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Tag: Risk

9 Keen Focus Areas in Strategic Business Analysis

Written by Richard Lannon on . Posted in Articles. 3 Comments on 9 Keen Focus Areas in Strategic Business Analysis

Recently I was having breakfast with a CEO of a ½ billion dollar annual revenue resource company.

He was telling me how they had a strategic planning session with a former executive where they mapped out their plans for the next five years. As with most companies, the plan is to grow, to expand and explore new worlds and go where they have never gone before. Does that sound familiar?

So being the strategic planner and business analyst that I am, I asked if they had defined, scoped and prioritized their initiatives yet. There was an awkward moment of silence. Sixty seconds when you are not sure if you should begin to pray, cry or buy a lotto ticket. The response was they had not gotten that far yet because they were busy operating the business. But their people will do that, get right on it, right?

Business leaders and professionals often do not take strategic planning to the next level, a situation I know only too well. Companies create great plans and ideas from their initial strategic planning and mapping sessions only to front load everything and not take the time to understand where they should focus, why and what should be the priorities.

This is where strategic business analysis (enterprise analysis) comes in. As in the question, I asked above; strategic business analysis is used to define, scope and prioritize initiatives, a step in the strategic planning process that gets missed. In the real world of business, strategic business analysis is an essential component of every project or change initiative to ensure outcomes align with the goals and objectives the entire organization and its departments.

In a review of the IIBA Body of Knowledge, several books on strategic analysis, my book, SET for Success, and from the work I have done with small to large corporations, strategic business analysis requires a keen focus on the following:

  1. Understanding the business structure, architectures, and people and culture
  2. Conducting capability analysis to ensure the organization can do what it says it plans to do
  3. Ensuring proper strengths and weaknesses are recognized, and opportunity and threats are identified and defined
  4. Business problems and opportunities are analyzed, and solutions are brainstormed beyond the norm of improving processes, increased sales and cut costs
  5. Performing feasibility and risk analysis on the potential solutions and compare the solutions alternatives through success and failure analysis, pros and cons discussions, and cost, ease, benefit analysis and developing decision grids to prioritize solutions
  6. Determining the proper scope change initiatives based on business, structure and organizational parameters and capabilities
  7. Developing the business case to drive out the investments and expected returns externally or internally for the key initiatives. 
  8. Creating a communication plan that helps guide the organization through the changes that will take place as initiatives become implemented, and 
  9. building a roadmap focused on using project management best practices of implementation with business champions, key initiatives, tactical focus, time and dates and a reporting structure to ensure initiatives are moving forward as originally planned.
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There is a lot going on here, and it would be a mistake to think that this is the private domain of business analysts identified on an organizational chart. It is not. Business analysis and strategic business analysis is a set of skills that bridge a position. In today’s business world the CEO, COO, VPs, various Managers, and Professionals must be able to perform these critical tasks at the strategic, tactical and operational levels. Granted there is a difference in the tools and techniques employed, and the expected outcomes and deliverables that exist in the details. The key is that there is a shared vision of success connected to the goals and objectives of the organization. Something many business leaders and professionals miss with a negative impact on the organization.

Effectively implementing strategic plans means using proper strategic analysis and strategic business analysis to ensure you make the best strategic decisions, that you are actually strategic through proper strategic management considerations and that you are focused on the best initiatives and projects for your organization at this point and time. Strategic analysis and therefore, strategic business analysis focuses on factual support of business decisions. Hopefully, in the end, the business has made better business decisions.

Final Thoughts

I have always enjoyed the topic of strategic planning, management, and analysis because it is incredibly interesting to help shape an organization’s future and because learning strategic business analysis is for everyone in business, from the executive to the professional. Granted you may not be working at the strategic level in your career, but you have a business impact at the tactical and operational levels. If strategic business analysis helps scope out the initiatives and projects delivered by mid-level and project managers, then other professionals have to flush out the details to ensure that prioritized initiatives and projects deliver.

The best part is that strategic business analysis is connected to strategic management which is concerned with the overall goals and objectives of the organization, includes multiple stakeholders in the decision-making process, has to incorporate short and long term specifics of initiatives and projects and knows that there is a trade-off between effectiveness and efficiency. If you are going to envision it and plan it, you better make sure you are addressing the right problem, leveraging the best opportunities and you get your priorities straight; strategic business analysis will help. Good luck.
Do your best, invest in the success of others, and make your journey count. Richard

Business Analytics Trends to Look for in 2017

Written by Sam Makad on . Posted in Articles.

