Maria Murphy has published an article in the Business Analyst Times on the role vs. discipline definition debate currently occurring in the BA-space. It’s a thought provoking piece motivated in part by my comments on Jesse James Garrett’s IA Recon essay.
As someone who has recently been walking in BA-shoes, I’ve had many discussions with Maria on the issue of certification, standardisation, role, discipline and community. Various groups like IIBA are now popping up and suggesting that they will bring clarity to the market if only you join them, get certified as a BA, and adhere to their view of what a business analyst is and does. I’m wondering whether steak knives comes with the package.
So long as the discussion continues as a healthy debate and not a means for arbitrarily defining business analysts by one organisation’s “body of knowledge” (because BAs are certainly more than just their BABOK) it will continue to challenge the way BAs think about what they do, who they are, and how they can communicate it to others. Maria puts the whole debate into perspective when she says, simply, don’t box me in:
“In short, as a business analyst I do lots of things. Don’t put me in a box or label me and don’t predefine what I do … it limits the possibilities for my involvement to add value within projects, between projects, across programs and across the enterprise.”
Perhaps, in the end, it’s not about resolving the grey, but communicating what we business analysts do know about ‘this is who we are’.
M
17 April, 2008 at 2:16 pm
Therefore a logical question is “what’s the use of a BABOK?”. Imagine a Body of Knowledge that has no boundaries…it’s called the Encyclopaedia Britannica.
I’m running a poll at the moment asking the question “Does the Business Analyst Profession require a Body of Knowledge?” and so far 71.4% says “yes”.
The BA is you and you’re the BA. Understanding “who we are” is really understanding yourself, your experiences and using this knowledge to position yourself where you can contribute the most to the Business. I suggest as BAs we pick up skills that enable us to express our views and ideas more effectively, tools that can make our job easier to carry out and adopt processes that ensure we dot all our ‘i’s’ and cross all our ‘t’s’.
John
Center4BA
17 April, 2008 at 9:46 pm
If the BABOK was the continual culmination of the BA Community’s views on BA The Activity and BA The Role, then I would say it was of great use. Unfortunately the BABOK is a business venture with all the certification and courses attached to it. It’s the IIBA’s view of BA The Role, BA the Title, BA the Activity, and BA the Discipline.
Just give me the BA’s version of Wikipedia any day — BA definition of Role, Activity and Discipline by Wisdom of Crowds.
M