Hosted by Chandra Wobschall and Paul Houtkooper

In this lively episodeof The JDE Connection with your hosts Chandra Wobschall and Paul Houtkooper, we dove deep into one of our favorite topics: how to effectively work with stakeholders when it comes to gathering requirements and providing solutions within JD Edwards.

The Pet Peeve: Jumping Straight to Solutions

Paul kicked off the conversation with a major pet peeve that most of us can relate to: when stakeholders come to the table with solutions rather than problems. “Don’t just give me a solution, especially if it’s to add a processing option,” Paul quipped, “We love solving problems, but we need to know what they are first.”

This common scenario highlights the importance of understanding the issue before jumping into a solution. Paul emphasized that simply hearing “just make it do this” from a stakeholder doesn’t provide enough context. Without knowing the “why,” it’s tough to determine whether the proposed solution actually satisfies the real need.

Problem Solvers Make Terrible Requirements Gatherers?

We shared the observation that those of us who are natural problem solvers tend to be terrible at articulating the actual issues. “We are great at sharing solutions, but we’re terrible at sharing problems,” Paul pointed out. It’s not always instinctive to pause and think, “What problem am I really trying to solve here?”

We discussed how our professional conditioning leads us to self-solve first, often skipping over the crucial step of defining the issue thoroughly. Chandra added, “Sometimes, it’s about stepping back and asking questions without making the other person feel wrong or judged.”

Collaborating on Requirements Gathering

A major theme of the episode was collaboration—how we can work together more effectively to gather requirements before jumping to solutions. Chandra noted the value of emotional intelligence when questioning a stakeholder’s ideas. It’s not about telling someone they’re wrong, but rather about digging deeper to uncover what they truly need. This approach, she explained, creates a more collaborative environment, where stakeholders feel like experts and are more open to discussing their requirements.

SQL as a Crutch: When Tools Are Misused

Chandra shared a hilarious yet insightful conversation about SQL, a powerful tool that can be misused as a crutch. “It’s a fabulous tool, but it shouldn’t be used for everything,” Chandra said. SQL can sometimes seem like a quick fix but using it in the wrong situations can lead to complications down the line. As an example, we described a situation when stakeholders requested SQL updates to short circuit a complex process, thinking it’s the easiest solution. While it might save them time, it would likely lead to hours of additional work for the IT staff, ultimately consuming more time than it saved, and runs the risk of introducing data integrity problems.

Progressive Discovery and Agile

In our discussion, we also commented on how stakeholders often change their minds mid-project, which can be frustrating for everyone involved. This is where the concept of “progressive discovery” comes in, which can quickly result in scope creep. Requirements can and do evolve, which makes It crucial to pause, gather information, and reassess before moving forward too quickly. This is where agile methodologies come into play and when taking a more iterative approach can make a significant difference.

To Be Continued…

As always, we concluded this episode of The JDE Connection with a short, but notable, Midwesternism, using our long email address to illustrate its meaning. We hope you enjoyed our conversation about requirements gathering as much as we did and will tune in for the next segment. Remember, we like to hear from you, so please send your feedback, comments, and/or ideas for future podcast topics to us at [email protected]. Until next time, let’s keep learning, sharing, and most importantly, laughing together!

Toodles,

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