Every Business needs a GP!

“Explain it to me like I’m a 5 year old” This is a phrase that most BAs may recognise from their elicitation repertoire!

Well, I found myself quite literally in this position when my friend’s five year old daughter asked what my job was. What was particularly interesting was how the ears of the adults perked up even though I had told most of them at one point in time or another that I was a business analyst. I attributed this to the fact that most people (if they are anything like me) don’t like to admit that they don’t understand the gobbledygook that’s being blurted at them because they do not want to appear stupid! However, this is an urge that I constantly overcome if I am to do my job properly and it’s not always easy (especially when you need to ask for the SAME explanation MORE THAN ONCE). I have accepted that the ‘smartest’ way to do my job is really to appear ‘thick’ because having an explanation repeated tends to uncover stuff (sometimes even for the one doing the explaining) that could be quite key to further understanding and at the very least my understanding – but I digress.

So, I prepared to satisfy my keen audience who were focused on me with rapt attention and decided I couldn’t provide any of my stock answers like ‘I help businesses decide what changes they need to make’ or ‘I help businesses get the most value out of change’ because that just wouldn’t do for a 5 year old and the last thing I wanted was to subject myself to death by Ishikawa a.k.a. Why? Why?? Why???

Almost instantly, I had a lightbulb moment! Having worked with children before, I knew the best way out of this was to come up with a really good analogy. Nothing gets a child’s understanding going like a picture and an analogy is painting a picture with words by using the imagination to relate the Known to the Unknown.

So I asked her, ‘have you ever been to see the GP when you were ill?’ to which she replied ‘Yes’. Then I said, ‘In my job I am just like a GP except I don’t treat people, I treat places like banks or schools or shops so that they are more fun to go to and the people that work there enjoy working there.’
I could see the furrow on her brow deepen so quickly I interjected before she could form her first volley!   I said ‘I go to where mummies and daddies work to look at how they do the things that they do and then I ask them questions just like a GP to find out if they could do things better’. Then she asked ‘are they sick?’  to which I responded ‘not the people but the place where they work could be sick. For example, I could ask people if they are tired and bored because they are doing the same things over and over again and if they say yes then I can suggest ways for someone or something else to do those things so that they can have time to do more interesting things! So it’s not the people who are sick but it’s just the way they are doing things at that place. So to treat the place, I might help them build a computer or tell them how to get other people to do all that boring stuff. After a brief pause, she gave me a wry look which to me said she was letting me off the hook on this occasion and then said ‘then every business needs a GP’
I gasped with relief – I would live to fight another day.

Later on, I would reflect on this encounter and decide there may be more to the analogy than I had originally realised.

GPs receive training – so do BAs!
GPs have a modus operandi – so do BAs!
GPs ask questions – so do BAs!
GPs form a diagnosis – so do BAs!
GPs make recommendations – so do BAs!
GPs prescribe treatment – so do BAs!
GPs refer to specialists – so do BAs!

Right there, I felt the value of Business Analysis to an organisation seeking a ‘health check’ or seeking ‘treatment’ for a specific ‘illness’ could be seen by this (hopefully) helpful analogy.

People are different, therefore their needs as patients are also different. For example, a 75 year old may be in an excellent state of health if he can run 100m in 1 minute while a 23 year old returning the same time might not. A GP is mindful of this and so is a BA. Here, the focus of analysis is not problem solving per se, but an understanding of the business system (e.g. utilising a CATWOE or BAM) and in this way uncovering performance or process gaps which are likely to be different relative to the needs and type of organisation in question. This is just as the GP treats every patient differently relative to their overall biological model depending on age, height, gender etc.

It’s also worth noting the role of the medical practitioner is critical particularly in the early years and latter years and the same could be said for ‘Start Ups’ and ‘Wind Downs’ in the business world. In certain scenarios, clinical tests are considered before adoption or marriage (e.g. I have known this to occur in Nigeria due to the dangers inherent in a sickle-cell couple) this is analogous to due diligence required prior to Mergers and Acquisition.

Just as every ‘body’ needs a GP from time to time then we can also say every ‘business’ needs a BA from time to time. So, if you are ever stuck for a way to explain your role and relevance as a BA to the uninitiated, try the GP analogy. It keeps on giving!