1 00:00:00,400 --> 00:00:04,400 The Better Business Analysis Institute Presence the Better 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:12,840 Business Analysis Podcast with Kenjamin Walsh Hi everybody and 3 00:00:12,840 --> 00:00:15,880 welcome back to the Better Business Analysis Podcast with 4 00:00:15,880 --> 00:00:19,360 Benjamin Walsh, proudly brought to you by the Better Business 5 00:00:19,400 --> 00:00:23,720 Analysis Institute. The number one resource for 6 00:00:23,720 --> 00:00:28,280 getting started as ABA. Few weeks ago I took a trip to 7 00:00:28,400 --> 00:00:33,640 Bali for 10 days, which was some time out, a trip that was due 8 00:00:33,640 --> 00:00:36,240 before COVID. And we finally got the 9 00:00:36,240 --> 00:00:42,160 opportunity to to disappear into Bali and then later into the 10 00:00:42,160 --> 00:00:46,760 jungle in in Ubud. And there wasn't much to do 11 00:00:46,760 --> 00:00:51,040 there, which was the idea. And so I got to read a book and 12 00:00:51,040 --> 00:00:58,000 one of those books that I read on vacation was Atomic Habits by 13 00:00:58,000 --> 00:01:00,880 James Clare. Now if you haven't read the book 14 00:01:00,880 --> 00:01:03,560 or you haven't heard of it, I'll give you a brief summary. 15 00:01:04,160 --> 00:01:06,800 And particularly today, I want to talk about some lessons. 16 00:01:07,400 --> 00:01:10,520 As I was reading the book, I was connecting this, some of the 17 00:01:10,520 --> 00:01:13,880 lessons within the book to the world of business analysis. 18 00:01:13,880 --> 00:01:18,040 And there are actually some really great synergies there and 19 00:01:18,040 --> 00:01:22,960 some lessons. And also as a business analyst, 20 00:01:23,880 --> 00:01:29,200 our job is to persuade people and also help them form a new 21 00:01:29,200 --> 00:01:32,320 habits. So I do think it's a great book 22 00:01:32,320 --> 00:01:35,840 from a psychology point of view to learn about change management 23 00:01:35,840 --> 00:01:39,760 and and what is needed in order for people to change what they 24 00:01:39,760 --> 00:01:44,720 do, which is ultimately what BA is all about, Implementing 25 00:01:44,800 --> 00:01:47,040 changes. OK, cool. 26 00:01:47,040 --> 00:01:50,720 So I'll give you a rundown on the book itself of a very light 27 00:01:50,720 --> 00:01:55,520 summary. Summit Habits by James Clear is 28 00:01:55,520 --> 00:01:59,800 about habits, and a habit is a behavior that has been repeated 29 00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:01,920 enough times to become automatic. 30 00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:04,040 OK? And when you think about 31 00:02:04,040 --> 00:02:09,000 processes and people and interactions or jobs to be done, 32 00:02:09,240 --> 00:02:14,280 a lot of those scenarios which are done often are actually 33 00:02:14,280 --> 00:02:19,880 formed as habits. So habits could be good or bad 34 00:02:20,160 --> 00:02:23,960 depending on your the context and what you're trying to 35 00:02:23,960 --> 00:02:29,240 achieve in your life. The idea of a habit, the process 36 00:02:29,240 --> 00:02:31,760 of building a habit. Process of building a habit. 37 00:02:31,760 --> 00:02:36,800 So hopefully your BAES have perked up because I've used the 38 00:02:36,800 --> 00:02:42,160 word process involves 4 simple steps and this wasn't something 39 00:02:42,160 --> 00:02:44,120 that James came up with. This is. 40 00:02:44,520 --> 00:02:48,600 I've read about this many times before, but he he, he uses this 41 00:02:48,600 --> 00:02:51,080 and he expands on it and he talks about the four steps 42 00:02:51,520 --> 00:02:55,160 inhabit formation which start with a cue. 43 00:02:55,160 --> 00:03:00,680 So there is a cue, if you like a trigger, a cue that will make 44 00:03:00,680 --> 00:03:04,480 you act. There is a craving, a desire for 45 00:03:04,480 --> 00:03:08,080 something, there is a response and then there is a reward. 46 00:03:08,480 --> 00:03:13,120 And if you if those four things which cyclic and they can repeat 47 00:03:14,840 --> 00:03:19,560 cue craving response and reward 1234 that's the habit loop. 48 00:03:19,640 --> 00:03:25,080 And if the all those things are true to a certain degree, then a 49 00:03:25,240 --> 00:03:29,800 new habit can be formed. The full name of the book is 50 00:03:29,800 --> 00:03:34,080 Atomic Habits. Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results 51 00:03:34,600 --> 00:03:36,920 and that's important. And we'll get to that point. 52 00:03:37,280 --> 00:03:44,080 After this next point around tiny Changes and how just doing 53 00:03:44,080 --> 00:03:47,440 something is the way you should start. 54 00:03:47,440 --> 00:03:49,960 You shouldn't try to eat the elephant all at once. 55 00:03:50,280 --> 00:03:55,200 But number one, and again, I'm going to interweave my BA 56 00:03:55,400 --> 00:04:01,920 commentary here, It's around #1 is to shift the focus when you 57 00:04:01,920 --> 00:04:04,960 try and achieve something, when you want to achieve something. 58 00:04:05,600 --> 00:04:08,240 A lot of the lot of the times we say we want to lose weight, 59 00:04:08,680 --> 00:04:10,600 we're going to get fit. You know, they're going to the 60 00:04:10,600 --> 00:04:14,320 gym scenario I I literally just re signed up for the gym, you 61 00:04:14,320 --> 00:04:19,399 know and you know this is after years of not having a a 62 00:04:19,399 --> 00:04:25,360 standardized regular exercise regime in terms of going to the 63 00:04:25,360 --> 00:04:29,200 gym. And of course the goal you could 64 00:04:29,200 --> 00:04:32,880 say is to lose weight or you know my case get fit or get 65 00:04:32,880 --> 00:04:37,840 fitter. And the we need to shift the 66 00:04:37,840 --> 00:04:44,080 focus away from the goal. We need to not focus on the end 67 00:04:44,080 --> 00:04:49,640 state and the reason for that and this is your BA, you will be 68 00:04:49,640 --> 00:04:51,560 triggered. I will be queuing some of these 69 00:04:51,560 --> 00:04:55,120 BA thoughts in your head here. What we talk about here is that 70 00:04:55,120 --> 00:04:58,200 if you take two sports team, you take, I don't know, we'll use 71 00:04:58,200 --> 00:05:02,640 some American basketball players, basketball team. 72 00:05:02,640 --> 00:05:06,160 So you've got the Chicago Bulls and then let's say they're 73 00:05:06,160 --> 00:05:08,640 playing the LA Lakers, right? Basketball teams. 74 00:05:09,400 --> 00:05:11,520 And they're playing each other and the competitors. 75 00:05:11,760 --> 00:05:15,720 Look, both of their goals. Both teams are at their 76 00:05:15,720 --> 00:05:19,240 professional best. And what is the goal of both 77 00:05:19,240 --> 00:05:23,600 teams? The goal of both teams is to win 78 00:05:23,600 --> 00:05:28,560 the game. OK, so the goal is less it it's 79 00:05:28,560 --> 00:05:34,920 there, it is the ultimate goal. But what will get them there and 80 00:05:34,920 --> 00:05:36,240 and that's what the book's about. 81 00:05:36,360 --> 00:05:39,480 What will get them there is the process the how. 82 00:05:40,200 --> 00:05:42,040 So the book offers this approach. 83 00:05:42,360 --> 00:05:45,880 It doesn't we we shouldn't be thinking too much around goals. 84 00:05:46,600 --> 00:05:51,920 We or the focus of the system. We should be really focusing on 85 00:05:52,840 --> 00:05:55,840 the process to get there. How are we going to get there? 86 00:05:56,160 --> 00:06:01,640 And so you need to have a step by step guide in order to 87 00:06:01,800 --> 00:06:05,600 achieve a goal. So sometimes we talk about you 88 00:06:05,600 --> 00:06:09,200 know in business we want to achieve something and we break 89 00:06:09,200 --> 00:06:12,720 that down to tangibles about steps that we want to achieve. 90 00:06:12,720 --> 00:06:15,680 Or if we're helping a customer, they've got some jobs to be 91 00:06:15,680 --> 00:06:17,720 done, they want to complete that. 92 00:06:17,720 --> 00:06:20,480 But what's important are the steps that they carry out to get 93 00:06:20,480 --> 00:06:22,200 there and and how we influence that. 94 00:06:23,120 --> 00:06:27,000 So small, this is from James. Small changes often appear to 95 00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:30,080 make no difference. Until you cross a critical 96 00:06:30,360 --> 00:06:33,440 threshold. The most powerful outcomes of 97 00:06:33,520 --> 00:06:36,600 any compounding process are delayed. 