Yesterday during lunch I had the pleasure to attend a webinar on problem solving that was hosted by the International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA) Central Indiana chapter, with a guest speaker, Nadine Millner CBAP®, ACBA.
I am excited to have recently joined the IIBA Central Indiana chapter now that I'm located in Indianapolis. It looks like a great professional organization, offering industry-trusted BA information and local networking opportunities.
This webinar's topic was particularly relevant to me right now as I am working behind the scenes to add some content to demonstrate the quality of my Business Analyst documentation. I can't just add deliverables that I created for employers over the years since the material includes proprietary and sensitive information, so I've decided to develop my own content through a sample project. This webinar helped me in devising a sample project and, particularly, with clearly identifying the problem to be solved.
An interesting point Nadine made during her talk is that people are problems - and that's not to say a mean thing about people. It's not a comment on people; rather, it's acknowledgement of the fact that people are inherently problematic: we don't speak the same language; use the same jargon; have the same values, interests, or motivations, etc. These sorts of problems actually make the world go around. However, in the BA discipline, the important thing is to remember that people are problems. It's very helpful to realize the importance, given our human nature, of developing our communication skills to be able to accurately identify what problems we are actually facing so that we are better prepared to solve the actual problems. This is, as I like to call it, the BA niche.
Thanks to the Central Indiana IIBA chapter and Nadine for this great webinar!
Photo credit: IIBA Central Indiana chapter event page