Author: Paul Benn

I have a passion for helping people find their journeys through life. Through many journeys, incorporating success and failure, he brings his wealth of experience and understanding to build your Hero Journey and achieve higher altitudes in life. With 25 years as a Business Analyst -working across the world, international speaking and webinar host experience, I bring my passion for working with people in mentoring, coaching, and training people to achieve better and higher altitudes in all their journeys. I am the founder of Altitude Journeys (www.altitudejourney.com) a place to builder journeys through life. My philosophy is based on the words FOCUSED, INTENTIONAL, THINKING. Applying these three words to my career, life, and projects has launched me to increasing levels of success in all of journeys. My life after 25 years as a business analyst is devoted to this passion to help others in their journeys through the FOCUS, INTENTIONAL, and THINKING philosophy.

Don’t Just Break the Mold, Shatter It: Rebel Recipes for the Business Analyst Maverick

Written by Paul Benn on November 16, 2023. Posted in Articles.

Photo by Nik on Unsplash

Picture this: You’re sailing on the vast ocean of the business world, navigating the wild waves of change. As a business analyst, you’re the captain of your ship, and your map? It’s pre-skilling – the compass that keeps you not just afloat but steering ahead of the storm. Gone are the days of up-skilling after the fact or re-skilling in the wake of a career hurricane. We’re talking about getting your sea legs “before” the tides turn. Ready to dive in? Let’s set sail!

Why Fit In When You Can Stand Out?

In the high-speed freeway of today’s business, being market fit isn’t just about keeping pace – it’s about setting the pace. As a business analyst, you’re not just in the driver’s seat; you’re also the navigator, the pit crew, and the spark plug all in one. Your adaptability isn’t just a cool party trick; it’s your bread and butter.

Pre-skilling is like having a crystal ball. It’s about harnessing your inner oracle to forecast the skills of tomorrow and training in them today. You don’t just react to change; you dance with it, two steps ahead, making waves rather than riding them.

Talent and Skill Development: The Game’s Changing, Are You?

If you think of your career as a video game, pre-skilling is the cheat code that helps you level up “before” the boss fight. The digital domain is like a game that updates overnight – new rules, new players, new goals. Traditional skill development is playing catch-up, but pre-skilling? It’s got you downloading the updates before they even hit the main server.

Pre-skilling: Not Just Another Buzzword

You see, pre-skilling isn’t a band-aid; it’s a blueprint. It’s not learning to fix a leak; it’s engineering a ship that rides the waves like a pro. It’s the difference between retrofitting your armor mid-battle and showing up with an indestructible suit.

Sailing the Pre-skilling Seas: How to Do It Right

So, you’re convinced pre-skilling is the way to go. But how do you sail these uncharted waters? Here’s your treasure map:

1. Potential Over Past Glory

Forget what you were; what you “can be” is the real gold. Cultivate a mindset that treasures soft skills – the ability to learn, adapt, and bounce back like a superhero.

2. Feedback is Your North Star

Steer by the stars of feedback and career guidance. Have real talks with the crew – managers, mentors, peers – to chart a course that aligns with the future, not just the now.

3. Broaden the Horizon

Your skill set is an ocean – vast and deep. Don’t swim in the kiddie pool. Dive into new knowledge areas, and you’ll find yourself swimming with the dolphins instead of the goldfish.

4. Captain Skills

In the AI-cohabited world, leadership is your sword. Sharpen it. Guide your crew with vision, inspire them with your cause, and lead them through the foggy seas of change.

5. All Hands on Deck for Diversity

Steer clear of the Sirens of sameness. Champion cognitive diversity and inclusive leadership. Different minds on deck make for a robust and innovative ship.

6. Spyglass on Trends

Keep your spyglass fixed on industry winds and currents. Trend analysis isn’t just fancy talk; it’s how you predict the next big wave and ride it like a pro.

7. Market Maps for Skills

Use market analysis to spot uncharted islands of opportunity. Customize your skill set to be the first to plant your flag and claim the land.

8. Bridging Skill Gaps

Perform a gap analysis like you’re checking for leaks. Find where you’re lacking and patch it up before it’s time to face the kraken.