With constant innovations in technology, today’s businesses have an outstanding opportunity to increase their profitability and completely transform their organizations.

They have more and more means of boosting productivity and make better decisions to empower their organizations and lead them towards the top of the corporate ladder.

What makes this possible and more easily achievable than ever are the various business intelligence and analytics tools that keep popping up and enabling businesses to gather and analyze piles of data quickly, easily, and accurately. Analyzing and using data effectively has never been as easy as it is today and, with the help of those business intelligence and analytics tools, not only can businesses set more accurate goals, but they can also enhance productivity and increase their ROI. They can become data-driven businesses and completely turn the tables around.

With this in mind, take a look at the five business analytics trends that are rising as we speak and that are expected to completely change the game and help organizations transform the way they do business.

1. The Growing Network of Connected Devices and Platforms

According to the forecast by IDC (International Data Corporation), 87% of connected devices on the market will be smartphones and tablets, and this is only a prediction for 2017. This shows how quickly these devices are changing the market, and it shows the growing need for strategies and plans to keep up and get the most out of connected devices and platforms.

Another IDC research shows that the worldwide Internet of Things (IoT) market will reach an incredible $3.04 trillion in 2020, and there will be approximately 30 billion connected devices. Businesses have a major opportunity to take advantage of the growing IoT market and significantly increase their revenue if they join the ride and start using all those smart and connected devices to their favor.

The growing network of connected devices and platforms created a trend of unique capabilities for effective business analytics. Social media platforms and a variety of mobile apps, not to mention the rise of video streaming services, allow businesses to gather important data and enhance their ROI. Monitoring all the connected devices with the help of systems based on Artificial Intelligence (AI) allow them to utilize cloud computing and streamline their workload effectively.

Not only is this trend expected to grow, but it is certain to push the boundaries of innovation and open the doors to a much better smart manufacturing. Cloud-based operating systems will emerge, enabling more secure connectivity, as well as more optimized analytics.

2. Cloud-Based Business Intelligence and Analytics Tools

The innovations in cloud computing seem to be ever-evolving, and businesses are now able to utilize business intelligence and analytics tools in ways they never could before. They can become much agiler and make more relevant decisions, ultimately reaching higher productivity and efficiency.

With modern business intelligence and analytics tools, organizations no longer even need to have data warehouses, as these tools provide them with an extremely intuitive and interactive way to analyze and use their data. They offer a visual-based experience that enables more advanced, but at the same time quite simpler, business analytics that considerably helps organizations handle their data.

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The number of cloud-based BI and analytics tools is expected to keep rising, enabling businesses to quickly and easily handle various types of data analysis on a single platform. They will not have to use multiple tools for different data management capabilities, as modern BI and analytics tools will help them deal with storage, integration, statistics and quite a lot of other analyses.

3. The Rise of Artificial Intelligence

According to the IDC Spending Guide, the adoption of AI around the globe will help organizations reach revenues of $47 billion in 2020, which is quite a lot more than the revenues of $8 billion in 2016. According to the Narrative Science survey from last year, 38% of enterprises are already using various AI technologies, while 62% will use them by the year 2018.

These AI technologies include predictive and prescriptive analysis, machine and deep learning, automation of manual and repetitive tasks, automated written reporting and communications, voice recognition and response and various other tasks and types of business analytics.

The rising and evolving AI technologies are becoming the mainstream and more and more businesses are starting to realize the huge potential of adopting them. The Fourth Industrial Revolution is completely redefining the way organizations do business. AI is enabling businesses to use advanced techniques and powerful algorithms for conducting predictive business analytics, helping them collect and process complex data. The future is here.

4. The Shift in Data Management

The way organizations manage their data has changed entirely, and not just because of the rise of AI and similar technologies. The Chief Data Officer role is emerging, emphasizing the enormous significance of data and the impact its proper management can have on organizations.
CDOs need to develop new data strategies to turn the tables around and get ahead of the competition. They need to properly harness their data to gain clear insights into a wide range of opportunities. Apart from creating winning data strategies, they need to establish governance and quality, not to mention accurate analytics and security.

