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Author: Bob Prentiss

Merry “Repeatable” Christmas: Traditions and Templates

Written by Bob Prentiss on . Posted in Articles. 1 Comment on Merry “Repeatable” Christmas: Traditions and Templates

“Christmas time is here, happiness and cheer, fun for all that children call, their favorite time of year.” Beautiful sentiment from the beloved “A Charlie Brown Christmas” written by Vince Guaraldi and Lee Mendelson. Many people (like myself and I am sure many of you, my fine readers) watch this show every year and we think of the wonderful memories it brings. It has become repeatable – a tradition in my home. What is your traditional Christmas movie?

Maybe your tradition is “White Christmas”, one of the many “A Christmas Carol” versions, “It’s a Wonderful Life” (I personally like the reworking with Marlo Thomas in “It Happened One Christmas” 1977). I know some folks who are partial to watching the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy or the “Harry Potter” series during the Holidays. Perhaps “Elf”, “A Christmas Story”, or “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” are more your style? Hm… that last one may help me make a point about traditions and repeatability. Do we really have anything to learn from Clark Griswold and his family? Perhaps, as it depends on how you look at it. Although sometimes good and rooted in positive intent, our traditions don’t often work the way we would like. They certainly did not for Clark and family – or did they? This is especially true in the business world when applied to projects. I suggest that some repeatable processes (like requirements templates for example) may very well be the thing that holds us back from being truly successful. What? Sounds like tradition heresy! Well bear with me for awhile and I will elaborate.

So a tradition according to dictionary.com is “the handing down of statements, beliefs, legends, customs, information, etc…, from generation to generation, especially by word of mouth or by practice.” There are a number of reasons we hold onto our traditions. Sometimes we support the handing down of traditions because we associate them with good memories or success. Sometimes we believe it makes us accountable to some higher cause. Whatever the reason, Christmas comes but once a year so we want the tradition to stand because it will ensure further good memories right?

I am going to be the ghost of Christmas past for a moment and let’s listen in on the following conversation: The mother says: “We are having it because it’s a sign of respect to your great Grandmother Merlene.” The son says: “Didn’t everyone last year say they hated marshmallows on the yams? I mean, between that and those onion shoestring mushroom soup green bean things… ugh! Why do we even bother?” The mother says: “No dear, I am sure that can’t be true. I haven’t heard anything like that. Besides, it’s a tradition; everyone loves them!” Okay, yes, we love Grandma (insert your Grandmother’s name here), but do you know why she started those traditions? Why she did what she did?

We hold onto traditions. Someone holds true to the memory or the essence of the thing even if they do not remember why it was started in the first place. Does that mean we should not challenge it? Now I love my Christmas traditions as much as the next person and for the record I am NOT a tradition basher. I like to think of myself as a tradition awareness elf. My Grandmother’s masterpiece; a crocheted Poinsettia tree skirt is under the tree every year. It is truly a thing of beauty – in my eyes, however, for someone else in the house not so much. I am pretty sure they buy extra presents just to cover it up and in fact, there were some empty boxes too… And I get it. The tree skirt does not match the tree decorations even remotely. And for many years I have gone with the tradition. Should I hold onto this tradition?

I came across a story on the internet about traditions. It was about a man who was at a seminar at Cambridge. A student asked the professor why the seminar was run the way it was and asked if it would be more efficiently run in a different format. The answer was of course “This is Cambridge, and we have been doing it this way for more than 800 years.” The author of the article seemed to think this was a good thing because we don’t have to get rid of things for new ones just for the sake of change, and it keeps us anchored to the past and who we are. For our personal lives perhaps, however, for business I have a huge problem with this logic, and I do not think it works in favor of most businesses or their processes, especially templates. In fact, doing it the way you have always done it is going to leave you in the past. Rooted like an anchor, a relic, a company to be purchased or sold or simply fade away. Yes, that tradition/process probably made you successful to begin with and no, we don’t need to change just because something is new and shiny. However, we do need to change, but we need to do so for the right reasons.

As I have gotten older, I realize that it is not the tradition I am tied to, it is the memory of my Grandmother. I can definitely enjoy the hideously yet beautiful Poinsettia crocheted tree skirt differently and still preserve the memory of my Grandmother. I am completely open to finding a new tree skirt that matches the tree which would make a certain someone in the house dance like a happy little elf.