9. Strategic Pre-skilling

Combine all these tools, and you’ve got yourself a pre-skilling compass that points true north. Use it to not just stay on course but to discover new worlds.

Conclusion: Charting Your Course to Market Fitness

So, what’s the final word for our intrepid business analysts navigating the shifting sands of the corporate landscape?

The key takeaway is that the art of pre-skilling is not just a strategy; it’s a dynamic, forward-thinking mindset. It’s about embracing the power of foresight and the excitement of what’s yet to come. In a world that’s racing towards an unknown future, pre-skilling is your secret superpower. It’s the equivalent of giving your career a jetpack, where others might settle for a safety net.

Remember, the sea of business is as merciless as it is magnificent. The winds of change are relentless, and the tides of technology wait for no one. By embracing pre-skilling, you become the captain of your destiny, navigating through the gales with grace and gusto.

To thrive as a market-fit business analyst, you must treat change like it’s your best friend. Why? Because it is! Change is the one constant you can rely on to bring you new opportunities, insights, and paths to personal and professional growth. When you pre-skill, you’re not just keeping pace; you’re setting the pace, transforming from a player to a game-changer in your industry.

By investing in pre-skilling, you’re not just enhancing your resume; you’re forging a professional identity that’s as resilient as it is versatile. This identity becomes your brand, signaling to employers and colleagues alike that you’re not only equipped to handle the challenges of today but also the revolutions of tomorrow.

How to Create Unique Value in your Business Analysis Career

Written by Paul Benn on December 14, 2022. Posted in Articles.

It’s tough to stand out in a competitive job market.

With so many people vying for the same jobs, it’s more important than ever to be versatile and learn new skills.

Adding other skills to your core skills creates your unique value. By doing this, you’ll not only make yourself more valuable, but also more marketable in a competitive job market. So don’t be afraid to try new things and expand your horizons-you may just find that you’re good at them!

In a competitive job market, it’s tough to stand out from the crowd. But by adding other skills to your core skills, you can create unique value in your field. You will make yourself more valuable and more marketable to potential employers.

Business analysis has 5 core skills – analytical thinking, critical thinking, problem solving, business knowledge, and communication. However, when we add other skills around these 5, we are creating our own unique value proposition.

Don’t be afraid to try new things and expand your horizons.

Adding other skills to your core skills is a great way to differentiate yourself from the competition and create value in your field.

This gives business analysts the opportunity to explore various interests and develop a wide range of skills, which gives us a competitive advantage in the marketplace. By expanding our core business analysis skills with technical skills, business knowledge, techniques, soft skills and other abilities, we can position ourselves for success both personally and professionally.

1. What is unique value in the job market?

Your skills allow you to do your job well and competently. You develop these through experience and education. The better you are at certain tasks, the more marketable you become. However, in order to be truly valuable in the job market, you need to add other skills to your core skill set. This creates your unique value.

Let’s look at an example. Having the core skill of analytical and critical thinking and adding to that skill data analysis suddenly creates a unique offering from you.

Critical thinking is essential for data analysis because it allows you to connect disparate facts, synthesize information, etc. Likewise, analytical thinking enables critical thinking by allowing you to extract insights and actionable information from data.

So, by adding data analysis to your core skill set, you become someone who can take data and turn it into insights that can help a business grow and make sound decisions. This is valuable in any field, but is especially important in fields like business, marketing, and finance.

The bottom line is that adding other skills to your core skill set makes you more valuable and more marketable. These skills can be in any field, so don’t be afraid to try something new. The more versatile you are, the more opportunities will open up for you.

Having the skill on it’s own is only a fraction of the value you can offer. Having another one or more skills that you can use to complement that core skill creates your unique value.

2. Discuss the importance of adding other skills to your core skills

When you can do more than one thing well, it shows that you’re versatile and capable of learning new things. This is important in a competitive job market, where hiring managers are looking for employees who can not only do the job they’re hired for, but also have other skills that could be useful in other areas of the company. By expanding your skill set, you’re making yourself more valuable and desirable to potential employers.