98 00:06:36,600 --> 00:06:40,880 You need to be patient. So the focusing on a goal of, I 99 00:06:40,880 --> 00:06:46,240 don't know, losing 10 KGS or, you know, pounds or whatever it 100 00:06:46,240 --> 00:06:51,280 is in in your country is can be quite off putting if that's just 101 00:06:51,280 --> 00:06:52,840 the goal. What you need to do is measure 102 00:06:52,840 --> 00:06:56,840 your progress as you go through and actually get some joy out of 103 00:06:56,840 --> 00:07:00,280 the process of getting there. And the idea of compounding 104 00:07:00,280 --> 00:07:04,680 process relates to compounding interest Or you know, either for 105 00:07:04,680 --> 00:07:09,400 an investment or for a mortgage where every time you do 106 00:07:09,400 --> 00:07:14,120 something, it it it it, it can have an, at some point it has an 107 00:07:14,120 --> 00:07:16,800 exponential return rate. So you get there. 108 00:07:16,800 --> 00:07:20,200 As you as you make small steps, you feel like they're small 109 00:07:20,200 --> 00:07:22,560 steps, but they're actually adding up and they're more than 110 00:07:22,560 --> 00:07:25,840 just one additional step. And at some point, you'll start 111 00:07:25,880 --> 00:07:30,040 to get closer to your goal. The reason I like that 112 00:07:30,040 --> 00:07:36,160 particular lesson in terms of BBA was that success is the 113 00:07:36,160 --> 00:07:39,920 product of daily habits, right? The goal is a product of daily 114 00:07:39,920 --> 00:07:45,280 habits. Not kind of this once in a 115 00:07:45,280 --> 00:07:48,120 lifetime transformation where you just, you know, suddenly 116 00:07:48,800 --> 00:07:54,000 lose 10 KGS, you've got to work for it, the second lesson. 117 00:07:54,000 --> 00:07:57,120 So I guess, I guess summarize summarizing that point, it was 118 00:07:57,120 --> 00:07:59,400 around shifting the focus from the goal to the process to get 119 00:07:59,400 --> 00:08:00,680 there. What are your steps to get 120 00:08:00,680 --> 00:08:02,120 there? OK, we're backwards from there. 121 00:08:02,600 --> 00:08:10,080 The second point is don't make up mix up motion and action. 122 00:08:11,760 --> 00:08:15,440 This is one of the best pieces of advice in the book and it's 123 00:08:15,440 --> 00:08:19,360 to distinguish the difference between motion and action, OK. 124 00:08:19,360 --> 00:08:23,840 And it's a bit of a brain trap, do you think, because you're and 125 00:08:23,840 --> 00:08:27,000 I do this, I do this so often, especially with startup 126 00:08:27,000 --> 00:08:30,640 businesses that I have helped create or am involved in. 127 00:08:31,360 --> 00:08:34,400 Is that you think, and I don't do this though in a project 128 00:08:34,400 --> 00:08:38,000 which is for a client or as a consultant or even as ABA. 129 00:08:39,280 --> 00:08:41,720 Because, you know, this is something I teach juniors not to 130 00:08:41,720 --> 00:08:44,720 focus all their time on, which is around the fact that because 131 00:08:44,720 --> 00:08:48,440 you're planning and you're thinking, so you're analyzing 132 00:08:48,440 --> 00:08:50,560 and you're planning, it feels like action. 133 00:08:51,240 --> 00:08:54,480 OK, so you do this for six months, but in reality it's not. 134 00:08:54,600 --> 00:08:58,400 You're not getting any closer to those steps that you need to 135 00:08:58,400 --> 00:09:02,240 achieve in order to ultimately get go, but you're actually not 136 00:09:02,240 --> 00:09:03,480 moving the doll. So. 137 00:09:03,760 --> 00:09:09,720 So action is doing stuff and motion is moving forward. 138 00:09:10,120 --> 00:09:13,920 And so you need to, a few managers have said to me over 139 00:09:13,920 --> 00:09:18,880 the years that we need to have progress over perfection, OK. 140 00:09:18,880 --> 00:09:22,000 And B, as can get trapped into that, trapped into the 141 00:09:22,000 --> 00:09:26,600 perfection game. And the other, the other focused 142 00:09:26,600 --> 00:09:28,240 area, of course is you want progression. 