There is a substantial niche industry marketing requirements tracking databases, systems and servers. But these are not short cuts, and must be evaluated judiciously. It is good to remember that a thoughtful application of the requirement definition process yields direct bottom-line competitive and economic advantages.
Category Archives: Business Analysis
CORRELATION IS NOT CAUSATION
The cliché “correlation is not causation” has an element of truth to it. Actually, MORE than just an element of truth. Too often we are handed a fait accompli of “scientific proof” that is based on correlative studies, but which has not established a confirmed cause and effect relationship. The following quotes from Ed Tufte (Beautiful Evidence) are relevant to establishing actual requirements:
“Correlation is not causation but it sure is a hint.”
“Empirically observed covariation is a necessary but not sufficient condition for causality.”
“Many true statements are too long to fit on a PP [PowerPoint] slide, but this does not mean we should abbreviate the truth to make words fit. It means we should find a better tool to make presentations.”
“In assessing causal linking lines, the claim that ‘X acts on Y’ should be tested against competing alternatives, such as the paired arrows of interplay. Another check is to reverse the claim: ‘Might it be instead that Y acts on X?’
“Evidence that bears on questions of complexity typically involves multiple forms of discourse.”
“Evidence is evidence, whether words, numbers, images, diagrams, still or moving. It is all information after all.”
REQUIREMENTS FOR BUSINESS REQUIREMENTS – Part 4
These business requirement requirements are controversial. There are several reasons, but they all boil down to time and money. The principal objection is that creating and publishing well-written requirements becomes too daunting a task when there are thousands of requirements to list. Careful decisions must be made up front with respect to requirements which reference other requirements, to requirements which are subordinate to or included within others, or to requirements which may even duplicate others.
REQUIREMENTS FOR BUSINESS REQUIREMENTS – Part 3
Business requirements are not exactly specifications, but they are close. They “specify” an understanding of your business model in terms that can be communicated clearly to other members of your team. A better analogy may be a statement from statutory law. If you want to see an example of good requirements, read a few paragraphs of your state’s published family law code.
REQUIREMENTS FOR BUSINESS REQUIREMENTS – Part 2
This is getting pretty technical, but bear with me while I try to get through the next part quickly. The next few concepts are essential, but they can also be controversial.
- Here is the first business requirement requirement: Each business requirement must be written as a complete statement. Just as in any other written communication, incomplete sentences and fragments create ambiguity, confusion and misunderstanding. If your statement is unclear, others may misunderstand it during implementation. That, in turn, will create more deliberation or rework. That costs you.
- Each requirement must contain the word “must” or another similar term such as “needed,” “required” or “specified.” This makes the intent clear to all readers that this is not just a guideline or recommendation.
- Each requirement must be a simple and clear statement. If you have a compound sentence then it may disguise multiple requirements. Clarity is essential to dispel ambiguity.
- Each requirement must be actionable and testable. You can ask yourself these questions: How do I approach the task of implementing this requirement? How do I know when the requirement has been met? If you can answer these questions with confidence, then you have in hand a well-written business requirement.
- Finally. a requirement statement must present the actual need, the actual deed to be implemented, and not describe only the requirement in general terms.
REQUIREMENTS FOR BUSINESS REQUIREMENTS
A single well-written business requirement will save vast amounts of work and improve your bottom line immediately. A poorly-written requirement will not only fail to accomplish its purpose, it can also create cause immediate damage to your operation. That is because the business requirement is an essential written business communication. So, you can see that the title of this entry is neither redundant nor oxymoronic; “Requirements for Business Requirements” is a recursive idea that allows us to dig a little deeper in successive stages.
WHAT IS BUSINESS ANALYSIS? – Part 3
Now here’s the kicker, the icing on the cake. Once you have a clear notion of a business requirement, you can refine it, quantize it, and then optimize it to produce a better business model. When you do that, you are beginning to transform your business. That realization should lead you to the “why?” of Business Analysis: It is the discipline of defining business requirements for the purpose of transforming business processes in order to make the business more efficient, more competitive, or more profitable.
In my next blog I will show you that there are requirements for defining business requirements. What a drag, right? The devil’s in the details, though. If you get it right, Grasshopper, then many rewards await, though variously defined.
WHAT IS BUSINESS ANALYSIS? – Part 2
There may be a common denominator among these views that could give you a unified perspective of the way your business operates. There may even be several common denominators. Understanding these might give you some sort of competitive advantage, don’t you think? What would you do with that knowledge?
Let me suggest that the central commonality among all your organization’s aspects of is an abstract notion called the “business requirement.” That doesn’t sound so abstract, though, does it? It is some fact, which you know, that is a need for you to do business. Whether you perform a business management analysis, a unit profitability analysis, a performance analysis, or some other sort of business analysis, what you focus on is defining the baseline requirements you must meet in order for you to harvest a profit. That is the bottom line.
More later…
WHAT IS BUSINESS ANALYSIS?
What is business analysis? The answer seems obvious to you as a business professional, doesn’t it? You know that business analysis looks at your business and tells you characteristics that you want to know about it. But your understanding will differ from that of your colleagues in other parts of your organization. Analysis of your business from a Human Resources perspective will not be the same as from the Accounts Receivable viewpoint. In fact, separate business analyses might also focus on your organization’s management, investor relations, sales and marketing, information technology, engineering and research, operations, safety, security, profitability, governmental compliance, and so forth. Each stakeholder in your company will have a different, yet valid, view of the success of your business.
More to follow…
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