Transcription
Our next speaker is Kirill, who has worked as a business analyst at the company "Indians Leps" and is also a senior lecturer. He has worked at different times as a business analyst and product manager, combining his work with teaching in a game where he taught courses on system analysis and business analysis. Kirill, you can take the microphone and start.
So, I took the microphone. Can you hear me? Yes, everything is great.
Hello everyone! My presentation is titled "Learning System Tools for Business Analysts." Of course, in 20 minutes, it’s not easy to dive deeply into this topic, but I hope that those who have never engaged with this subject will find something useful here as a starting point.
My name is Kirill, and I am currently at the Datalabs office here in Prague. There’s no one here, but Datalabs is a company that deals with data sensing. We work on projects in various fields, including machine learning and similar areas. Additionally, I am involved in business analysis design and have worked in product management, combining all of this with teaching. I have been in this field for over nine years, and I have a degree in computer mathematics and system analysis. We prepare specialists in qualification as mathematicians and system analysts, and I teach courses on system analysis, including introductory courses on requirements development and business process analysis.
So, what is my presentation about? Here you can see the main topics. I will briefly discuss system thinking—what it is and what it is not. As I mentioned, I will show at least two tools, focusing on system outputs and feedback loops. I hope to touch on literature as well, but I might not have enough time, so I hope this presentation can be shared later, and you can look at my selection of resources if you're interested.
The first part is about system thinking. What is a system? Thinking is a cognitive activity of a person, and there are many different types of thinking. Some are useful, while others are not so useful. Some of these are tools that need to be developed, and there is a specific vocabulary and concepts associated with them. It is essential to apply these in practice.
Most often, you won’t be able to master many types of thinking quickly. As practice shows, we can study a lot, but later we apply only a limited number of tools in our lives. There are many tools, and the minimum that I could fit on the slide is quite easy to find.
For example, in the key competencies of business analysts, there are several types of thinking required, including analytical and creative thinking. Systemic thinking is about breaking down complex things into smaller parts and understanding the interconnections.
I will talk more about this later, but visually, it is about representing information graphically. Creative thinking involves various ways of recording ideas. I hope they included scientific thinking as well, as it is essential for hypothesis testing.
Is systemic thinking a prerequisite for an analyst? I pondered this question before my presentation, and I don’t have a clear answer. Based on my experience, I believe it is not strictly necessary. While we call ourselves business analysts and system analysts, systemic thinking is not an absolute prerequisite. You can successfully start working as a business analyst without delving into system theory.
Of course, it is a good tool when dealing with large systems, but for smaller systems, it may not be as critical. It is clear that, on one hand, it is a prerequisite, as we see in Russian standards for business analysts, which mention system theory in job postings. However, I was surprised to find that only about 20% of job postings mention systemic thinking as a prerequisite. Perhaps it has become so commonplace that it is assumed by default.
What is systemic thinking? It involves examining situations from different perspectives. We have stakeholders, and it is essential to consider their interests. The main thing is to be organized and methodical, but this is more about systematicity than systemic thinking. Systematicity is a part of systemic thinking and is more of a practical understanding of it.
Systemic thinking is the application of a systemic approach to solving practical problems. If you base your daily or project work on systemic concepts, then you are applying systemic thinking.
There are three definitions of systemic thinking, two of which come from systems engineering standards. Systems engineering is the application of a systemic approach to creating engineering systems. Essentially, when a business analyst starts applying systemic thinking, they become a systems engineer to some extent.
This can all be found in literature, such as the book by Borisovich on systems engineering, which I highly recommend for studying this topic.
Now, how can we reveal the essence of systemic thinking? The iceberg model helps illustrate this. You start thinking systemically when you shift your focus. For example, in daily activities with clients, if you begin to shift your focus from specific events to lower levels, the lower the level, the greater your leverage on the situation.
We have events, but if they do not repeat, and if you can catch a trend, then behind the events, there are patterns of behavior. The first level of influence is the patterns of behavior, which are primarily determined by the structure of the system and how its elements are interconnected.
These structural systems are built based on the mental models of the leaders. People have their own mental models, which are their worldviews and beliefs. The structure they create reflects their mental models. This structure leads to patterns of behavior and a set of events.
For instance, if a business analyst consistently faces delays in delivering requirements, they might analyze their behavior and realize that they are trying to achieve perfection because they do not trust their team. They may not delegate tasks and spend too much time in meetings with clients, which leads to delays.
This behavior is driven by their mental model, which sees them as the only person in the team who understands the entire system.
I have a great visual representation of this, which I found online. It reflects a checklist for thinking systemically in everyday life. Each point corresponds to specific concepts from the systemic approach.
I won’t go through all of them, but I will highlight a few. For example, we strive to see the big picture. When I talk to clients, I often need to understand not just what they want but also how their system works and where the issues lie.
We also look at systems from different perspectives, as described in various literature for business analysts. We should not focus solely on specific events but track trends, as they are more important.