143 00:09:28,600 --> 00:09:31,440 And the other frustration to B, as is if things aren't moving 144 00:09:31,520 --> 00:09:34,840 fast enough, I'm currently working for a large government 145 00:09:34,840 --> 00:09:39,040 client in New Zealand on quite a substantial piece of work. 146 00:09:39,560 --> 00:09:43,800 And there's ABA who's who's come on board and want to work on a 147 00:09:44,160 --> 00:09:45,800 piece of work as part of that program. 148 00:09:46,240 --> 00:09:50,200 And this person was getting quite frustrated. 149 00:09:50,200 --> 00:09:53,000 Working in this environment and in this environment is 150 00:09:53,000 --> 00:09:55,080 frustrating, but you've got to accept that. 151 00:09:55,080 --> 00:09:58,600 And sometimes you know, even progress can feel tough. 152 00:09:58,960 --> 00:10:01,520 So you've just got to focus on just doing the next thing and 153 00:10:01,520 --> 00:10:04,280 moving closer and closer to that goal. 154 00:10:05,640 --> 00:10:10,720 So my advice for BAS is instead of planning and trying to do 155 00:10:10,720 --> 00:10:15,320 something perfect, or, you know, keep working on product design, 156 00:10:15,320 --> 00:10:19,680 or keep working on the requirements or keep working on 157 00:10:19,680 --> 00:10:25,480 a piece of analysis, I think you should just start something. 158 00:10:25,480 --> 00:10:29,720 So, so, so, so just just start releasing some of the stuff. 159 00:10:30,160 --> 00:10:32,680 Start releasing early. If it's a analysis document, 160 00:10:32,680 --> 00:10:34,840 give feedback on it straight away, OK? 161 00:10:35,360 --> 00:10:37,160 And give feedback at the 80% mark. 162 00:10:38,080 --> 00:10:40,880 Don't worry about the 20%, just give feedback at the 80% mark 163 00:10:40,880 --> 00:10:44,080 before you've finished it. If you if you there's 22 164 00:10:44,080 --> 00:10:46,560 problems with working on something for too long of its 165 00:10:46,560 --> 00:10:49,760 presentation. One is that you could just take 166 00:10:49,760 --> 00:10:51,160 too long on it. It's not worth it. 167 00:10:51,160 --> 00:10:53,760 The value of return on investment for time spent on it, 168 00:10:53,760 --> 00:10:56,840 it's just not valuable. That can happen, especially in 169 00:10:56,840 --> 00:11:00,880 the public sector. But secondly, sometimes, and 170 00:11:00,880 --> 00:11:03,760 I've seen this in a design era, is that if you've worked on 171 00:11:03,760 --> 00:11:06,240 something, you've made it to a point of art almost. 172 00:11:06,960 --> 00:11:10,360 You think it's quite good then if you show someone too late 173 00:11:10,360 --> 00:11:14,280 down the when you're at 100%, right Once once you think it's 174 00:11:14,280 --> 00:11:17,600 ready to go out and it's it's ready for publishing, it's 175 00:11:17,600 --> 00:11:20,640 actually the bad time to send it out because you'll get, you'll 176 00:11:20,640 --> 00:11:23,280 get lots of feedback and some managers just love to give 177 00:11:23,800 --> 00:11:26,280 feedback for the sake of it. So they feel powerful. 178 00:11:26,600 --> 00:11:30,040 But you will might get up quite upset. 179 00:11:30,920 --> 00:11:33,920 But if you send it out at the 80% mark, you go, Oh yeah, OK 180 00:11:33,920 --> 00:11:35,320 cool, that's fine. Yeah, I knew that. 181 00:11:35,840 --> 00:11:38,040 And those managers who are looking for, you know, dotting 182 00:11:38,240 --> 00:11:42,000 IS and crossing the TS or want to just have their say they've 183 00:11:42,000 --> 00:11:46,160 got that opportunity in USB, it's like the IT probably won't. 184 00:11:46,880 --> 00:11:49,880 If they're just doing it for the sake of giving feedback, then 185 00:11:49,880 --> 00:11:51,960 you can say well that's cool. It's not the final document 186 00:11:51,960 --> 00:11:53,160 cool. I'll incorporate that feedback. 187 00:11:53,160 --> 00:11:55,800 Thank you very much. And for those who if you are off 188 00:11:55,800 --> 00:11:58,680 track and those who are providing great constructive 189 00:11:58,680 --> 00:12:02,480 feedback, they'll have their say and you and you, you'll know 190 00:12:02,480 --> 00:12:05,120 it's at an 80% mark and you won't be too upset. 191 00:12:05,120 --> 00:12:07,840 If you need to change it, you you definitely will be less 192 00:12:07,840 --> 00:12:09,880 upset than if you thought it was perfect. 193 00:12:10,400 --> 00:12:13,080 So that's a really, really good point. 