The Art Of War For Business Analysts

IIBA Chapter Meeting in Cape Town

25 March, 2010

Presented by Joe Newbert

25 March 2010 1© www.businesschange.co.za

Contemporary Congestion

Flexible constraints on projects delivery . What gives?

Buzzwords and brands. Silver Bullets?

Need to get back to basics. What are the fundamentals?


Sun Tzu

Ancient General and Strategist

Believed to have Authored the Art Of War

Influential treatise on military tactics

Lionel Giles Victorian Scholar and Translator (1875-1958)

Curator of Oriental Manuscripts, British Museum

1910 Translation of Sun Tzu’s The Art Of War


Business Change BOK v500BC

The Art of War is divided into 13 Chapters

Derived a set of strategic rules for Business Analysts

Value is to simplify the complexity of strategic thinking


Hitchhikers Guide to Terminology

Context is King

Illustration of military terms applied to the (hopefully) less blood stained battlefield of Business Change

Sun Tzu

• Enemy

• Battlefield

• Commander / General

Business Change

• The Situation

• Business Operations

• Project leaders


始計，始计

1. Laying Plans

Chapter Summary:

Explores the fundamental factors that define a successful outcome. By thinking, assessing and comparing these points you can calculate a victory, deviation from them will ensure failure. Remember that war is a very grave matter of state.

Strategic Rules:

1) Think before do

2) Evaluate business options

3) Look for strategic turns

Think before do

Translation:

The art of war is of vital importance to the State. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected.

The art of war, then, is governed by five constant factors, to be taken into account in one’s deliberations, when seeking to determine the conditions obtaining in the field. These are:

i. the Moral Law;

ii. Heaven;

iii. Earth;

iv. The Commander;

v. method and discipline.

These five heads should be familiar to every general: he who knows them will be victorious; he who knows them not will fail.


BA ToolkitBusiness Analysis Commentary - Laying Plans

Think Before Do

External Analysis

– Porters 5 Forces

– PESTLE Analysis

Internal Analysis

– MOST

– Resource Audit

– Boston Box

RAID Analysis

Stakeholder Maps

SWOT Analysis

Successful Business Change is critical to organisational strategy

Clearly define the problem before seeking a solution

Business Change Parallels:

– Moral influence means spirit of vision (mission, goal)

– Weather equates to outside forces (market, dependencies)

– Terrain in the scene of action (people, place, product, process)

– Commander is leadership (Sponsor, BA)

– Doctrine is guiding principles (culture, policies, methods)

Analysis must be driven by the need to improve operations

Go beyond the current situation & dig into underlying causes

Assessment before the plan is often ignored in the rush to action

“Resist the pressure to ‘start coding now!’; a careful strategic assessment is the foundation of successful business change.”


作戰，作战

2. Waging War

Chapter Summary:

Explains how to understand the economy of war and how success requires making the winning play, which in turn, requires limiting the cost of competition and conflict.

Strategic Rules:

4) Secure the Business Case

5) Make time your ally

6) Everyone must profit

7) Know your craft

Secure the Business Case

Translation:

In the operations of war, where there are in the field a thousand swift chariots, as many heavy chariots, and a hundred thousand mail-clad soldiers, with provisions enough to carry them a thousand Li, the expenditure at home and at the front, including entertainment of guests, small items such as glue and paint, and sums spent on chariots and armour, will reach the total of a thousand ounces of silver per day. Such is the cost of raising an army of 100,000 men.

Again, if the campaign is protracted, the resources of the State will not be equal to the strain.

The skillful soldier does not raise a second levy, neither are his supply-wagons loaded more than twice.


BA ToolkitBusiness Analysis Commentary - Waging War

Secure the Business Case

Work Breakdown Structure

Cost / Benefit Analysis

– Tangible / Intangible

– Immediate / Longer Term

Investment Appraisal

– Payback Calculation

– Net Present Value

– Internal Rate of Return

Funds must be available before the project

Estimate the required resources (people, time and materials)

Ensure the budget forecast is accurate

– Too little funding is insufficient

– Excess funding is wasteful of allocated resources

Execution of action in line with the plan is paramount, delay of delivery will strain the available resources

Do not become an Oliver Twist: “Please Sir, can I have some more?”

