This presentation describes a Framework for Assessing Business Analysts Situational Awareness from Trivial Problems to Wicked Problems.

1. Framework for Assessing a Business Analyst’s
Situational Awareness
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Determine the Complexity of your responsibilities
from Trivial Problems to Wicked ones

2. Situational Awareness Wikipedia
Definition
• Situation awareness is the perception of environmental
elements with respect to time and/or space, the
comprehension of their meaning, and the projection of their
status after some variable has changed, such as time, or some
other variable, such as a predetermined event. It is also a field
of study concerned with perception of the environment
critical to decision-makers in complex, dynamic areas from
aviation, air traffic control, power plant operations, military
command and control, and emergency services such as fire
fighting and policing; to more ordinary but nevertheless
complex tasks such as driving an automobile or bicycle. [may
this author add Business Analysis ?]
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3. BA’s Situational Awareness Framework
• This presentation describes a Framework for
Assessing Business Analysts (BAs) Situational
Awareness.
• The Framework is composed of 3 dimensions of
assessment:
– The type of Pursuit that a BA is following
– The type of Endeavor that the BA is conducting
– The type of Decision that the BA is making
• These 3 dimensions were introduced by Dr. H.
Kurstedt.
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4. BA’s Situational Awareness Framework
• The BA’s situational awareness is described by
where he/she is located at a specific point in
time along these 3 Axes dimensions.
• This author argues that the farther away
from the origin of each Axis, the more
complex the BA’s situation is.
• The following slide presents the Business
Analyst Situational Awareness Space
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5. BA’s Situational Awareness Framework
Type of Pursuit
(increasing uncertainty)
Type of Endeavor
(Increasing
Comprehensiveness)
Type of Decision
(increasing Unstructuredness)
Process
Project
Program
Problem
Perplexity
Clerical
Operational
Tactical
Strategic
Structured
Semi-Structured
Un-Structured
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6. BA’s Situational Awareness Framework
Type of Pursuit
(increasing Uncertainty)
Type of Endeavor
(Increasing
Comprehensiveness)
Type of Decision
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Increasing
Complexity
Increasing
Complexity
Increasing
Complexity

7. BA’s Situational Awareness
• When finding himself or herself in more complex
situations, the BA’s experience and skill level become
more critical.
• For example:
– It is least Complex (Trivial) to be in a Process Pursuit,
mostly performing Clerical Endeavors, and making
Structured Decisions
– It is most Complex (Wicked) to be in a Perplexity Pursuit,
performing Strategic Endeavors, and making unstructured
Decisions
• The following slides describe in detail each dimension
of the BA’s Situational Awareness Framework
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8. Types of Pursuits
PURSUITS Uncertainty Level Managing Pursuit Example
Doing
The
Right
Things:
Effective
ness
Tools
PERPLEXITY Don’t know the start
nor the end.
DARPA’s MISSION: maintain the technological
superiority of the U.S. military and prevent
technological surprise from harming our national
security by sponsoring revolutionary, high-payoff
research bridging the gap between fundamental
discoveries and their military use.
PROBLEM Don’t know the start
but know the end.
DARPA’s PROGRAM FAMILIES: AEO, DSO, I2O,
MTO, STO, TTO
PROGRAM Know the start and
have a qualitative fix
on the end.
DARPA’s REVOLUTINIZING PROSTHETICS
Program
Doing
Things
Right:
Efficiency
Tools
PROJECT Know the start and
know the clear
specifications for the
end.
DARPA’s REVOLUTINIZING PROSTHETICS
Program: Brain-control demonstration
project
PROCESS Repeatedly achieves
the same known end.
Transfer Brain Neural Impulses to Prosthetic
Arm.
Drive the management of the uncertain pursuit to the next more certain pursuit.
Low
High
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9. Types of Pursuits
• Driving the management of the uncertain
pursuit to the next more certain pursuit is a
logical way of reducing uncertainty.
• For Pursuits that have little or no preceding
cases to draw experience from, it is critical to
approach them in a top down manner where
the more uncertain pursuit creates a scope
reference from which more certain pursuits
are derived.
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10. Types of Endeavors
ENDEAVORS Comprehensiveness
Which
problem to
solve?
STRATEGIC Global efforts are aimed in a general
direction using qualitative measures.
What
resources and
controls are
needed?
TACTICAL Wide efforts are directed toward a tangible
result using quantitative standards.
What steps to
take to solve
problem?
OPERATIONAL Limited efforts are focused on a fixed
outcome using restricted methods.
Apply
resources to
the steps and
solve problem
CLERICAL Local efforts are constrained to explicit path
using specific steps.
Low
High
The BA may pursue all levels of Endeavor but one level may be predominant
for him or her.
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11. Types of Endeavors
ENDEAVORS What they do What they
manage
Forcing Functions
(Constraining factors)
STRATEGIC Decide what
problem to Solve
Outcomes Internal and External
Organization
environment
TACTICAL Decide What
Resources to Use
Outputs Chosen Outcomes,
goals, and Implied
Tasks
OPERATIONAL Decide how to Solve
the Problem
Transformation
Paths
Objectives and
resources
CLERICAL Solve the Problem Execution of Steps Steps and their
sequence
The BA may pursue all levels of Endeavor but one level may be predominant
for him or her.
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12. Types of Endeavors
• As endeavors become less comprehensive, each
upper level endeavor becomes a source of
constraints for the lower level ones.
• The BA should always be aware of the
constraining factors that influence an ongoing
endeavor and that implies knowing its type.
• By identifying the type of endeavor being
conducted, the BA becomes aware of the
endeavor constraining factors, what the endeavor
ultimately aims at accomplishing (what it does),
and what type of information it manages.
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13. Types of Decisions
DECISIONS Unstructuredness
UNSTRUCTURED Unprecedented decisions involving
judgment, insight and intuition with little or
no formal information
SEMI-
STRUCTURED
Less routine decisions involving both
information and judgment
STRUCTURED Routine decisions involving information
only
Low
High
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14. Types of Decisions
• Semi-structured decisions can be facilitated by
the use of technics such as Analytical Hierarchy
Process (AHP)
• AHP is useful for combining information and
judgment in a logical manner and it can be a
powerful tool to rationally evaluate competing
alternatives.
• AHP can be applied across the full spectrum of
Endeavor Types: from Strategic to Clerical ones.
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Reference:
Dr. Harold Kurstedt book “Management Systems Theory, Applications, and Design”,
Virginia Tech ISE, 2000
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