What is 'Problem Fluency'?

 I've noticed something about technical expertise

The more knowledge someone has.the easier it is to explain things in technical terms

Which sounds obvious

And to be fair, customers need technical expertise

They expect it. They value it

The interesting bit is that customers are often trying to answer slightly different questions

- What does this mean operationally?
- What happens if we do nothing?
- How will this affect productivity?
- What risks are we taking?
- How does this help us grow?

I've seen plenty of highly capable technical people explain products brilliantly

The specification, capability, engineering, process... all explained clearly

The challenge is that understanding a product and understanding its impact aren't quite the same thing

I've started thinking of this as 'Problem Fluency'

The ability to connect technical expertise to customer reality

Not abandoning technical depth but making it more meaningful

Structure helps. Like the VALUE Framework 

🔸 Validate = right opportunities

Understand the business problem before discussing the technical answer

🔸 Align = right research

Explore the operational and commercial impact of the issue

🔸 Leverage = right conversations

Help customers think through consequences, not just requirements

🔸 Underpin = right solutions

Connect capability to the outcomes the customer is trying to achieve

🔸 Evolve = right outcomes

Keep the focus on the result, not just the implementation 

Customers rarely evaluate decisions purely technically

They're also thinking commercially, operationally and emotionally

And the suppliers who connect those worlds effectively tend to be the ones customers remember

They make the technical stuff feel relevant

When did you last do a serious (and honest) check on your relevance?

(Fan is highly relevant this week!)