Run useful discovery
Want more background?
The idea in everyday life
Understand the current state, desired result, consequences, constraints, and decision process before recommending anything.
Discovery is a diagnosis with permission; the goal is clarity, not steering every answer toward a sale.
One step at a time.
Use the sample or information you have permission to use. Keep your work as you go. You can pause between steps.
- 1
Set an agenda, confirm time, state the purpose, and ask permission to explore the situation.
- 2
Move from context to problem, impact, desired outcome, prior attempts, constraints, urgency, stakeholders, and next-step criteria.
- 3
Use follow-up questions and silence to clarify vague words, quantify effects, and distinguish symptoms from causes.
- 4
Summarize what you heard, correct misunderstandings, and agree whether a recommendation is warranted.
See how it works.
The editor learns that missed uploads come from review bottlenecks—not editing speed—so the recommendation includes a two-round approval workflow.
Did you cover these?
- Your work includes a question guide and completed call notes. Record the buyer's needs in their own words, the problem's effects, limits, people involved, and how a decision will be made.
- Check this common mistake: Pitching after the first pain point and missing the root cause or an essential decision maker.
- The other party agrees that your summary accurately describes both the problem and the conditions of a useful solution.
What to finish
A question guide and completed call notes. Record the buyer's needs in their own words, the problem's effects, limits, people involved, and how a decision will be made.
Watch for this
Pitching after the first pain point and missing the root cause or an essential decision maker.
How can I tell I understand it?
The other party agrees that your summary accurately describes both the problem and the conditions of a useful solution.
Quick knowledge check
Answer all 3 questions. Get at least 2 right and the lesson completes automatically.
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Answer all 3 questions above and get at least 2 right. You can review the explanations and try again.
Go to the knowledge checkOptional course overview video · same video as Lesson 1
The Art of Negotiation
From Stanford Graduate School of Business. Watch here or open it on YouTube .
Watch for an idea you can use in the practice below. You can pause or skip this optional overview.Tools, templates, and lesson sources
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Sources and further reading
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Source & access notes · checked 2026-09-10
Read the overview of interests, independent standards, alternatives, options, and communication.
Access: Free public article; other programs or certificates may be paid.
Reuse: All rights reserved. Linked as a reference; original Life Starter scenarios are not a Harvard course or endorsement.
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