Like our Christmas memories, we hope for “repeats” in our project work. I suggest that “repeatable” can be a dirty word when it comes to projects. Let’s use the example of turkeys and templates. Turkey is boring. One tradition for many folks is the Christmas goose, or in modern times, the turkey. In case you were wondering, the turkeys are not very fond of this tradition. If they could talk, they would definitely tell you they don’t taste that exciting. They would say, “You should stick to the stuffing and potatoes or better yet, get a ham, yeah… that’s the ticket. A ham.” “Ask a pig,” they would say, “He would agree with you I am sure.” So we try to spice up the turkey. We use beer, deep frying, sage and orange stuffing and whatever the latest turkey craze is. Okay, but at the end of the day it’s still turkey. Have you noticed that most of us don’t eat it year round? Even Tofurky probably has better sales in the off-season. The turkey is only as good as what we put into it and around it, and so are the templates we use. The tradition is that the template must be filled out. We have always done it that way. Governance says it must be so. Most folks fill it out and call it requirements. Does this sound like a tradition at your company? Then it is definitely time for ham, or clam chowder, lobster rolls, and maybe even Christmas Eve tacos! It should be no surprise that in my family, we do in fact have Christmas Eve tacos as a tradition.

Our templates are just that, a template; a framework or starting point. They are turkeys. They don’t give us everything we need and they don’t taste that great until we add a lot of stuffing and spice to make it work right. Most templates I run across in companies try to dummy proof the process of business analysis. It does not work. When the project is not successful, someone gets the idea that more should be added to the template to ensure the project is successful the next time. Where is the spice or innovation? Where is the stuffing or process improvement? Everyone knows the best part of the turkey is the crispy skin which does not exist in your template anywhere. If our traditional templates; one-size-fits-all templates were that great, we wouldn’t have failed projects. Templates should only contain the bare minimum. The rest should come from your analysis, the techniques you used, the documentation of the results of your elicitation, and the communication with the stakeholders on what should be included. The template cannot/should not predict what you should do on a project. This tradition needs to change, and that does not just mean to insert the word AGILE.

Look at your traditions and templates differently! What can you improve? What can you bring to the table that the template does not? What can you improve in the process? So I look at “A Charlie Brown Christmas”, and I love my tradition. However, now every time I watch it I look for something different to see what new stories it tells. Who are those dancing kids during the play? Where did they come from? Why don’t they speak? Do they have names? They do. There are two little girls in purple dresses and a boy in a green shirt. The girls are named “3” and “4”, and the boy’s name is “5”. They are named after parts of Charles Schulz’s zip code at the time the show was created. To me those kids are the sage and orange stuffing. Now look at your templates and your day to day processes. Find the new stories to tell. Find the improvements.

Why did Grandma Merlene put the marshmallow on the yams? Probably ran out of brown sugar and could not make candied yams the way she knew how. She knew it was not the food that made the tradition – it was the company. For the record, marshmallows and yams will not pass these lips at the same time. Traditions are good as long as you know why you have them, what is important, and also when they need to change. Templates are good as turkeys – they are just starters. Just know why you have them so that you focus on what the most important story is told to your stakeholders. What advice would you share about changing template traditions? Whatever your traditions, templates or future changes may be, Merry Christmas to all, Merry Christmas from me! y Christmas from me!

Bob the BA – The Intelligent Disobedience of a Badass Business Analyst

Written by Bob Prentiss on . Posted in Articles. 1 Comment on Bob the BA – The Intelligent Disobedience of a Badass Business Analyst

Join us at at ProjectSummit * Business Analyst World NYC, Oct 13-15 where Bob the BA will be the keynote speaker!  Spots are filling up fast – don’t miss out! Register today!

As a Badass Business Analyst, I am keenly aware that there are always going to be difficult conversations to be had, opportunities to be seized, monumental influencing efforts to undertake, and times where I simply need to go against the grain or broach a difficult topic. I might just have to disobey normal conventions. We are about to have one of those “moments”. Have you intelligently disobeyed your leader or your organization lately? One can argue that if you are not actively and intelligently disobeying on a regular basis you are not progressing, evolving, and helping out your organization.

Now before you answer quickly, rage against, or praise the question and/or the concept, let’s level set a few things… Let’s answer the questions of what is a Badass Business Analyst and what is Intelligent Disobedience?

A Badass Business Analyst is someone whose moral compass always guides them to do the right thing for the people, the project, and the organization maximizing business value. They are someone who uses their knowledge, skill and experience to call bullshit on entitlement, and speak truth to power because they give a damn.

