The 2 mindset shifts adopted by good business analysts
By Stephanie Oley

As any business leader will attest, organisations either move forward or go backwards. There’s no such thing as staying still, because that means stagnating – shorthand for going backwards.

Planning for growth means anticipating where the market is going. Customer demands change over time, and so businesses must constantly realign their services to meet emerging needs. Knowing how to tap into this change is where business analysis comes in.

What is business analysis?

According to the International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA), business analysis is ‘the process of enabling change in an organisational context, by defining needs and recommending solutions that deliver value to stakeholders.’

It’s not to be confused with business analytics, which is about extracting, summarising and applying information from datasets to enable better business decision-making. (Read our related story, Strength in Numbers, to learn about some emerging themes in business analytics).

In business analysis, different approaches may be used depending on an organisation’s need. For example, a diagnostic approach might be taken to determine why something has happened. A predictive approach might be taken to identify ideal future outcomes. Different tools and frameworks will also be used, depending on the end goal.

If your organisation doesn’t have a structured approach to business analysis, several factors could be at stake. Perhaps the business is young and doesn’t yet have the organisational maturity to fulfil this task internally. Perhaps you’re outsourcing this function, or assigning it to the individual seemingly best suited to the task.

Why business analysis matters

History is dotted with corporate failures that boil down to poor business analysis, Kodak being a prime example. The camera and film giant once boasted an 80 per cent market share. However, in 1975, Kodak management rejected a prototype for the world’s first digital camera, presented by one of its young engineers. Their rationale? That the camera would ‘cannibalise’ film sales. And: that it wasn’t necessary to change an approach that ‘worked perfectly well’. Competitors such as Sony and Fuji were quick to fill the demand gap, redefining the term ‘Kodak moment’ for all. The rest, as they say, is history.

Another example with a business analysis lesson is video rental chain Blockbuster, which in 2000 rejected outright an opportunity to purchase streaming service Netflix for $50 million. Netflix, of course, is now valued at $150 billion. The then-CEO’s rationale was based on Netflix’s low earnings at the time, and nerves following the general business malaise that had followed after the bursting of the dot-com bubble.

By contrast, the world’s corporate juggernauts have grown to be that way by harnessing opportunities as they arose. Examples include Amazon (offering everything from cloud services and warehousing to food and entertainment brands), and Microsoft (cloud services, gaming, social networks and more). Another is Virgin Group, so agile it’s barely associated with its origins as a record store. Instead, Virgin is known for its many travel, media, fitness and other products.

There are two fundamental mindsets managers should adopt when building capacity in their business analysis skillset, explained below.

Every organisation needs to stay relevant and keep providing value, whether it’s a government, school, not-for-profit or other entity. That’s where an essential understanding of business analysis will help, and learning the fine art of this discipline is a good first step to getting there.