194 00:12:13,280 --> 00:12:16,320 I think BAS are a lot of BAS and we're getting better at it. 195 00:12:16,840 --> 00:12:20,640 Agile's probably helped. But yeah, just don't mix up 196 00:12:20,640 --> 00:12:24,760 motion and with action. So action being doing stuff and 197 00:12:24,760 --> 00:12:27,600 motion moving forward. So that's really important. 198 00:12:28,840 --> 00:12:34,760 There is actually a rule around when we talk about habit forming 199 00:12:34,760 --> 00:12:39,760 in in this book there's there's a quote and a rule. 200 00:12:39,760 --> 00:12:43,040 So the quote is we're so focused on figuring out the best 201 00:12:43,040 --> 00:12:46,080 approach that we never get around to taking any action. 202 00:12:46,080 --> 00:12:49,200 So that that that that can happen quite a lot, especially 203 00:12:49,200 --> 00:12:53,880 in a business case process and the technique when we are trying 204 00:12:53,880 --> 00:12:56,320 to do something and we'll bring it back to say losing weight or 205 00:12:56,320 --> 00:13:00,200 getting fit at the gym. One technique is the 2 minute 206 00:13:00,200 --> 00:13:03,120 rule, so you do something for just two minutes, which is easy. 207 00:13:03,120 --> 00:13:07,800 So this could literally be sign up to the gym, go there, get 208 00:13:07,800 --> 00:13:11,280 changed into your gym gear, drive to the gym. 209 00:13:11,720 --> 00:13:15,480 If it's not far away, go there. Go on the cycle cycle for two 210 00:13:15,480 --> 00:13:18,680 minutes. Start with two minutes. 211 00:13:19,600 --> 00:13:22,440 Leave and go home and the gym. You know, people at reception 212 00:13:22,440 --> 00:13:24,640 might go, oh, you you're right. You go, Yep, yeah, just sorry, 213 00:13:24,640 --> 00:13:27,080 I've got to go home now. You start off with that 2 214 00:13:27,080 --> 00:13:29,360 minutes you've actually gone there so you're not feeling 215 00:13:29,360 --> 00:13:32,040 overwhelmed that you're doing half an hour or people going to 216 00:13:32,040 --> 00:13:34,480 watch you because you have been in the gym before and you just 217 00:13:34,480 --> 00:13:36,520 don't look your best and you don't feel your best. 218 00:13:36,840 --> 00:13:39,040 But actually just turning up is step one. 219 00:13:39,480 --> 00:13:41,600 And then next time you go, maybe you just go in there and you 220 00:13:41,600 --> 00:13:44,480 just go, you just do it for 5 minutes and then you might 221 00:13:44,480 --> 00:13:46,680 double that again and double that again, double that again, 222 00:13:46,680 --> 00:13:49,000 like exponentially. And suddenly you're going for an 223 00:13:49,000 --> 00:13:52,560 hour and you've gone through the ritual of putting your clothes 224 00:13:52,560 --> 00:13:54,800 on, going to the gym. That's actually just as 225 00:13:54,800 --> 00:13:58,960 important, just as important than it is, you know, actually 226 00:13:58,960 --> 00:14:02,720 getting the exercise that you want because the cue and the 227 00:14:02,720 --> 00:14:04,840 action is actually the hard bit. So. 228 00:14:04,840 --> 00:14:07,840 So once you're at the gym and working, you might push 229 00:14:07,840 --> 00:14:08,720 yourself. That's fine. 230 00:14:08,720 --> 00:14:10,080 Don't. And by the way, don't push 231 00:14:10,080 --> 00:14:11,080 yourself. That's a mistake. 232 00:14:11,080 --> 00:14:14,600 A lot of people do that. So that's a side note that if 233 00:14:14,600 --> 00:14:18,640 you were quite athletic in the past, I played quite a lot of 234 00:14:18,640 --> 00:14:22,000 sport when I was younger. I'm not that person anymore. 235 00:14:22,240 --> 00:14:26,080 And so I'm going to push myself to, you know, university grade 236 00:14:26,680 --> 00:14:29,640 kind of sports and then I'll, you know, I'll break something 237 00:14:30,000 --> 00:14:32,440 because I'm not at that level of fitness anymore. 238 00:14:32,440 --> 00:14:34,880 People do that and then you, you know, you start going to the gym 239 00:14:34,880 --> 00:14:37,520 again and then after two weeks you've pulled, you've pulled a 240 00:14:37,520 --> 00:14:40,840 ligament or something. So just start off small. 241 00:14:41,600 --> 00:14:44,360 There's also some really good lessons about triggering. 