What is Intelligent Disobedience? Technically, Intelligent Disobedience is where a service animal trained to help a disabled person goes directly against their owner’s instructions in an effort to make a better decision. Why don’t we break this down for how a human might interpret and apply it? “Intelligent” means the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills as well as having the capacity for thought and reason, especially to a high degree. “Disobedience” is a failure or refusal to obey rules or someone in authority. They seem to work against each other but actually fit together like warm cherry pie and vanilla ice cream. “Intelligent Disobedience” is understanding that you should disobey instructions, authority or other influences to make a better decision. When you combine that with the “Badass” mentality, Intelligent Disobedience is: A Business Analyst who is willing and able to disobey authority, break rules, or go against the status quo when they know it is the right thing to do for the people, the project, or the organization. But is that easy to do? No, but when you are successful it feels like warm cherry pie and vanilla ice cream. Tart, sweet, and soothing – it just tastes so right (and yes, insert your own flavor of pie and ice cream for the full experience)!

A lot can get in the way of breaking the rules or going against authority. Most people have been taught early on that Disobedience is simply not tolerated. For example: disobeying my father was not a smart thing to do. He took a belt to me once, just once, and thereafter it was the threat of the 2×4. No, I am not kidding! Disobedience in his world was the last straw and if he sensed you were about to disobey he would run out to the garage, come marching into the house with the 2×4 in hand yelling “Do you want this!? Are you sure!?” For the record, I never got hit by the 2×4. It was the threat that kept me in line. My mother though had her own methods; which was a bar of soap and a washcloth – for everything (which I can still taste to this day – thanks mom). Despite that upbringing of the fear of the 2×4, I have still recognized that disobeying can be good in organizations where rules, processes, and decisions simply do not make sense. For some organizations, disobeying a leader could be a CLM (career limiting move) which is a lot like that 2×4! Judging when you can break the rules or disobey a leader is not always readily apparent and much thought should go into this decision.

Intelligent disobedience is not about extremism. You do not simply jump off a cliff because no one else has. You never compromise the principles and values of your organization, nor do you withhold communication from your leaders. It does not mean you argue just to argue, be a random rule-breaker or be disruptive and sabotage. One could argue that you can indeed disagree with the principles and values of an organization but ultimately, they are paying you to uphold those values and add to their collective whole. What you should be arguing and disobeying is whether or not what you are actually working on supports those values and goals of the company.

Intelligent disobedience is about dealing with conformist views, challenging the fallacy that your leader or people you work with are always right, ensuring you are a critical thinker, and when no one else can see the answer make a decision for the right reasons. Please keep in mind when I say you should “challenge the fallacy that your leader or people you work with are always right”, this is not a disrespectful view. This is a realistic view that everyone is challenged with making difficult decisions and we should not assume that those decisions are always right. When all is said and done, intelligent disobedience is not exactly something that will be easy to do for some of us, even if we are Badass Business Analysts! Here are some ways to help you be ready to be intelligently disobedient.

  • Determine if it is a fact or opinion? Don’t let your mental model of what you think something is become truth without verifying. This is where you will learn to be a better critical thinker. A lot of things come out of people’s mouths where the truth is stretched, manipulated in some fashion, or clearly not present. A critical thinker will question fairly to break down statements to validate and verify.
  • Trust and then verify. Do not blindly trust – not even your subject matter experts. Yes, our SMEs work very hard and they have a tremendous amount of knowledge that they are entrusted with. Knowledge that they are expected to manage with accuracy. However, our subject matter experts also know things by muscle memory and rote. They know it but they may not be able to readily recall all of it; they have a lot of tacit information. Trust them initially, then verify the accuracy. It is an intelligent decision to not take things on blind faith which a lot of people do. In order to disobey you need facts and they need to be correct facts. Hey – did you catch that you should determine if the statement “our SMEs work very hard” is a fact or opinion?
  • Separate yourself from the “yes” crowd. You know what I am talking about right? Conformists are a dangerous group to be around, and honestly, they inhibit a company from progress. Do not agree just to agree regardless of the pressure being put on you. You can walk away and make an informed decision later. I was once at a client site where I watched an entire group agree with the sponsor as they forced their idea down everyone’s throats. Everyone was too afraid to say no. When it came to me I said no. The response? “Bob the BA? I will remember you.” I knew they were headed for failure but were not ready to make the commitment for change. I was fighting too many “yes men”. I intelligently disobeyed and started working on the solution without approval because I knew this was going to be a timing thing. A few weeks later when they came to their senses everything was ready to go. Yes, they did remember Bob the BA but not because I disagreed.
  • If you think it has to be done that way rethink it! Challenge yourself. Reflect on how you thought about things during the day. Could you do it differently? I spend a lot of time reflecting on my “sins” of the day. Areas where I could have made a difference by speaking up or simply doing and asking for forgiveness later because I knew I was right and could back it up. I don’t dwell on my missed opportunities too much. I simply need to reflect, recognize and resume the journey.
  • Learn to live with saying “no” comfortably. So not an easy thing to do! Most of us live in a world where we say YES! It is a service attitude, a pleasing mentality. What if we looked at saying no as a service to our company? The idea that “no” means we are potentially saving the company money, improving processes, and removing roadblocks which is a great thing!