The EU General Data Protection Regulation has changed the data privacy laws, changing the way the companies in the EU approach the processing of personal data. The regulation is designed to protect data privacy, and modern BI and analytics tools are exactly what will help businesses enhance their value propositions and protect their users.

5. The Growing Power of Digital Ecosystems

According to the Gartner’s survey of CIOs (Chief Information Officers), typical CIOs are already spending 18% of their budget on digitalization, which is estimated to reach 28% in 2018. More and more businesses are becoming a part of the rising digital ecosystem, and they continue to build digital relationships with clients, employees and other stakeholders to provide better customer experiences.

As customers are rapidly changing their use of digital channels from human-based to machine-based, that is, from the web to mobile, due to the AI technologies and the Internet of Things, businesses are trying to keep up with the pace by participating in digital ecosystems.

The participation in a digital ecosystem will separate the big guns from the rest of the players. A wide use of various digital ecosystem solutions, such as business intelligence and analytics, is what will help top businesses with the highest performance stand apart from the crowd and amplify their reach.

If you want to stay in the game, it is crucial that you follow these business analytics trends, since not only are they redefining the analytics landscape, but they are certain to grow in popularity for many years to come. We are yet to witness their peak, so make sure you jump on the bandwagon and join the ride.

More importantly, it is vital that you keep track of the performance of your business to gain an insight into how effective it is and how you can generate a higher ROI. The best way to understand how you can improve and grow your organization and ensure all of your efforts and investments pay off, in the long run, is to find the best business analytics solutions and consulting firm that will provide you with impeccable services and help you take full advantage of the latest trends.

You Desire Success? Learn to Manage Daily to Your Top 3 Priorities

Written by Neal Whitten,PMP on . Posted in Articles. 2 Comments on You Desire Success? Learn to Manage Daily to Your Top 3 Priorities

Managing daily to your top three priorities is crucial to your professional success. However, my experience is that most people in our craft do not manage their to-do list effectively.

This article will show you how. Doing so can boost your effectiveness, reputation, and career.

Instantly Identify Your Top Three Priorities

If I were to put you on the spot and ask you what are your top three priorities or problems at work right now—by the way, priorities and problems mean the same thing to me in this context—and you could not rattle them off within three snaps of the fingers then you are not a consistently effective leader. You might be thinking how dare I judge you by so little information; that if I would give you a few minutes, then you could come up with your top three priorities. But if you need time to identify them then I restate my assertion that you are not a consistently effective leader. Instead, you are managing your day by the plethora of interruptions that come your way; by the noise and the minutia that fall over you. You are allowing your day to be managed by others instead of you taking charge and managing to the most important priorities. You are too soft if you are not seizing control of your domain of responsibility and primarily managing to your top three priorities each day.

To-Do List

Let’s talk about how to do this. Most of you likely start your day with a to-do list of work items. That’s good. You should. However, what I do—and perhaps some of you do as well—is create the list the night before. Why? Well, I already have had a busy full day, and I know where I want to hit the road running when I come into work the next day. Therefore, the night before is a great time to populate the list. But another reason I’ll create the list the night before is to focus on the top three items on the list—the top three priorities. Let’s say the list has ten items: the top three and a bottom seven. Now, most of you will likely have lists with more than ten items, but I want to make the math simple for illustrative purposes. When I go to sleep at the end of the day, my mind—my subconscious—is working on solving or moving towards the solving of one or more of these top three problems. When I wake the next day, these problems are either solved or well on their way to being solved; I have a better grasp of what I need to do moving forward. All of us have this ability to help resolve problems when we sleep. Regardless, if you, instead, choose to take 5-10 minutes of quiet time at the start of your work day to create your to-do list, that’s fine.

Focus Predominately on Top Three Priorities

Now, let’s say that you are traveling home at the end of your work day and you recognize that you have not made headway on any of your top three priorities, but you have managed to cross off all of your bottom seven: Do not feel good about your accomplishments that day! Why? Because you worked on the wrong things. If, instead, when you head for home, and you have not worked on any of your bottom seven but managed to make significant headway on just one of your top three, you should feel very good about your accomplishments for that day. And here’s why: Your efficiency to work on your top three priorities defines your value—your contribution—to your organization, it defines your career; not the bottom seven.

