Getting to the Essence – How to Get to the “What” Beyond the “Who and “How”
In his landmark article, “No Silver Bullet – Essence and Accidents of Software Engineering,” Fred Brooks made the point that business analysis will always be challenging. Why? Because it’s relatively easy to describe the “who and how” of the current state – this person (who) does something using that tool (how,) then another person does something using another tool, and so on. What’s difficult – often very difficult – is figuring out whatis actually being accomplished. Sometimes, our business clients and subject matter experts are so immersed in their job, and how they do it, they’ve literally lost sight of what is really being done.
That makes building a useful future state very difficult, and that’s why the speaker has concluded a fundamental ability of great analysts and architects is separating the “what” from the “who, how, and why.”
Backed up by numerous real-life examples, this session will provide practical techniques and frameworks for dealing with a variety of business analysis challenges. After learning “The Three ‘Es” of getting to the essence – Entities, Events, and Essential Activities – key learning points include demonstrating how to:
Build the two essential models that are at the core of successful business analysis.
Keep people from diving into unhelpful detail while analysing the “as-is” state.
Make your use cases / user stories more useful and avoid drifting into the “useless case” zone.
Ensure evaluation and selection of purchased solutions is focused on “what” must be provided.
Free people from over-attachment to the as-is state during organisational or process change.
One-sentence description
Alec describes the difference between “essence” and “accident” (“what” vs. “who and how”) and ways to use this to be a better Business Analyst.