At the end of the day, a Badass Business Analyst needs to be intelligently disobedient because we care and we know that it is the right thing to do. Don’t go crazy and start saying no to everything. Take a step back and recognize what is the right thing to do. There is certainly a lot more to say on intelligent disobedience, and certainly a lot more lessons to be learned about its effectiveness. I am betting there are a lot of people out there that have had great success and likely some failure with being intelligent disobedient. Experience is a great way to learn – want to share how you have been intelligently disobedient?

*republished from February 2015

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The Challenge of Challenging Appropriately

Written by Bob Prentiss on . Posted in Articles.

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You want to make progress. You know that you are an innovator for your organization. You simply want people to listen to you, yet your voice and any challenge you put forth to do the right thing seems to go unheard or unrecognized. You need to ask yourself “why?” I get it, it can be very frustrating when you probably have the answer to a problem and are trying to prevent your company from settling for the status quo. So how can you get your voice heard? Let me ask you this: “Do you think you have been challenging appropriately?” Now “appropriately” sounds like I am just talking about being “nice”. It is actually much, much, more than that, which is why challenging appropriately is in fact, a challenge. For some of us, the answer is intelligent disobedience, but for some of us, it is learning how to challenge appropriately.

There are many barriers to challenging successfully. I often joke that the root cause of these barriers is that people suck! Now I mean this in the nicest possible way, I love people – I really do! I am first and foremost a people person, however, I know that people want what they want, when they want it. People are different: personalities, needs, desires, goals, experiences, and more. People are just hard to figure out. What we think is obvious and should be acknowledged, another thinks is ludicrous and walks away. Add to it the complexity of communication and you run into many more barriers like: wrong place, wrong time, wrong person, wrong facts, wrong approach, not enough alternatives, budget, resources, personal pride, personal agendas, positional authority, your dog ate your homework… well, there is simply a lot that can get in your way.

What does it mean to challenge appropriately? I think there are many things that make up the definition. My personal definition is:

“An individual or group, who works with other individuals, groups or organizational structures in a collaborative fashion, challenging the status quo to achieve a common purpose or goal for the greater good of the people, project, or the organization.”

This is all well and good as a definition, but it still does not tell us how to challenge properly. It would be great if we could first all agree that we should have the ability and right to challenge as part of collaboration to ensure we meet the goals appropriately, but all of those “barriers” come creeping in quickly. So what can you do?

There are 100’s of ideas that I am sure everyone has, so I hope that everyone chimes in with their favourite ways of increasing the chances of challenging successfully. Certainly there are some basic rules that we should all abide by when challenging – mutual respect, being nice, honest, positive, seeking to understand, critically thinking and not rushing to judge, open minded, and being flexible and adaptable.

Here are 6 tips that have helped me for over the years successfully challenge for the greater good.