30 Minutes or More Available, Work on Top Three

You might be thinking: Neal, it sounds like you don’t care if I work on my bottom seven. You’re right. I don’t care. In the big picture, they are insignificant. Look, if you have five minutes between meetings and you can eliminate one of your bottom seven, then go for it. But if you have 30 minutes or more between meetings, do not work on the bottom seven. 30 minutes is what I call significant time. You should be working on your top three priorities—they define your career.

Work Off Top Priorities within 2-3 Days

Your top three priorities on the list should be worked off the list typically within 2-3 days. If occasionally you have a top-three item on the list for up to a week that’s okay. What’s that? You say that the items that make up your top three typically would take weeks or months to solve and you would not know how to remove them from your list in just 2-3 days. Okay. I’ll show you how. Let’s say one of your top three priorities will take you six weeks to solve. Then put a six-week plan together. Identify the activities, their dependencies, their durations and who owns them. Then get agreement from all the people necessary to make the plan whole and fully committed and track the six-week plan like you do any other plan. Now replace that priority item from your to-do list with a new one.

What’s that? You say the six-week plan hasn’t completed and, therefore, the problem is still open? That you think the problem should remain on your list until it is solved? Look… You now have a good working plan to get it resolved. It’s being taken care of. You will track its implementation with the frequency you feel it justifies. Remove the item from your top-three list and replace it with another very important item that now needs timely attention.

Occasionally, Not Working Top Three Is Okay

What if you come to work occasionally and find you are not able to work on any of your top three priorities because of that day’s firefights and “please handles”? If this happens only occasionally, that’s okay. You work in a complex, dynamic environment. However, if it happens routinely, it’s not okay. If you cannot routinely work off your top three priorities, then you are the problem. If you are not working them off, no one else will—this is your domain of responsibility. You need help. You might be overloaded with work and need some relief; you might be poor at managing time, or it could be something else. Whatever. You need to seek and obtain the appropriate help.

Number One Reason Why Projects Fail

This is a good time to share with you what I believe may be a profound assertion. We have all seen lists touting the top 10 reasons why projects fail. The usual suspects include weak requirements, scope creep, lack of user involvement, unreliable estimates, incomplete staffing, poor communications, weak senior stakeholder support and others. However, from my experience, these lists miss the biggest reason—the number one reason—why projects fail: Because the project manager does not manage to his or her top three priorities on a daily basis. This is so important that I’m going to repeat it. The number one reason why projects fail is that the project manager does not manage to his or her top three priorities on a daily basis.

You might be wondering how come I’m so smart to get this while it appears that others haven’t? Well, I’m not that smart, but I am an old guy who has been around a long time. Longevity and persistence helps me pick up things. For example, over the years I have performed reviews on hundreds of projects in trouble. When I do, I always conclude with identifying the top three problems—the top three priorities—that the project manager needs to address immediately. When I examine these top three lists, the ah-ha moment presents itself. The top items on the lists almost always should have been resolved not days earlier but weeks or months earlier—sometimes years depending on the duration of the project. The lists show that the project managers were not effectively focusing on their top three priorities on a daily basis; otherwise, these problems would have been resolved or under control. So, again, the number one reason why projects fail is that the project manager does not manage to his or her top three priorities on a daily basis. This is a fundamental fact that knowing and adjusting your behavior to can significantly increase the success of your projects—and your career.

By the way, the article might have appeared to focus on Project Managers, not Business Analysts. Everything said here also applies to Business Analysts. The number one reason why Busines Analysts fail is that the Business Analyst does not manage to his or her top three priorities on a daily basis.

Now, become your imagined self!

Keeping Risks at Bay & the Astute Business Analyst

Written by J.A. Oliver, CBAP, CISSP, MBA on . Posted in Articles.

“It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.” – Mark Twain

Ah, yes, the wit and wisdom of Mark Twain; still rings true over a century later, in the business analyst’s world. More recently, former U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld had famously talked about “known knowns,” “known unknowns,” and “unknown unknowns.” While Rumsfeld never talked specifically about “unknown knowns,” I believe that Mark Twain effectively filled that gap.

So, what can YOU do about all the risks lurking in the shadows, as the semi-omnipotent (like digging half a hole) business analyst?