242 00:14:44,760 --> 00:14:48,640 So I'm I'm not going to steal James's Thunder, and I'm going 243 00:14:48,640 --> 00:14:51,960 to recommend you read the book around how you have existing 244 00:14:51,960 --> 00:14:53,720 habits. And so if you're introducing a 245 00:14:53,720 --> 00:14:57,400 new habit, like going to the gym, you should probably stack 246 00:14:57,400 --> 00:15:01,320 that in. It's called habit stacking to to 247 00:15:01,320 --> 00:15:05,760 a habit that you're already doing and and so so so the cue 248 00:15:05,760 --> 00:15:09,040 to remind you to go to the German to to push you into 249 00:15:09,040 --> 00:15:12,760 action can actually be triggered by something else that you do 250 00:15:12,760 --> 00:15:14,880 often. So you read the book around that 251 00:15:14,880 --> 00:15:18,680 area. So don't mix up motion and 252 00:15:18,680 --> 00:15:20,120 action. So motion would be going to the 253 00:15:20,120 --> 00:15:22,960 gym, action would be thinking about it or doing a fitness plan 254 00:15:22,960 --> 00:15:27,200 and not actually turning up. Another top tip would be make it 255 00:15:27,240 --> 00:15:31,800 obvious and this is less related to be I think are very much 256 00:15:32,920 --> 00:15:36,760 important when you are trying to form a new habit. 257 00:15:37,560 --> 00:15:40,920 The process of behavior change starts with awareness. 258 00:15:41,200 --> 00:15:44,000 So if you're not aware of your own habits, you can't change 259 00:15:44,000 --> 00:15:46,640 them. So this is almost like current 260 00:15:46,640 --> 00:15:49,760 state analysis if we do relate it to business analysis. 261 00:15:49,960 --> 00:15:53,280 So a lot of people are not aware of what they do on a current on 262 00:15:53,280 --> 00:15:56,560 a current basis and and and again of course documenting all 263 00:15:56,560 --> 00:15:59,480 that may be less valuable. But from a change management 264 00:15:59,480 --> 00:16:02,720 point of view it may actually be important for people to just 265 00:16:02,720 --> 00:16:05,040 write down what they do. Very simple, they can do it. 266 00:16:05,080 --> 00:16:08,000 You don't need to make it pretty, but simply getting the 267 00:16:08,000 --> 00:16:11,200 intro to list of the steps that they do helps them identify 268 00:16:11,200 --> 00:16:14,920 where maybe what their current habits are, but also their 269 00:16:14,920 --> 00:16:17,840 activities which might also be habits because I've done them 270 00:16:17,840 --> 00:16:22,080 for 50 years or so for example. So you need to raise awareness. 271 00:16:22,080 --> 00:16:27,920 So there's a good example in the book called pointing and calling 272 00:16:28,960 --> 00:16:35,040 where if it actually raises your awareness from a non conscious 273 00:16:35,040 --> 00:16:39,240 habit to a more conscious habit by verge verbalizing and 274 00:16:39,240 --> 00:16:40,840 pointing and actually using your hands. 275 00:16:41,240 --> 00:16:46,640 So a great example of that is when people are packing to go 276 00:16:46,640 --> 00:16:51,400 away on vacation or on holiday. Some people go, I've got my 277 00:16:51,400 --> 00:16:53,840 toothbrush, I've got my passport, I've got my underwear 278 00:16:54,120 --> 00:16:57,520 and they're pointing around and that actually helps your brain 279 00:16:57,520 --> 00:17:01,720 remember things much more than you just trying to remember. 280 00:17:01,960 --> 00:17:05,400 So by writing it down and calling it out, pointing and 281 00:17:05,400 --> 00:17:09,440 calling or even physically pointing actually locks 282 00:17:09,800 --> 00:17:13,359 information into the brain. So, so again if you're doing a 283 00:17:13,359 --> 00:17:16,560 requirement session and people are doing things, you could 284 00:17:16,560 --> 00:17:20,599 literally get them to verbalize their process and say it out 285 00:17:20,599 --> 00:17:23,440 loud because it could trigger something in their brain. 286 00:17:24,880 --> 00:17:28,960 The other idea is around habits. Per Southeast is around making 287 00:17:29,800 --> 00:17:34,000 the habit, the change in behavior attractive. 