability starts with, “What can we do?” Curiosity starts somewhere else: “What does this client actually need?” That changes the conversation. Instead of looking for a place to apply your expertise, you’retrying to understand what the client is working toward, what’s getting in the way and whether you’re even the right one to help. 

We saw this play out while developing a mining strategy at a previous global AEC firm. employer. Over time the organization had developed capabilities, added tools expanded services, and built strategic partnerships, as new opportunities emerged. Each decision made sense on its own, but collectively, the business had become capable of doing almost anythingwithout a clear view of where it should concentrate efforts. The shift came from narrowing the questions to focus on what was truly required for growth. Only then could we determinewhich capabilities warranted continued investment. Growth followed the focus. 

The sequence of understanding before prescribing sounds obvious when stated this plainly, but it’s much harder to practice in the middle of a live client conversation. It requires asking questions before offering answers: what has changed in the client’s business this year, where they are trying to go, and what have they tried that did not work? Those questions take longer than a pitch, but they reveal whether your solution fits the client’s situation. 

Sometimes curiosity uncovers an immediate opportunity. Other times, it points the client toward another person, discipline, or even another firm. That isn’t a loss. It’s another way to provide value. Clients remember the people who put their needs ahead of winning the work. 

We take the same approach in our own practice. Before recommending anything, we spend time understanding the client’s business, the pressures they are facing and what they are ultimately trying to accomplish. We may enter the conversation with some ideas, but we’re prepared to change them based on what we hear. The recommendation comes after the understanding, not before it.