  1. Know thyself. It is advice I have given for years. As I have worked with people from all walks of life, I have found that those who are able to challenge appropriately are those that have a strong sense of who they are and what they want out of life. The better you know yourself, the better chance you have of dealing with other people because at the very least you have a strong center to work from. I know exactly what my strengths and weaknesses are, what type of person I am, what I want out of life. All of this gives me an opportunity to relate to people better. Think Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, Insights Discovery Personal Profile, or Strengths Finder 2.0 is beneath you? They have all been my best friends and valued tools for many years. I am happier now than I ever have been because of these tools and how they have helped me shape who I am. They have helped me know myself.
  2. Know what motivates people. What is their WIIFM factor? WIIFM – what’s in it for me? It is hard to challenge successfully unless you know what is going on in the mind of the other individual and what is motivating them. It is often impossible to influence others without understanding their motivation. And that is the whole reason for challenging, right? You are trying to influence them to another way of thinking and doing. How do you do this? Perhaps just ask! Most people will tell you. Keep it simple like “Hey Jon, help me understand…” Notice I did not put the word “you” in that question. Don’t put anyone on the defensive with the “you” trigger. A natural, organic conversation will often yield how people feel about things – their WIIFM.
  3. Know the facts. I’ll take some mastery of the facts with a side of options, please. A challenge without a mastery of the facts can be perceived as incompetence. If you talk to your boss about changing something, or complain about something that does not work, and you have not given them any options with sound facts for how it can be resolved, you will often be perceived as a whiner. Make sure you have more than just your gut feel for something. Yes, for most people, your gut is likely to be right, but many people will not proceed or agree based off a gut reaction or instinct. Details are needed. And if you do have the facts? Make sure you have a backup plan – options. Not everyone is going to respond to your first option. Always have a backup. Even if your goal is to show them the backup so that they realize the first option is the best way to go.
  4. Time and location. If you challenge at the wrong time or in the wrong location you might as well have not tried at all. Understand the implications of the when and where. Once upon a time I tried to challenge something early in the morning. I am not a morning person. I am often incoherent until after 9 a.m. Okay, maybe 11 a.m. if I am honest. Although I had my facts, I was not articulating them well. Although never formally diagnosed, I sometimes speak my words backwards – a form of dyslexia. After making my case, people just stared at me and then continued in a conversation like I was not there. When I am focused and alert it does not happen. I also do not drink coffee, so good mornings for me are generally dependent on good sleep. I also once tried to challenge something in the office of a Senior VP. Well, let’s just say that I was not given the time of day as he paid attention to his computer and everything else in his office. I had the “when” right but not the “where”. Your strategy of when and where can make all the difference in your results.
  5. Coalitions. I do not often challenge alone – I find strength in numbers. A coalition is a group of like-minded people that share your vision. People in your coalition may have strengths that you do not (of course you need to know what those are first). When I challenge, I am keenly aware that I do not always need to be the frontrunner for the challenge. I am okay if there is someone else better suited to do so. It is the end goal we need to get to and my ego is checked at the door.
  6. Know how often to challenge. Challenge, and then challenge again! I often talk to people about how they challenge. The story usually goes something like “I brought it up to them that it was not going to work, I offered a solution and they just ignored me!” Well, that is not really a full challenge. That is an attempt. A challenge is something that often needs to be sustained or repeated. You must be willing to go back to the well if you believe in your cause. For most things I use the approach of: “Two toots and a salute!” This is the idea that you challenge once, and when no movement or resolution comes forth, challenge again in a different way through coalition members, other creative options, or new facts. Still no movement? Then it is time for “Yes, sir!” “Yes, ma’am!” You must be aware that pushing too hard can result in a CLM (career limiting move). Figure out both what the individual and organizational tolerance is for challenge so that you can adjust your strategy accordingly. There are definitely times I will challenge three or four times if the tolerance is there, especially when I have the facts and the support.

At the end of the day you want to help move your organization forward. You want people to listen to you. You want to do the right thing. I believe that when we challenge appropriately it helps to build relationships and foster better collaboration. Intelligent disobedience works too, but a balance between these two things is even better. So where have you had success with challenging appropriately? What is your strategy to remove the “challenge” from challenging?

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The Intelligent Disobedience of a Badass Business Analyst

Written by Bob Prentiss on . Posted in Articles. 1 Comment on The Intelligent Disobedience of a Badass Business Analyst

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As a Badass Business Analyst, I am keenly aware that there are always going to be difficult conversations to be had, opportunities to be seized, monumental influencing efforts to undertake, and times where I simply need to go against the grain or broach a difficult topic. I might just have to disobey normal conventions. We are about to have one of those “moments”. Have you intelligently disobeyed your leader or your organization lately? One can argue that if you are not actively and intelligently disobeying on a regular basis you are not progressing, evolving, and helping out your organization.

Now before you answer quickly, rage against, or praise the question and/or the concept, let’s level set a few things… Let’s answer the questions of what is a Badass Business Analyst and what is Intelligent Disobedience?

A Badass Business Analyst is someone whose moral compass always guides them to do the right thing for the people, the project, and the organization maximizing business value. They are someone who uses their knowledge, skill and experience to call bullshit on entitlement, and speak truth to power because they give a damn.

What is Intelligent Disobedience? Technically, Intelligent Disobedience is where a service animal trained to help a disabled person goes directly against their owner’s instructions in an effort to make a better decision. Why don’t we break this down for how a human might interpret and apply it? “Intelligent” means the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills as well as having the capacity for thought and reason, especially to a high degree. “Disobedience” is a failure or refusal to obey rules or someone in authority. They seem to work against each other but actually fit together like warm cherry pie and vanilla ice cream. “Intelligent Disobedience” is understanding that you should disobey instructions, authority or other influences to make a better decision. When you combine that with the “Badass” mentality, Intelligent Disobedience is: A Business Analyst who is willing and able to disobey authority, break rules, or go against the status quo when they know it is the right thing to do for the people, the project, or the organization. But is that easy to do? No, but when you are successful it feels like warm cherry pie and vanilla ice cream. Tart, sweet, and soothing – it just tastes so right (and yes, insert your own flavor of pie and ice cream for the full experience)!