288 00:17:34,160 --> 00:17:40,280 So making an attractive, so the more opportunity to make the 289 00:17:41,480 --> 00:17:45,200 habit or the behavior change is attractive, there's more chance 290 00:17:45,200 --> 00:17:49,400 of it, you're doing it more often and and and cementing into 291 00:17:49,480 --> 00:17:54,440 a habit, James says. Interestingly, the reward system 292 00:17:54,440 --> 00:17:56,920 that is activated in the brain when you receive a reward or a 293 00:17:56,960 --> 00:18:02,320 reward is the same system that is activated when you anticipate 294 00:18:02,320 --> 00:18:05,840 a reward. So I'll say that again, the same 295 00:18:05,840 --> 00:18:09,120 part of your brain that activates when you actually 296 00:18:09,120 --> 00:18:12,200 receive a reward. So it could be, I don't know, 297 00:18:12,600 --> 00:18:16,400 treating yourself to a Starbucks and be like is the same when you 298 00:18:16,760 --> 00:18:19,600 when you anticipate that you might get that reward. 299 00:18:21,600 --> 00:18:26,640 And the reason why anticipation of an experience can often feel 300 00:18:26,960 --> 00:18:30,640 sometimes the anticipation of the change of the Starbucks, 301 00:18:31,280 --> 00:18:32,840 feeling like a Starbucks. And I'm. 302 00:18:32,840 --> 00:18:36,320 I'm looking at a Starbucks right now that I got about an hour 303 00:18:36,320 --> 00:18:40,240 ago. I really had a craving for it, 304 00:18:40,760 --> 00:18:44,680 bought it. And and as James says, the 305 00:18:44,680 --> 00:18:49,160 anticipation of the experience can often feel better than 306 00:18:49,560 --> 00:18:52,680 actually attainment. So I felt like a Starbucks. 307 00:18:52,680 --> 00:18:55,040 I imagined in my head, for whatever reason, something 308 00:18:55,040 --> 00:18:57,880 triggered me. And then I went and bought one 309 00:18:57,960 --> 00:18:59,720 and I had it and I was actually disappointed. 310 00:19:00,000 --> 00:19:02,600 Happens often where kids really, really want something and then 311 00:19:02,600 --> 00:19:06,000 you give it to them and then less they're happy about it or 312 00:19:06,000 --> 00:19:07,640 they don't play with the toy. It's more around the 313 00:19:07,640 --> 00:19:10,680 anticipation of the toy because it's popular now that can happen 314 00:19:10,680 --> 00:19:13,440 in IT all the time. Or business analysis where you 315 00:19:13,440 --> 00:19:16,360 talk about a change, you talk about this new system and you 316 00:19:16,360 --> 00:19:20,520 know it's hard because they have to learn how to use it and it's 317 00:19:20,520 --> 00:19:23,800 different and the anticipation of this cool system actually 318 00:19:23,800 --> 00:19:25,840 fades out. And a lot of times, even when 319 00:19:25,840 --> 00:19:30,480 you're successful in a project, the actual new post change is 320 00:19:30,480 --> 00:19:34,480 not that exciting and all the benefits you know are seen later 321 00:19:34,480 --> 00:19:36,320 or people don't necessarily relate to it. 322 00:19:37,200 --> 00:19:40,920 So changing habits is hard. The other lesson, or there's 323 00:19:40,920 --> 00:19:43,840 just two more really is One is about making it easy. 324 00:19:44,440 --> 00:19:48,520 So if you want to ditch a habit, you should make it harder. 325 00:19:49,360 --> 00:19:51,320 There's several methods for doing that. 326 00:19:51,880 --> 00:19:54,840 So again, I guess if we were trying to stop people from doing 327 00:19:54,840 --> 00:19:57,400 an old process of following an old using their spreadsheet 328 00:19:57,400 --> 00:19:59,640 instead of the system that's just rolled out, make it 329 00:19:59,640 --> 00:20:01,160 extremely difficult for them to do that. 330 00:20:01,160 --> 00:20:05,400 So it enforces them to change their habits and then make it 331 00:20:05,400 --> 00:20:07,640 satisfying. So again, I think there needs to 332 00:20:07,640 --> 00:20:16,560 be some a reward for people for taking action. 333 00:20:16,560 --> 00:20:19,320 So think about those last two in terms of change management. 334 00:20:19,640 --> 00:20:21,600 Making it easy and making it satisfying. 