3A lightning talk at the 2015 BA Development Day conference, at Te Papa in Wellington NZ. If we are to improve the balance between the art and science of business analysis and to strengthen our skills and approaches, then we had better break some of our bad BA habits! There is so much waste involved in how business analysis is applied to most project methodologies and governance frameworks, from bloated requirements documents, to modules defined that are never needed, to hand-overs that add no value, to keeping people waiting, to having to rework. These are all effectively software development variants of the original seven forms of waste (or Muda) from the Toyota Production System … and there is now an eighth far more insidious form of waste of which BAs can be as guilty as anyone else. David will share a brief rant about these BA wastes and his vision of what a lean approach to business analysis could look like.

1. Breaking Bad BA Habits
fifteen minutes
toward a leaner approach
to business analysis
BA Development Day, 2015

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We are still too planned …

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… but, we face complexity and chaos

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2011, for example

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The recovery

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Reducing waste

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#1: Unfinished work

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#2: Unnecessary Features
Often or
Always used,
20%
Sometimes
used, 16%
Rarely or
Never used,
64%
Source: Standish Group

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#3: Silos and handovers

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#4: Unnecessary processes

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#5: Context switching

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#6: Waiting

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#7: Rework

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#8: Knowledge hoarding

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What’s the answer?

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Lean Business Analysis Manifesto
Doing all of the analysis upfrontProducing what is needed,
when its needed
vs
Working with the right people
at the right time
Working in Silosvs
Building quality in
from the outset
Checking for quality at the endvs
Avoiding unnecessary steps
that don’t add value
Following a prescribed processvs

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When there’s no more business as usual, why
do business analysis as usual?