I’m sure you all know about the “probability times impact” formula, which tends to be qualitative (i.e. scale of Low to High) in our world, then you propose mitigation responses; but as the BA the pressing question should be how you can share the daunting task of risk analysis and management with the project manager (PM). I see this as a joint effort in that the PM is chiefly entrusted with managing risks affecting time and cost, the BA and PM together manage risks relating to project scope, and the BA is primarily tasked with assessing risks relating to project quality. This stands to reason since the BA is concerned with product scope, whereas the PM is preoccupied with project scope.

So let’s get our hands dirty and dive into some salient aspects of risk. Are you ready?

1. Prioritizing Your Requirements Based on Risk Factors

What if the solution your organization wants to deploy is cutting-edge and entails a certain “leap of faith”? If something has no known precedent or proof of concept, there is an inherent risk to its quality on deployment – chalk that one up under “known unknowns.” (And try not to fret about the “unknown unknowns” while you’re at because let’s face it: you’ve got enough on your plate as it is.) As the BABOKv3 says in Section 5.3 on page 98, “If there is a risk that the solution is not technically feasible, the requirement that is most difficult to implement may be prioritized to the top of the list in order to minimize the resources effort before those resources learn that a proposed solution cannot be delivered.” Sage advice: if you can’t meet the quality threshold, you don’t want to encourage the PM to over-commit resources in vain.

2. The Personnel Dimension of Risk

This is where it gets tricky and sticky. Tricky because people have to be convinced; sticky because they don’t want to budge. It helps to know your organization’s appetite for risk, too.

In doing stakeholder analysis, you have to make sure that the right players – such as SMEs or regulatory stakeholders – can commit themselves to the team effort. If they are only sporadically available, or they are in “fire-fighting” mode all the time, then you might have to take a risk proceeding with certain assumptions until they can be validated. If they find fault with the conceptual solution and your initial requirements, then you’ll want to ensure their continued availability, as their approval is paramount. These are all factors that are known as engagement risk.

3. Assumptions, Constraints, and Dependencies

Typically, risks are documented along with assumptions, constraints, and dependencies for a good reason. It is because from these categories that risks are implied or inferred. As the BA, it may help to maintain a traceability matrix so you can convey potential flaws of assumptions, or whether dependencies have been fulfilled or are likely to be fulfilled – again, you’re more concerned with impacts on product quality, whereas project (and program) management is more concerned about duplication of effort (and costs). Once again, you need to consider the risk appetite of sponsors; that could very well be the impetus for a given constraint!

4. The Big Picture

Many organizations today use ERM or Enterprise Risk Management. These are high-level risk categories that need to be addressed in order to meet strategic imperatives. When you document high-level requirements (HLRs), consider how they may contribute to reducing these risk factors – thus resulting in residual risk. You could show a risk mitigation rating for each block of HLRs (i.e. a scale of Low-High); however, it may be difficult to do a risk rating attribute for each individual requirement. Your HLRs are expected to produce synergies to meet organizational objectives. Consider a formula that factors in priority values, too.

When thinking of the bigger picture, think about sources of risk; they could be more internally induced like culture or restructuring; or more commonly, they could be externally induced such as technology or market factors.

5. Value Realization and Risk

The moment of truth: you need to know if your undertaking has met certain quality thresholds. Has the solution realized its intended value? This is typically measured by metrics or KPIs (Key Performance Indicators). However, risks can ultimately derail your intended benefits; this, I believe, is where the framework of “(un)known (un)knowns” comes into play.

Achieving a reduced risk as an outcome, incidentally, is a benefit unto itself; albeit one that is not easily measured, as say compared to KPIs of increased efficiency, or reduced defects or downtime or complaints. (Section 7 of the BABOK speaks very well to this, by the way.) In this ever-expanding world of business intelligence (BI) and predictive analytics, one can run a “what-if” analysis to experiment with a range of outcomes, which could be based on risks manifesting.

6. Security Requirements

Lastly, some thoughts on security and risk; traditionally, security requirements have been in NFRs (non-functional requirements), or a logical roles matrix – since if anything threatens the CIA (confidentiality, integrity, availability) of your solution (which could be electronic or physical), then you effectively have a risk.

This is where an experienced technical SME, such as a senior designer, can be indispensable in sealing up the cracks in the armor as it were. You may need to introduce requirements that prevent certain malicious behaviors as per their advice.