A lot can get in the way of breaking the rules or going against authority. Most people have been taught early on that Disobedience is simply not tolerated. For example: disobeying my father was not a smart thing to do. He took a belt to me once, just once, and thereafter it was the threat of the 2×4. No, I am not kidding! Disobedience in his world was the last straw and if he sensed you were about to disobey he would run out to the garage, come marching into the house with the 2×4 in hand yelling “Do you want this!? Are you sure!?” For the record, I never got hit by the 2×4. It was the threat that kept me in line. My mother though had her own methods; which was a bar of soap and a washcloth – for everything (which I can still taste to this day – thanks mom). Despite that upbringing of the fear of the 2×4, I have still recognized that disobeying can be good in organizations where rules, processes, and decisions simply do not make sense. For some organizations, disobeying a leader could be a CLM (career limiting move) which is a lot like that 2×4! Judging when you can break the rules or disobey a leader is not always readily apparent and much thought should go into this decision.

Intelligent disobedience is not about extremism. You do not simply jump off a cliff because no one else has. You never compromise the principles and values of your organization, nor do you withhold communication from your leaders. It does not mean you argue just to argue, be a random rule-breaker or be disruptive and sabotage. One could argue that you can indeed disagree with the principles and values of an organization but ultimately, they are paying you to uphold those values and add to their collective whole. What you should be arguing and disobeying is whether or not what you are actually working on supports those values and goals of the company.

Intelligent disobedience is about dealing with conformist views, challenging the fallacy that your leader or people you work with are always right, ensuring you are a critical thinker, and when no one else can see the answer make a decision for the right reasons. Please keep in mind when I say you should “challenge the fallacy that your leader or people you work with are always right”, this is not a disrespectful view. This is a realistic view that everyone is challenged with making difficult decisions and we should not assume that those decisions are always right. When all is said and done, intelligent disobedience is not exactly something that will be easy to do for some of us, even if we are Badass Business Analysts! Here are some ways to help you be ready to be intelligently disobedient.

  • Determine if it is a fact or opinion? Don’t let your mental model of what you think something is become truth without verifying. This is where you will learn to be a better critical thinker. A lot of things come out of people’s mouths where the truth is stretched, manipulated in some fashion, or clearly not present. A critical thinker will question fairly to break down statements to validate and verify.
  • Trust and then verify. Do not blindly trust – not even your subject matter experts. Yes, our SMEs work very hard and they have a tremendous amount of knowledge that they are entrusted with. Knowledge that they are expected to manage with accuracy. However, our subject matter experts also know things by muscle memory and rote. They know it but they may not be able to readily recall all of it; they have a lot of tacit information. Trust them initially, then verify the accuracy. It is an intelligent decision to not take things on blind faith which a lot of people do. In order to disobey you need facts and they need to be correct facts. Hey – did you catch that you should determine if the statement “our SMEs work very hard” is a fact or opinion?
  • Separate yourself from the “yes” crowd. You know what I am talking about right? Conformists are a dangerous group to be around, and honestly, they inhibit a company from progress. Do not agree just to agree regardless of the pressure being put on you. You can walk away and make an informed decision later. I was once at a client site where I watched an entire group agree with the sponsor as they forced their idea down everyone’s throats. Everyone was too afraid to say no. When it came to me I said no. The response? “Bob the BA? I will remember you.” I knew they were headed for failure but were not ready to make the commitment for change. I was fighting too many “yes men”. I intelligently disobeyed and started working on the solution without approval because I knew this was going to be a timing thing. A few weeks later when they came to their senses everything was ready to go. Yes, they did remember Bob the BA but not because I disagreed.
  • If you think it has to be done that way rethink it! Challenge yourself. Reflect on how you thought about things during the day. Could you do it differently? I spend a lot of time reflecting on my “sins” of the day. Areas where I could have made a difference by speaking up or simply doing and asking for forgiveness later because I knew I was right and could back it up. I don’t dwell on my missed opportunities too much. I simply need to reflect, recognize and resume the journey.
  • Learn to live with saying “no” comfortably. So not an easy thing to do! Most of us live in a world where we say YES! It is a service attitude, a pleasing mentality. What if we looked at saying no as a service to our company? The idea that “no” means we are potentially saving the company money, improving processes, and removing roadblocks which is a great thing!