We must also consider the influence of delays, as they exist in all systems. Some events may only manifest after some time. We need to understand that systems have structures with more and less important elements, and we should seek leverage points to influence the system effectively.
Lastly, we must account for our mental models, as we are biological systems and part of social systems. Our rationality leads to logical errors and various mental models that significantly impact our behavior.
Why is all this important? In my view, it is to expand our understanding and develop a T-shaped person model. This means having deep knowledge in a specific area while also broadening our shoulders to connect with other fields and find common interests.
In summary, I have talked about systemic thinking. Now, I will discuss two tools. The first tool is the system output and feedback loops.
When teaching basic skills, I emphasize the importance of recognizing and identifying systems around us. We see the company and clients, and we can structure them differently.
We also look at technical systems, identifying boundaries between components and subsystems. It is not necessary to create diagrams in your head, but it is essential to recognize the system's structure.
We also think on three levels: the system itself, the subsystems it consists of, and the supersystem it is part of. This is important because there are many definitions of a system, but fundamentally, a system consists of interrelated and interdependent elements.
When you create a large service, it is a set of functions and requirements that the system must meet. The properties of the system emerge from the interactions of its components.
If we analyze the system's parts separately, we lose sight of the whole. As the ancient Greeks said, "analysis is the separation of a whole into its parts."
We must first understand the whole and then determine the function of each part within that whole. For example, in a university, different stakeholders see it differently. A student, a firefighter, an investor, or a scientist will have different perspectives.
However, when we synthesize, we need to identify the supersystem. For a university, the supersystem might be the education system, which includes various educational institutions and government structures.
To understand the university's goals, we must look beyond it to the education system and society.
When I say we think on three levels, I refer to the hierarchy of nested systems. This concept is called "holarchy," a term coined by Arthur Koestler.
In systems engineering, we often deal with at least five different types of systems. The target system is what we need to define, and it often includes components and subsystems.
The target system is the conference itself, which consists of people, schedules, and presentations. One of the subsystems might be the committee that selects presentations.
There are also using systems, which are larger communities, and operational environments, which include websites or communication channels.
The supporting systems ensure the lifecycle of the target system.
Understanding the context is crucial. We must conduct a systemic investigation of the problem, which involves identifying the higher-level system and its context.
The second tool is cyclicality. Cycles and feedback loops first appeared in cybernetics and were developed in system dynamics by Jay Forrester.
Complex system behavior is described by the interaction of feedback loops. There are two types of cycles: reinforcing cycles, which lead to exponential growth or decline, and balancing cycles, which self-regulate.
In a market, for example, balancing cycles dominate. If prices rise, more suppliers enter the market, leading to a stabilization of prices.
However, human behavior can introduce complexity, leading to reinforcing cycles. For instance, if a company starts selling shares, it can lead to a rapid decline in value.
I won’t go into too much detail about the diagrams, but you can study them separately.
The S-curve is a common representation of growth and saturation in markets.
We can find cyclicality in various frameworks, such as the PDCA cycle, which is a method for improving processes.
The key point is that we need to ensure that all four cycles are present in our processes.
Reinforcing cycles are sources of growth, while balancing cycles are necessary for self-regulation.
If you want your system to grow, you need to incorporate reinforcing cycles.
I recommend looking into the article by King and Berg about problem-solving frameworks.
In conclusion, I want to emphasize that 20 minutes is not enough to dive into systemic science. I recommend starting with identifying systemic levels, building context, recognizing feedback loops, and understanding archetypes.
Thank you for your attention!
Kirill, that was a very interesting presentation on systemic thinking. Now we have five minutes for questions.
We will now address the questions that have come in. If we have time, we may also take questions from the audience.
Please stay for another five minutes to answer these questions. We have a small gift for the best question.
The first question is from Lyudmila: "How can we track the influence on the system if a client requests to add a new element or subsystem, but they cannot provide clear documentation?"
To build context, you still need to communicate with the client. It is practically impossible to do this without engaging with them. You need to have calls and discussions, and it is essential to communicate with multiple stakeholders.
The next question is from German: "How do you see the relationship between analytical and systemic thinking?"
There is a connection. Systemic thinking relies on analytical skills. We first identify an object and then break it down into parts. Systemic thinking begins when you look at subsystems.
Thank you! Another question from Alexander: "You mentioned a Russian standard. What is that?"
There have been attempts in Belarus to create a competency framework for analysts, but I am not sure about the current status. In Russia, there have been several attempts as well.
I will now copy the questions from YouTube and send them to the chat.
Thank you, Kirill! It seems your students have joined us, and it was very interesting. I will review the presentation later.
I believe that all thinking is a practice, and we all make mistakes. No one is perfect.
Systemic thinking helps manage large projects when everything becomes overwhelming. In any engineering project, there should be one person, often called a systems engineer, who has a grasp of the entire system.
In our projects, this role often falls to the business analyst, not the project manager or architect.
Thank you very much for your presentation and for answering the questions!