Context

Recently, I’ve taken an interest into contemporary art. Undoubtedly, this is an area that a lot of people are sceptical about. On the surface, it’s not clear as to what makes a piece of contemporary art so valuable, yet when you go deeper and understand all the layers that go into a modern painting or sculpture, it starts to make sense. Interestingly, I’ve drawn a **parallel between the world of contemporary art and my own experience as a Business Analyst **in the world of products and technology.

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This article is not going to be an in-depth explanation of what a Business Analyst does, or a detailed comparison between Business Analysis and Art. That’s another piece for another day. I will, however, be providing a high-level overview of how I’ve grown to identify myself as a BA with my own guiding principles, and how Business Analysis blends art and science to deliver great value.

A semantic note before getting started: I will be referring to ‘Business Analysis’ throughout this article and using ‘BA’ as an acronym for ‘Business Analyst’, the role of the person that carries this work out.

Iam, by no means, a master of my craft. In fact, every day I am realising just how much more I have to learn and grow within my role. What I can firmly say though, is that I am a lifelong learner and introspective thinker. As such, I have been able to reflect and identify patterns across the range of different companies I have worked with, from large, global corporates to early-stage startups, and now finding myself at Valtech, a global digital experience consultancy.

Across this variety of experiences, I have noticed certain problems with the perception, or misperception, of what BAs do and the value they bring to a team or organisation. This ultimately leads to the under-utilisation of a critical role for high performing teams, as well as a lack of commitment, fulfilment and pride within BAs themselves.

I have also managed to build up a network of BAs at different stages of their careers, both current colleagues and within my wider network, to which I have reached out specifically for their views and experiences on these matters. I designed a survey and shared it across this network in order to validate my empirical anecdotes with data.

So, this article aims to shine the spotlight on the Business Analyst, illuminate some of the misconceptions of the role, and, finally, provide clarity on where the art and science are blended together.

The Problem

We must first think about where the problem lies — the abstract nature of the role itself.

It is difficult to understand what the key goals and skills of a BA are. The role is not well-defined or consistent, even within the industry itself. If you look at what the responsibilities expected of a BA within 5 different companies are, you are likely to have 5 very different cases. Similarly, you could have a dozen or more different job titles that all essentially are exactly what a BA is.

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