When resources are depleted and cannot be replenished, the organisation goes bankrupt

“Propose a course of action, analyse the tangible and intangible costs and benefits, and secure the business case to attain sufficient resources.”


謀攻，谋攻

3. Attack by Stratagem

Chapter Summary:

Defines the source of strength as unity, not size, and the five ingredients that you need to succeed in any war.

Strategic Rules:

8) Win without fighting

9) Strength Against Weakness

10) Beware of ‘High Level Dumb’

11) Obey Fundamental Principles

Beware of ‘High Level Dumb’

Translation:

Now the general is the bulwark of the State; if the bulwark is complete at all points, the State will be strong; if the bulwark is defective, the State will be weak. There are three ways in which a ruler can bring misfortune upon his army:

i. By commanding the army to advance or to retreat, being ignorant of the fact that it cannot obey. This is called hobbling the army.

ii. By attempting to govern an army in the same way as he administers a kingdom, being ignorant of the conditions which obtain in an army. This causes restlessness in the soldier’s minds.

iii. By employing the officers of his army without discrimination, through ignorance of the military principle of adaptation to circumstances. This shakes the confidence of the soldiers.


BA ToolkitBusiness Analysis Commentary - Attack by Stratagem

Beware of ‘High Level Dumb’

Organisational Context

– Domain knowledge

– Sociocultural

– Policies & Procedures

Business Rules

– Facts

– Assumptions

– Constraints

Behaviour

– Analysis by walking

– Method Analysis (hands-on)

Those who are not at the scene of action and do not know what is happening should not give orders

Ensure the information current (current = flow and recent!)

Each area should be managed by those with extensive experience in that area

No two situations are alike, beware ‘canned’ approaches

Rules established at Head Office should not necessarily apply to every distant operation

Elicit facts and eliminate assumptions; make the tacit explicit.

Differentiate constraints from guidelines.

“Avoid acting without full knowledge of the situation. Don’t resist new data that may cause change. Ask the right questions, or the answers make no difference.”


軍形，军形

4. Tactical Dispositions

Chapter Summary:

Explains the importance of defending existing positions until you can advance them and how you must recognize opportunities, not try to create them.

Strategic Rules:

12) Be Invincible

13) Attain Strategic Superiority

14) Use Data to Focus Efforts

Use Data to Focus Efforts

Translation:

In respect of military method, we have, firstly, Measurement; secondly, Estimation of quantity; thirdly, Calculation; fourthly, Balancing of chances; fifthly, Victory.

Measurement owes its existence to Earth; Estimation of quantity to Measurement; Calculation to Estimation of quantity; Balancing of chances to Calculation; and Victory to Balancing of chances.

A victorious army opposed to a routed one, is as a pound’s weight placed in the scale against a single grain.

The onrush of a conquering force is like the bursting of pent-up waters into a chasm a thousand fathoms deep. So much for tactical dispositions.


BA ToolkitBusiness Analysis Commentary - Tactical Dispositions

Use Data to Focus Efforts

Current Situation

– Problems & Opportunities

– As-is modelling

Strategy, Goals & Objectives

Business System Options

– To-be (incl. Status Quo)

– Recommendation

Solution Assessment

– Financial Analysis

– RAID & Impact Analysis

Decision Making


1. Measurement means scope (business, solution, project)

2. Estimation of Quantity means size of task (work breakdown and effort)

3. Calculation is schedule, resources and costs

4. Balancing of chances is evaluation of solution option (Risks, Issues, Financial Analysis)

5. Victory is the chosen Business System Option.

Business System Options must consider key performance areas and projected business benefit (benchmark)

Create a measurement system to align tasks, focus efforts, monitoring progression and track delivery.