Having a variety of skills is also beneficial when it comes to career development. If you can do more than one thing, you may transition into different roles within the same company or even move into other industries with your current skill set. This can open many opportunities that you wouldn’t have access to if you were doing just one thing.

Finally, adding other skills to your core skills can help you stand out from the crowd. Many people may have similar job qualifications or experience, but having additional skills will make you more unique and memorable to potential employers. If you’re able to prove that you can bring something different to the table, hiring managers are much more.

3. Offer tips for expanding your horizons and trying new things

We have said it is important to be versatile, continuously learning new skills, and make yourself more valuable and marketable. You need to be expanding your horizons constantly.

So, how can you do this? Well, here are a few tips to get you started:

Get involved in personal projects that interest you. This is a great way to learn new things. For example, building a website or a mobile app. It doesn’t have to succeed for you have learnt new skills.
Take classes outside of your field of study. If you’re interested in learning a new skill, there are probably classes available that can help you do just that. I did a course at Auckland University in Digital Forensics. Shortly afterwards, I was working on a project where I used some skills in the project to develop a security policy.
Travel! Explore new cultures and learn about their customs. This is a great way to gain new perspectives and expand your horizons. You are a global citizen. I have worked in four countries now and in each one I have picked up the knowledge that I use today.
Volunteer for a project or organisation that’s different from what you’re used to. This can help you gain experience in new areas and develop new skills.
Make use of free online resources like LinkedIn, even Udemy at a low-cost price to learn skills. I learnt Azure’s machine learning capability of Udemy and used it in a research project for NZDF.

Of course, one needs to be strategic in this and not go off on a wild tangent. Have a plan and know what skills you can learn that will complement the core skill sets (see blog post) of a business analyst for your context.

Adding other skills to your core skills is a great way to make yourself more marketable and valuable in a competitive job market. By being versatile and learning new things, you’re showing that you can adapt to new situations and will take on new challenges. We’ve offered some tips for expanding your horizons and developing your unique value. Develop a habit of trying new things and learning!

Hey,

If you’re like me, you’re always looking for ways to improve your skills and stand out from the crowd. And I think that adding other skills to your core skills is the best way to do just that.

That’s why I wanted to invite you to join me for my video series on the 5 Business Analysis core skills, where I’ll be discussing how to expand your horizons and try new things. This is a magnificent series that will unfold over the next few weeks to help you develop your unique value.

First video has dropped on YouTube – https://youtu.be/6jawdPsbYwU , so click on the link to get going with the first video the 5 core BA skills. Don’t forget to subscribe to the YouTube Channel to get notified as the other videos load.

Best of BATimes: 4 Common Mistakes Made When Looking For Your First Business Analyst Job

Written by Paul Benn on September 22, 2022. Posted in Articles.

Published on: May 12, 2021

Often when I coach Business Analysts to land their first Business Analysis Job, I find that either they have no strategy and just throw darts and hope one of them hits the bullseye, or that they make some serious errors in how they approach it.

Darts does sometimes work, but not always (read my e-book on 13 strategies for your first Business Analysis Job) and if you do the following errors then it takes just as much wasted effort.

Let’s look at some of the common errors I see:

1. Don’t Have A Plan Or Strategy

Many prospective candidates who want to break into Business Analysis don’t have a strategy or plan. They send their CVs out to every job ad that mentions Business Analysis.

The first thing I look for when I get CVs for job ads is if the person takes the time to match his/her skills and CV to the position they are applying for.

A successful business strategy comes down to the following. First, what are your goals? Getting a job as a Business Analyst isn’t a SMART goal.

If we think of SMART then it comes to the A – achievable ask yourself is this achievable i.e. are you accountable for it.

I think it is important to have a goal you are accountable to achieve, no one else. Getting a job isn’t entirely in your control, is it? Someone else has to agree to it, and you don’t have that authority.

An appropriate goal would be something like:

“I will engage at least x recruiters per week with my CV”, or

“I will spend at least x hours a week looking for Business Analysis jobs that match my skill set”.

