5typos.net
Tell Me a Little Bit More
In this time-compressed work era, many go straight to the ask. Requesting the feature, fix, report, or expected solution from the start.
But sometimes it’s worth flipping this around and trying to understand what is the pain point. Asking for more information — not as a deterrent on the request, but with genuine curiosity — can be a powerful tool.
Tell me a little bit more is the best phrasing for it that I’ve found. It’s a friendly way of asking why multiple times, and the opposite of how hostile staying quiet to extract more information is. Yet it serves the same objective: giving you a chance to better understand the problem to solve it.
And while delivering a solution is good, solving a problem is better.