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It’s the Communication Stupid

Kupe_Blog_Jan_4I was reading a book that talked about how the phrase “It’s the economy stupid” was born. This phrase was created and used by the 1992 Bill Clinton presidential campaign when he was running for U.S. President. According to the story, James Carville wrote three things on a white board to help the campaign get focus.  One of the items on this internal list was “The economy, stupid”.  He wanted the campaign to stress how Bill Clinton’s opponent, George H. W. Bush, did a poor job with the economy during his first term in office. This is a very simple and clear direction for the campaign. It helped them make decisions on how to answer questions from reporters and when creating and delivering campaign speeches. This phrase was a big reason Bill Clinton went on to win the election.

I have a phrase for business analysis that will help you focus and help you make decisions during a project. “It’s the Communication Stupid”. I urge all of you to post this sign on your desk. Post it in a place where you see it every day. Maybe move it around so you not only see it, you read it every morning. Keep the sign until the concept is a part of who you are as a Business Analyst. When your actions start to follow the meaning of the sign, it is time to pass the sign to another BA in need.

In my unscientific research, I found a large theme among top analysts is they constantly ask themselves “will this help communicate the business need and/or solution requirements?” That is the backbone on how they plan their work and how they make decision related to their work during a project. You probably have heard people say, “BAs need to do just enough requirements” or something like,” only use a technique if it adds value to the project”. What is just enough and valuable? Communication is the value. If the message is communicated then that is enough requirements. 

I feel I communicated the message I wanted to get across. So, no need to add more words!!!

Happy New Year,

Kupe

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