So let’s test those two through SMART:

S (Specific) – Yes, I am specific about what I wish to achieve.

M (Measurable) – Yes, I can measure how many

A (Achievable) – Yes, because I am responsible for them.

R(Realistic) – Yes, I can do either one.

T (Timeous) – They follow a schedule.

2. Your Resume Or CV Makes You Sound Like You Know You Know What A Business Does – Not That You Can Do The Job

When receiving a CV, I also look at it to determine if it seems like the person has a good understanding of what a Business Analyst does and if their experiences on the CV reflect that.

You don’t have to actually work as a Business Analyst to have real Business Analysis experience. You can have it regardless of what you do.

So I am looking at the title. Even the BABOK 3.0 says it is not about the title but the tasks when defining what a Business Analyst is.

It is the skills, the experiences, and the tasks and related activities that a candidate performed in that role that speak to their understanding of a Business Analyst, and that even the candidate can recognize the tasks they have performed that are applicable to a Business Analyst.

A few weeks ago, I was talking to an employer and they told me about how many CVs they are rejecting just because the CV does not position a candidate with relevant Business Analysis task experience.

3. Your CV Must Speak The Language Of The Job You’re Applying For

You putting job before experience and not experience before job

A few days ago I was coaching a client who wanted to become a Business Analyst. They are in a non-Business Analyst role. I was trying to find out how much experience they have in tasks related to Business Analysis.

I asked what I could do to fill the gaps of experience. He said there are none and I will wait until I have a Business Analysis job to acquire the experience.

Here is the problem. Employers value experience. It is no different in any job application. Even doctors have to go through a community service program before they are allowed as practicing doctors.

You must embrace it, so think about how you can gain relevant experience at your current location.

I love the saying “We grow into opportunity”. Apply the skills now and learn, gain experience, and reflect that on your CV. Then the opportunity will come.

4. Focus On Certification

As a member of the IIBA, and CBAP certified individual, you are probably raising your eyebrows. Let me explain.

Certifying yourself is one good way to learn about Business Analysis, gain accreditation with peers, and boost your confidence. Yes, it does play a role in getting a job.

However, for an entrant in Business Analysis you must understand that employers want experience foremost. A certification doesn’t give you that. Just like a degree doesn’t give experience, it gives knowledge.

Do the certification to gain knowledge that you can apply to gain experience. Back to having the right goals again.

You need to put in the time and have SMART goals that you can achieve. Then, your strategy flows from there. It’s not an overnight thing either. Work at it, and adjust your strategy as you go.

When you have worked hard for your first opportunity, it will come.

For more strategies download my free e-book “13 strategies to getting your first Business Analysis job” – https://www.altitudejourney.com/ba-career-starter

Being strategic in your non-strategic business analysis role

Written by Paul Benn on November 17, 2021. Posted in Articles.

We typically see business analysts as a tactical resource – eliciting requirements, analysing solution alternatives, determining the best approach for testing, and implementing a solution, defining non-functional requirements, etc.

This largely comes down to how we as a profession have marketed our ourselves.

The more valuable business analyst operates strategically and thinks strategically.

I am not talking about strategic business analysis; I am talking about being strategic. Even if you are a junior business analyst.

Benefit to strategic thinking in a business analyst role:

You can add a lot more value to an employer when you think strategically.

For instance, working through a problem by viewing multiple elements of and making meaningful comparisons allows the business analyst to come up with various options, and solution approaches to the problem.

If you want to take your career and leadership to the next level, you need to develop strategic thinking.

You need to be great at solving problems. You need to influence and lead your stakeholders through your strategic ability to solve these complex problems. The world is changing fast and you need to lead that change while leading people with you.

What does it mean to be a strategic thinker in business analysis?

We have kind of answered it in the introduction above, but let’s look at it in more detail.

We can define strategy as “a plan of action designed to achieve a long-term or overall aim,” – Oxford Dictionary

We define thinking as “the process of considering or reasoning about something….. using thought or rational judgement; intelligent,” – Oxford Dictionary

We define Business Analysis as “Business Analysis is a disciplined approach for introducing and managing change to organisations, whether they are for-profit businesses, governments, or non-profits.” – IIBA

At the intersection of these three, I believe we find the purpose of strategic thinking in business analysis. Above, I have highlighted the keywords that I believe help us understand strategic thinking in business analysis.

