Look around you. Everywhere you look there are problems.
Organizations failing to meet customer demands.
Broken processes threatening to unravel a product or service.
Old systems with brittle rules embedded in archaic code.
The problems are sitting there. Right in front of you. And your organization needs you to step up and help solve them. Because the costs of not solving them get higher everyday. The costs amount to any one or more of the following:
Lost customers.
Disgruntled customers spreading negative comments about your organization.
Disgruntled employees not doing their best work.
IT staff stuck in go-nowhere jobs fixing ready-to-be-retired systems.
Still don’t think there is a problem? Look again.
Stepping up is what separates you from everyone else who's just along for the ride.
And these problems need business analysts diving into the fray to help solve them.
Business analysts make sure the team understands and solves the real problem and not the symptom.
Business analysts analyze, they figure things out, the explore possible solutions.
Business analysts align a diverse collection of people around a change.
Business analysts communicate, communicate, communicate making sure everyone understands the problem and the solution.
Business analysts who step up are problem-solving engines of change.
Becoming a problem-solving engine of change isn’t easy. Change is hard and motivating positive change in slow-moving organizations is especially hard. But hard does not mean impossible. And, if it were easy, anyone could do it. (And, if it were easy, it could be outsourced.)
No authority? Start a grass roots movement in your organization.
No training budget? Start a peer learning network.
No leadership skills? Build them by working with one person at a time.
Management apathy? Either drive interest or find a new situation where the leaders care.
Because there are a lot of organizations out there that need your passion, will respect your insights, and will give you the reins to lead positive change.
But first, you have to step up. You have to let everyone know that you are here to solve a problem. And you have to let everyone know that you are not stopping until the solution is signed, sealed, delivered, and accepted by the business. And then you have to deliver the results you promise, regardless of the roadblocks that you encounter along the way.
I can guarantee that no one in your organization is sitting around thinking that maybe they should give that guy over in cube #42 more responsibility because he’s a business analyst. More than likely they are leveraging professionals with the energy, the commitment, and who have demonstrated their ability to drive results.
Your organization needs you to solve problems and solving problems starts with stepping up.
Many thanks go to Seth Godin and his amazing book Tribes — this book inspires me to step up every day.
|
By Laura Brandenburg. Laura Brandenburg is passionate about business analysis. She's found her niche helping aspiring business analysts find transferable skills and position themselves in the BA job market. To stay up-to-date on the latest from Bridging the Gap be sure to sign-up for our free email course and weekly eNewsletter. View more blog posts by Laura Brandenburg |
Related posts:
{ 2 trackbacks }
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Beautifully said, Laura! I think many BAs need to hear what you just wrote.
To readers: if as you read you were thinking “easy to say, but nobody listens!”, please read also http://www.bridging-the-gap.com/sell-your-initiatives-to-your-boss/. There are no excuses, people, for waiting until a great opportunity to show your value falls into your lap. Take charge, seek out new responsibilities, show results, and recognition will follow.
So true! Seize the opportunities and jump in there! And if you think your efforts aren’t being noticed, trust me they are! By doing some of the very things that Laura suggests (starting a grass roots BA process improvement initiative, organizing BAs for a monthly meeting to share knowledge and experience) I had no idea that my name would be known across the organization. That’s not why I did it, but people I had never worked with were requesting me on their projects because of the initiative and leadership they saw me taking. This isn’t meant to toot my horn, but to prove that this really works.