335 00:20:22,000 --> 00:20:26,160 So if you are going to help someone move to a new system, 336 00:20:26,160 --> 00:20:28,720 maybe there's a reward system like, I don't know, you get a 337 00:20:28,720 --> 00:20:34,160 Prezi card or a coffee voucher. If you have like used the new 338 00:20:34,160 --> 00:20:38,720 system every day, you you know it's only one Click to log in. 339 00:20:38,720 --> 00:20:41,520 You're not having to remember username and passwords. 340 00:20:41,840 --> 00:20:45,680 So all those kind of what you could see is soft requirements 341 00:20:45,680 --> 00:20:50,120 and almost nice to have or could haves in Moscow, maybe they're 342 00:20:50,120 --> 00:20:52,720 actually really must haves in terms of the change you're 343 00:20:52,720 --> 00:20:55,320 trying to achieve. And maybe you should consider 344 00:20:55,320 --> 00:21:00,560 those more UX, customer experience changes and reward 345 00:21:01,080 --> 00:21:03,760 experiences that are actually really important if you want 346 00:21:03,760 --> 00:21:09,720 people to move to a new system. So there's some, there's some 347 00:21:09,720 --> 00:21:14,880 just some really really high level overview book. 348 00:21:15,240 --> 00:21:19,680 Atomic Habits by James Clear. I I recommend reading it and 349 00:21:19,680 --> 00:21:24,400 just, you know, one from a habit forming scenario in terms of 350 00:21:24,400 --> 00:21:28,040 your own habits and then one in terms of how that might relate 351 00:21:28,120 --> 00:21:31,840 to business analysis. And so that, you know, that's 352 00:21:31,840 --> 00:21:35,560 my, I guess my review of Atomic Habits and I just thought it 353 00:21:35,560 --> 00:21:39,800 would relate to BA. Now before I go today, I just 354 00:21:39,800 --> 00:21:42,520 wanted to shout out to all of you. 355 00:21:44,440 --> 00:21:47,440 It's quite remarkable how successful this podcast has 356 00:21:47,440 --> 00:21:51,120 become just with me talking about my experiences and 357 00:21:51,120 --> 00:21:55,280 business analysis and obviously with the help of a lot of luned 358 00:21:55,840 --> 00:21:59,960 friends and you know, interviewees that I've had on 359 00:21:59,960 --> 00:22:01,400 the show. And if you want to be on the 360 00:22:01,400 --> 00:22:06,440 show, please just let see me LinkedIn, I would love to hear 361 00:22:06,440 --> 00:22:07,920 from you. I love to get feedback. 362 00:22:07,920 --> 00:22:09,600 So don't, please don't hold back. 363 00:22:10,280 --> 00:22:12,440 And if you want to be on the show and talk about anything, it 364 00:22:12,440 --> 00:22:15,280 doesn't matter if you're a junior intermediate. 365 00:22:15,280 --> 00:22:16,360 You've got experience. Don't. 366 00:22:16,440 --> 00:22:18,960 Don't think that people don't want to hear your story. 367 00:22:19,240 --> 00:22:22,000 I'm always fascinated to hear about people who have, you know, 368 00:22:22,080 --> 00:22:24,880 recent immigrants and how they're settling in jobs as 369 00:22:24,880 --> 00:22:27,840 they're just starting a new job or they're new to business 370 00:22:27,840 --> 00:22:30,000 analysis or they're not even in that field. 371 00:22:30,320 --> 00:22:34,200 And what made them listen to this podcast and why our 372 00:22:34,200 --> 00:22:35,960 business analysis appeals to them? 373 00:22:36,200 --> 00:22:39,760 I would love to hear from you. I'd love to interview you and I 374 00:22:39,760 --> 00:22:43,320 just again just wanted to shout out there's such a choice on 375 00:22:43,320 --> 00:22:47,720 Spotify or Apple podcast or whatever platform you're using 376 00:22:47,720 --> 00:22:50,680 to listen to this podcast. There's so much choice out there 377 00:22:50,680 --> 00:22:55,280 when it comes to business and so I really appreciate your time, 378 00:22:55,560 --> 00:22:59,360 your 30 minutes to an hour every week where we get to have a bit 379 00:22:59,360 --> 00:23:04,760 of a chat, more me talking, less more you listening. 380 00:23:05,160 --> 00:23:08,720 But also, I do want to hear from you finally. 381 00:23:09,280 --> 00:23:12,960 Happy Thanksgiving to those Americans out there or anyone 382 00:23:12,960 --> 00:23:15,120 else around the world who celebrates it. 383 00:23:15,720 --> 00:23:20,560 Great time to give thanks and to think about what you're grateful 384 00:23:20,560 --> 00:23:24,520 for before Christmas. And like I said, I am grateful 385 00:23:24,520 --> 00:23:25,480 to all of you.