A strategic business analyst “introduces change to an organisation through consideration of organisational problems and opportunities identified, apply intelligent reasoning and rational judgement to the information available, analysing different factors or variables, to help the organisation not only identify the change but also manage the change, through a plan of action to achieve a future aim.”

Having this holistic view of what makes up strategic thinking in a business analysis role also helps us have a strategic thinking framework in our work.

This graphic I developed, using the three definitions above, help us define some framework for strategic thinking.

Element 1: We apply reasoning to business analysis work to determine the current and future state. Identify the gaps between the two and determine the change strategy and how it needs to be managed.

This is represented by the Business Analyst and Thinking circles intersection.

How do we do this?

There are three things we can do here to apply reasoning and judgement

We use what we know about the organisation’s capabilities, resources, objectives, the environment within which the organisation operates, identify change and the impact of the change.
We use the knowledge we have, the understanding of the organisational capabilities, the environment and other relevant information to guide stakeholders with expert reasoning and judgement.
As business analysts, we can apply our judgement and reasoning to determine what that value is and maximise the value an organisation can get out of a change initiative. We help the business rationalise the reason for change, and that if it is worth the value to be gained.

Element 2: We apply reasoning to the strategy objectives (the intersection of the bottom circles)

If you think about the BABOK describes as defining the future state

“defines goals and objectives that will demonstrate that the business need has been satisfied and defines what parts of the enterprise need to change in order to meet those goals and objectives”

Thinking strategically is in your role is about applying your reasoning and judgement to the desired change and to identify what areas of the organisation are affected and how. Having a systems thinking that looks across all the following areas:

Business processes,
Functions within departments and systems,
Functional areas and the interdependencies between them,
Changes to the organisation structure,
Staff competencies and the training/reskilling required,
Knowledge and skills required in the organisation,
Resources needed,
Tools used within the organisation,
The current and future locations of the organisation,
Data and information – what data is required and what the flow is,
Application systems needed, or enhancements to current ones,
Technology infrastructure to host the systems.

Element 3: The last element that is found at the intersection of Business Analyst and the Strategy circles in the diagram.

The BABOK refers to identifying the transition states that address or ensure the change progresses. As a business analyst, we manage that change. This is not project management, but we certainly have a lot to do with helping to identify the things to manage the change in an orderly manner that adds value to the organisation.

The BABOK says that as business analysts we:

“enable the enterprise to address that need, and align the resulting strategy for the change with higher- and lower-level strategies,”

Managing the change, for me, is about ensuring that we have done all that is possible to not only identify the change, but how that change is going to happen and that we have thought through how this all works together to achieve a common aim. This means I apply my capabilities and thinking to ensure that:

I help the organisation have outside in view of what is happening. This helps us, and stakeholders, to make rational decisions based on facts and not on assumptions.
Provide an objective view of what is happening based on sound research and data. So, for instance, I might look at market movement, other industries, competitors, the economy etc and use data to predict future trends.
Help stakeholders decide which route is best for the organisation and which changes will have most favourable outcomes in terms of value.
To ensure the change strategy remains on track, a business analyst would have identified the major decision makers needed. Maybe even predict where each stakeholder is needed along each of the transition states.
A business analyst defines and communicates the desired future state. Ensuring everyone is aligned with the desired change strategy.
Sometimes organisations don’t know what they want. A good business analyst can work in extreme cases of uncertainty to steer their organisation to more certainty about what their needs are.
A business analyst also needs to know how the change is going to happen, know each moving part, and how they will contribute to implementing the new future state. They create a clear, actionable plan that makes sense to everyone.

The original article, Using Strategic Thinking in a Business Analyst Role, goes on to explore the 7 habits to develop to aid your strategic thinking capability.

4 Common mistakes made when looking for your first Business Analyst job

Written by Paul Benn on May 12, 2021. Posted in Articles.