The interview that never got published…

I was digging through my older posts and I found this little “something”…

The “upcoming” interview on Yamo’s podcast (http://www.theBACoach.com) that never got published…

Here’s pretty much the gist of the questions and answers, as I “recorded” at that time. Unfortunately, due to some technical issues (if I recall correctly), the podcast could not be released and we never managed to get together again to re-record it. Oh well…

1. About me

I prefer describing myself as performing a “business analysis” role, rather than being a Business Analyst
from Analysis to Synthesis… maybe we should call ourselves Business Synthesists (topic for another time?)

2. How did you start your career as a Business Analyst (BA)?

let me think… I started analyzing things long time ago, when I started to break things apart (to understand how they worked, as parts and as a whole), and then try to put them together again (either as the original “thing”, or as entirely new “stuff”. I think I was 2-3, can’t remember many details
cute story aside, there is an important point here: doing analysis is a lot more common sense than what we, experts , claim it to be. We tend to embellish it in fancy words, but behind all the glitter, it continues to remain quite a common sense activity. Furthermore, we’ve been analyzing all our lives. However, let’s not fool ourselves, despite that, we are still not very good at it!
Business Analysis? Well, I started that a little bit later… probably, I started it in my first job (in which, among others, I assembled an electron microscope, pretty much by myself), as a Biochemist. Later on, I applied business analysis in all my career stages: IT, consulting (several times), pharma, clinical trials, etc.
needless to say, I will always be a Business Analyst (in whatever business I will be)

3. What do you like the most about your job (as a BA)?

it’s hard to answer, because there are SO MANY things I like about what I’m doing! So, this is only a short list of all those things:
making the impossible possible
collaborating with people from all backgrounds to either solve problems or to materialize opportunities
meaningful results
the “Aha!” (or, light-bulb) moments, especially when they appear on the faces of people I work with (“Can we REALLY do that?!?”)
complex and unique challenges and solutions
“To boldly go where no man has gone before”
intense intellectual exercise

4. What domains have you worked on and which was your favorite domain and why?

hard to pick one, since they were all very interesting, in their unique ways
started my career as a Biochemist, doing research and, later, managing a clinical testing lab
moved on into IT Consulting/contracting,
Pharma (IT and, than, BA, PM, Standards, etc.),
back to Consulting (Business Management),
followed by Clinical Trials (IT, BA, PM, Agile),
back to Consulting/Coaching (Business/Process Analysis and Transformation)
Business Architecture
Training, coaching
… if I’d have to choose one, I guess (given a rather obvious pattern, don’t you think?), Consulting and Coaching would be my favorite one (since it allows me do work on all the other ones

5. (CAP) Challenges you face as a BA and how do you overcome them

first, at least from my point of view, having these challenges is one of the aspects that make business analysis (being a BA) such an interesting job
tendency to pick and stick with just the Low-hanging fruits and never reach for the better and, often, more abundant ones that are just behind that lowest branch. We need to balance Short and Long term perspectives and solutions – it’s not an EITHER-OR situation, we must always keep BOTH short and long term perspectives in mind
“My part” myopia: blinded by our part’s narrow perspective, we seem to lose track of what the WHOLE… must be or do (Yamo’s #3 pillar: Systems thinking)
freeing ourselves from the Fancy-talk trap (crap?). Don’t call it “Stakeholder Decision Making Facilitation”, when all you mean is “Help users decide”
simplifying too much and not simplifying enough: it’s not Waterfall OR Agile, it’s somewhere in-between (better yet, Waterfall AND Agile!)
relying too much on books and experts’ opinions, without our own common sense thinking. Books and experts’ opinions are great, but nothing great happens until you do your own thinking. Kind of like the rooster and the hen: he can boaster about how to make an egg, but it’s only the hen that ends up making it.
Some people either forgot, or are afraid, to expect more. Others, expect too much. Again, the sweet spot is somewhere in-between: dare to dream, but know when to come down from the clouds.

5 (CAP): Advancement of career: what are your suggestions for BAs who want to advance their career?

first, you have to love what you are doing: we spend 8-10 hours/day doing it and that’s approx. 50% of our awake-time (if you are like me, probably, 50% of your sleeping time, as well). In my opinion, if you don’t use this time to do something you love, then you are wasting your life. See also Yamo’s #1 pillar: Passion
second, you are not going to know if you really love doing something until you actually do it. So, try it.
third, it is YOUR career! Define your own guiding principles and ideas and follow them through. Once in awhile, stop and reflect: are you still on your desired path? If not, step back and think again. If yes, step aside and think where do you want/need to go next.
don’t be afraid to challenge the “experts”: books and expert opinions are a great start and resource, but ultimately, the knowledge has to be yours. And, by the way, true experts will welcome being challenged on their ideas and, most likely, they will think higher of you.
accept that you are never going to know everything (not to mention that, even if you would be able to do that, then the whole fun would vanish away) . At the same time, never stop learning more.
Don’t mix up your hats and, for the most part, try to ware only one hat at a time. We all have to play different roles at different times (e.g. BA, PM, user, etc.) and that is great. However, we may have a multiple-personality problem, if we don’t keep clear in our minds which role do we play at that time (… plus, we might look quite ridiculous wearing many hats at one time)
Don’t get stuck in Titles, yours or others’: we are what we do, not what we say that we do (or, worse, what our titles say that we do)
agile, not Agile. Agility is the ability to adapt to reality and its many ongoing changes. Some people, in their attempt to follow an Agile methodology, stop being… well, agile.
Don’t presume to know what is best for your customers. Only they know (or will know) what’s best for them. Our role is to challenge and guide them on that discovery journey.
Simplify, don’t over-simplify (which leads to simplistic)
Master the Scope: most of the times we fail not because we don’t know what we are doing, but because we do it at the wrong time or for the wrong reason.
Drop the fancy-talk: it’s “Decide”, not “Decision Making”

5 (CAP): Productivity tips

set priorities and block appropriate chunks of times to deal with major work and routine tasks (e.g. email, Social media, etc.)
Go the Extra mile, but don’t forget to stop for gas, once in awhile. We all need focus and bursts of energy, to deal with important work. But we also need times to relax and spend time with our families and friends, and to re-fuel.
Don’t try to do it all by yourself. First, you are not going to be able to do it; second, it’s a lot more fun when you work and collaborate with other people.
Know your strengths and weaknesses and the strengths and weaknesses of the people you work with. Let others help you with your weaknesses. In turn, help others with your strengths.

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