At the end of the day, a Badass Business Analyst needs to be intelligently disobedient because we care and we know that it is the right thing to do. Don’t go crazy and start saying no to everything. Take a step back and recognize what is the right thing to do. There is certainly a lot more to say on intelligent disobedience, and certainly a lot more lessons to be learned about its effectiveness. I am betting there are a lot of people out there that have had great success and likely some failure with being intelligent disobedient. Experience is a great way to learn – want to share how you have been intelligently disobedient?

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Progress over Perfection: Should you embrace the 80/20?

Written by Bob Prentiss on . Posted in Articles.

prentiss Jan27
Have you noticed lately that there are a lot of industry “buzz words” and “phrases” that seem to be driving your corporation’s strategy and your every day approach to work? “Agile”, “agility-minded”, “progress over perfection”, “fail faster”, “do more with less”, and “get stuff done” are a few of the common ones these days. These are all challenges that are being issued on a daily basis. You know what? I don’t disagree with those challenges. I think it is a natural decision for leaders to make as they strive to make the bottom line or find creative ways to increase profits, but is it doable?

How does one measure the merit of progress over perfection? The idea that something does not need to be perfect, it simply needs to be good enough? The Pareto principle, also known as the 80/20 rule, states that 80% of effects come from roughly 20% of the causes. 80% of sales come from your top 20% of your clients. Even Pareto’s pea pods in his garden showed that 20% of the pods contained 80% of the peas. One can look at this as you should not be working harder, you should be working less. Notice I did not say “smarter”? That is a given. Working less, is not, and will take some convincing on your part to get your leaders on board. What if you started employing the 80/20 rule and adding the concept of progress over perfection, and recognize that you don’t need to be 100% perfect to achieve superior results? For me, I became convinced when I recently did a stint of 36 hours in hospital isolation, along with 9 doctors, 6 RNs, 4 technicians, 2 floor monitors, 14 vials of blood, 16 needles, 6 doses of blood pressure medicine, 1 CT scan, 1 set of x-rays, $15,000.00 of medical care, and some morphine.

The following is a true story of how my hospital visit showed that progress over perfection, and the 80/20 rule, can be a very valuable practice indeed. On Sunday, November 29th, 2014, at 12:15 AM, we were packing for our 7 AM return trip home from a very relaxing and fun “avoid the relatives at Thanksgiving” weekend. If you have not had the opportunity to do this, I highly recommend it. Chicago has a lot to offer Thanksgiving weekend and a little less holiday dysfunction is sometimes just what the doctor ordered. However, at this time, I felt a rattle in my chest. My first thought was “Chest cold? Figures.” One minute later, when I started to cough up blood, (and not just a little mind you – 1-2 teaspoons per cough) I had a sinking suspicion that the night was not going to go well for me. Now, you would think that the obvious decision to go directly to the emergency room (without passing Go!) would have been an easy and smart decision. Instead, when it appeared that the bleeding had stopped, I rationalized that the incident was akin to a “nose-bleed” and the need to go to the ER had surely passed its time. Two hours later I had a similar but more defining attack, and yet I still did not go to the ER. Why? Because I can rationalize anything and I loathe hospitals (c’mon, I know I am not alone on this one)! Three hours later, when I was having a third, and much worse attack, watching my vision decrease to a pinpoint, recognizing that I was in fact, drowning in my own blood and was potentially going to die, I somehow made a large effort to relieve my lungs at the last second and somehow did not pass out. Third times the charm, to the ER I go.

Immediately upon entry to the emergency room, I was given a mask, ushered into an adjoining area away from people, asked a few pertinent questions about Ebola, Tuberculosis and how I felt, then within two minutes escorted into a temporary isolation room. First rule of thumb, don’t worry about perfection, remove the patient from 80 percent or more of the population. The needs of the many truly do outweigh the needs of the few.

I then met my first two doctors, who gave me morphine to calm and suppress my cough, and hopefully stem any bleeding that might be happening. My blood pressure was a calm, cool, and collected 221 over 117. Yes, it is a minor miracle I did not also have a stroke. Their goal? Rule out the most infectious diseases that are problematic right now; Ebola and Tuberculosis. Did they really need to ask me questions about Ebola? Well I do travel a lot. I had been to Victoria, British Columbia, but surely it was not the hotbed of Ebola everyone thought it was, so ruling out Ebola was pretty easy. That and I had no other symptoms. This is where their 80/20 rule and deductive reasoning got bogged down. I did not fit the stereotype. I did not have the symptoms they expected. They were not going to get perfection here so forge ahead they did.