Strategy Spotlight: 8 Things You Must do Better to Make Better Decisions

Written by Richard Lannon on . Posted in Articles.

I have been thinking lately about what it takes to make decisions. Just recently I was presented with a situation where some major decisions will need to be made.

Ones that impact changes in business and careers focus and could mean going into a whole new direction. So you have to make the best decision with the information at hand for your organization. From that perspective I think there are eight things you must do to make better decisions.

1. Invest in decision making skills.

This is something that holds true today as it did ten years ago or more. I see this as a foundational skill that people need to learn, practice and apply. There are many approaches or methodologies that can be applied in the decision making process whether you are a traditional organization, project based, a committee environment or driven by the board of directors. Often the fundamentals of decision making are missing. Look at the environment and create an appropriate decision making structure.

2. Create time to think ahead.

Time, time and more time is something we don’t have. It has become a luxury that most people can’t afford. Yet making good decisions requires time to reflect and look at the road ahead. What if you are considering changing careers and decide to go in a whole new direction? This is a big decision. This applies to a business venture also. Change and transformation are difficult to do on a whim, often you are required to think and plan ahead. But don’t over think long term plans as things change around you quickly.

3. Know who you serve.

This is an important point to answer. I know a lot of business leaders and professionals who I am completely confident in their ability to get the job done, to move forward and make things happen. But, they lack an important insight and clarity of who they serve. Decision making is a whole lot easier if you know who you serve whether it is a specific target market, an organization or something else. I think it provides opportunities to make mindful decisions and improve innovation and creativity in solving problems due to clarity and focus. It does not matter if you upset the market because you know who you serve.

4. Question everything, especially the business.

I often get asked how I would approach a specific problem. I am in a meeting and someone sets up a scenario and wants to know my approach. Any good business analyst, trainer or consultant will know the basics; define the problem, evaluation solutions, implement the approved solution, and measure the results. Part of the process is to question the business model. Recently I had this happen in a meeting with an executive director. I was presented with a question and responded but within that response I placed questions to better understand the business model of this organization.

Turns out they are looking for a change and the business model is suspect. It is always good to question, even when answering.

5. We can all think in a straight line.

Straight line or linear thinking is the a, b, c, of decision making. With so many organizations talking about innovation, creativity and being intentional I wonder what’s the point. There are many theories about what approach you should take. I still think the best approach to decision making and initiative integration is a mix between predictive and adaptive planning. These two approaches provide the best of both worlds, and when blended, often provide an organization an approach that works beyond the mere linear.

6. Create a story around decisions.

Life is a story and you write it yourself. With every decision there is a story that comes from people discussions, thinking, making assumptions, determining impact and communicating the decision. Wouldn’t it be great if you could create a decision narrative that is beyond the old boring business report? People want to be part of the decision story that makes a difference thus bridging organization gaps. You should create decision making stories.

7. We are all moving at the speed of a click.

Over decades my career has been part of the professional consulting and service economy which has accelerated at lightning speed in recent years. When I look at the professions’ value stream I think we need to make better decisions around the downstream business environment. Clients no longer just order or buy stuff they engage now in a very different way where it becomes difficult to determine the ROI on business activities. Margins wither as the need to provide valuable free content increases making business decisions a challenge to make. No matter the business you are in, the accelerated service economy is impacting your business.

8. Find a tool, reduce your risk and get costs under control.

The strategic business analyst looks at the past, present and future of a strategic plan and approach and use financial analysis of NPV, IRR and ROI within your business case. But it is important to go further and look at risk with uncertainty analysis. This is something that I learned over time from various economic adjustments (ie: dot com bubble burst, corporate and accounting scandals, subprime mortgages issue, and resource industry collapse) I think uncertainty needs to be determined better. Business intelligence and uncertainty reducing tools can be used to assist in this analysis. My point, the business analyst can play an important part in helping organizations make decisions through embracing uncertainty analysis approaches and tools to help deal effectively with unpredictable times.

Final Thoughts

Big decisions are tough to make, especially when you have invested so much time and effort on your business or focus area. When you work in a space where you are building skills and helping businesses define their future, you start to realize that there are certain truths that exist. One truth, everybody wants to survive and be around a long time. The second truth, that there is always a purpose that needs to be achieved. Third truth, good decisions and core competencies take you a long way to creating a profitable future thus achieving the first two truths.