A project team is reviewing solution design, tracing it back to the requirements. Business analyst is flashing the original requirement on screen. Everyone in the room is looking at each other, doubts on their faces. “Was this our requirement? I…
Tag: BA_mindset
Business analyst mindset – the twelve principles
After publishing a series of blog posts, here is the summary – the twelve principles of the business analyst mindset. Which one speaks to you most? Focus on business – calibrate solutions to business goals Solve the right problem Question…
Principle #12: Learn, adapt and thrive
Cartoons aside, business analysts have to learn all the time. It is part of the job, part of the challenge, and a big part of the attraction. At the beginning of my career, I would never have expected some curious…
Principle #11: Expect human behaviour from human beings
While business analyst profession is closely associated with information technology, first and foremost we work with people, and a lot of information we receive is pre-filtered through human perception and interpretation. I recall an occasion when our analysis of a…
Principle #10: Be part of the solution
Analysts are often asked to stay away from “solutioning”. Sadly, that is often understood as staying away from the solution. An instructive story happened to me earlier in my business analysis career. We had just completed a very intense requirements…
Principle #9: Accept and embrace business change
Business analysts help organizations implement changes. Requirements define what needs to change to achieve a desired future state. If organizations did not need to change and transform, business analysts would have very little to do. Why then do we, as business…
Principle #8: Take responsibility for shared understanding of business requirements
What is the most important outcome of business analysis activities? Is it detailed and intricate process maps? Comprehensive business requirements documents? Groomed user stories? A requirements sign-off obtained within schedule? All of the above are important. But there is something else…