I was moved to a more permanent isolation room with a negative airflow venting system – that does not allow the air from my room to get out to the rest of the hospital. There was a room to actually get into my room. Which can be disconcerting as you watch a hoard of doctors outside your door in their private room, clearly conjecturing about their “flavor of the month” patient. They all wanted a piece of me, it was quite clear, especially now that they did not have Ebola and Tuberculosis to throw around. Having said that, I must say, if you really have to be in the hospital, this is the way to go. The room is huge, extremely private with no roommates, and the negative airflow venting system was a lovely white noise to doze off to. There were some other perks too but bragging about a hospital room seems awkward at best. Doctors 3, 4, 5, and 6 enter into my room looking just short of a HAZMAT team out for an evening stroll. They start in with 20 questions, ordering lots of blood draws for testing. “Hey guys… I already lost a pint, take it easy okay?” Their goal? Rule out autoimmune diseases so no one can give anything to me and make my lungs worse. Doctor 6 insists the blood came from a cut in my throat. Really doctor 6? Really??? Well, this is progress over perfection.

Doctors 3 and 4 were joined by doctors 7, 8 and 9. Doctor 3 tells everyone that they can finally remove their masks. I am not contagious, and I have no autoimmune diseases so I won’t catch anything. For some reason they did not believe me and relied on the tests. The doctors remove their masks and look less HAZMAT ready. Doctor 9 tells me that in a certain number of people that have digestive problems, they develop blood vessels that can explode in their esophagus or stomach. In less than 1% of those individuals, they have blood vessels that explode in their lungs. Now I do not have digestive problems, but if the shoe fits Cinderella, it fits. It is progress after all. And it seems to be the only thing that makes sense given how high my blood pressure was. Their 80/20 goal? Stabilize the patient, get my blood pressure down and send me home. I am not in danger of bleeding anymore, or infecting anyone, so I can be seen by a specialist at home. The problem? The blood pressure would not go down. They can’t let me go. I am still their “flavor of the month”. It took 6 doses of blood pressure medication in a 24-hour period and three different approaches before they made a tiny dent in the blood pressure. It was not perfect, and they kept trying. Let me out!

The doctors were struggling with all of the things that we do on projects every day. Lack of definition of the problem, defining scope of the effort, getting buy-in from stakeholders, figuring out who makes the decision, who is accountable, even how detailed the requirements need to be. Everything they did in the hospital was 80/20. The 80% most harm came from the 20% most damaging, so they ruled it out. Each step of the way was to work less. That is why they had 9 doctors. Each one brought something to the table (even doctor 6). Rather than try for perfection with one doctor, or try for perfection to rule out all 100%, they exercised progress over perfection. If they had done all of the things in the hospital that they could have done, needed to do long-term, I would have been there a week and the bill would have been over $60,000. So do I believe in progress over perfection and the 80/20 rule? Yes I do. The doctors used deductive reasoning, went after the 80/20 that made sense, had a decision maker that was accountable but also okay with if it was not the right decision, and kept trying to get it right.

So how can you apply the Pareto principle and progress over perfection to your work today? Make a list, check it twice, and decide that most of it is naughty and not nice. Focus on the 20% of the work that will actually add value to your day. Working overtime on minimal-value adds is a waste of time. You will notice I said “minimal” and not “non”, I think you are smart enough to realize that you need to constantly look at your work and chuck out “non-value added” work. However, most of us still try to do the “minimal-value added” work too. Why? It is MINIMAL. What will it really get you? I have just completely reprioritized my life. I am changing my business model, and I am changing my life. Why not help out yourself and help out your company by not doing more, but by doing a lot less? By the by, I completely agree that there needs to be a change in how management looks at progress over perfection without punishing the people when/if it fails (but that is another topic for another day).

For those of you wondering how it all turned out… I was sent to a pulmonologist to have another CT scan and a bronchoscopy. The latter procedure is not pleasant. Tests were run, biopsy done, and tests came back with no cancer! In the end, exploding blood vessels in the lungs is the only answer I will ever get. I now take blood pressure meds every day; I have curtailed caffeine and alcohol and will be starting to work on that Paleo-like diet. I have been given a second chance and I am going to do a lot more looking at the Pareto principle, and striving for progress over perfection in the coming months. So do you have any stories of success where you have succeeded in with the 80/20 rule and progress over perfection?

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