“Determine the business, technical and financial feasibility options. Consider organisational benefit versus impact & risks. Weigh, decide and communicate.”


兵勢，兵势

5. Energy

Chapter Summary:

Explains the use of creativity and timing in building your momentum.

Strategic Rules:

15) Build a sound organisation structure

16) Apply extraordinary force

17) Coordinate momentum and timing

Build a Sound Organisational Structure

Translation:

The control of a large force is the same in principle as the control of a few men: it is merely a question of dividing up their numbers.

Fighting with a large army under your command is nowise different from fighting with a small one: it is merely a question of instituting signs and signals.


BA ToolkitBusiness Analysis Commentary - Energy

Build a Sound Organisational Structure

Organisational Context

– Marketplace

– Domain knowledge

Organisational Modelling

– Organisation Charting

– Job Descriptions

– Performance Management

Business Process Modelling

– Scenario planning

– Case Simulation

Coaching & Mentoring

Create logical structures focused on achieving customer delivery – the reason for organisational existence

Define teams and roles to support the organisational goals

Encourage collaboration: are divisions set-up to participate with one another? Or are divisions, divisions?!

Is there a supportive management approach?

Clear communication channels (functional, project, matrix)

Pay attention to process efficiencies: work flow can contain delays, bottlenecks and introduce errors.

Cater for strengths and weaknesses of individuals; put the best people in the best place

* Principles apply to Business Operations and Project Team

“Establish an organisation where tasks are managed, people supported and results achieved. Institutionalise customer delivery.”


虛實，虚实

6. Weak Points and Strong

Chapter Summary:

Explains how your opportunities come from the openings in the environment caused by the relative weakness of your enemy in a given area

Strategic Rules:

18) Take the initiative

19) Plan Surprise

20) Gain Relative Superiority

21) Seek knowledge

22) Be Flexible

Seek knowledge

Translation:

Knowing the place and the time of the coming battle, we may concentrate from the greatest distances in order to fight.

But if neither time nor place be known, then the left wing will be impotent to succour the right, the right equally impotent to succour the left, the van unable to relieve the rear, or the rear to support the van.

Rouse him, and learn the principle of his activity or inactivity. Force him to reveal himself, so as to find out his vulnerable spots.

Carefully compare the opposing army with your own, so that you may know where strength is superabundant and where it is deficient.

In making tactical dispositions, the highest pitch you can attain is to conceal them; conceal your dispositions, and you will be safe from the prying of the subtlest spies, from the machinations of the wisest brains.


BA ToolkitBusiness Analysis Commentary – Weak Points and Strong

Seek Knowledge

Investigation techniques

– Questionnaires / Survey

– Interview

– Workshop

– Observation / Method Analysis

– Scenario Analysis

– Prototyping

Clearly define the problem before seeking a solution

– Those who know where and when the battle will be fought can focus their efforts at the right point

– When problems and root causes are unknown, focus may be misaligned and effort expended with no gain.

Analyse the current situation to learn strengths and weaknesses

Watch what is happening and, equally, what is not happening

Probe and stir to determine to cause and affect

Benchmark against standards and respond appropriately

Knowledge helps reduce assumptions and mitigate risk

Explore the course of business events, exhaust scenarios and probe boundaries. Include the exceptional, what if? Know every facet of operations and performance .


軍爭，军争

7. Manoeuvring

Chapter Summary:

Explains the dangers of direct conflict and how to win those confrontations when they are forced upon you.

Strategic Rules:

23) Manoeuvre to gain the advantage

24) Achieve the Critical Mass

25) Deceive your competitor

26) Develop Effective Communications

27) Gain the Mental Advantage

Develop Effective Communications

Translation:

The Book of Army Management says: On the field of battle, the spoken word does not carry far enough: hence the institution of gongs and drums. Nor can ordinary objects be seen clearly enough: hence the institution of banners and flags.

Gongs and drums, banners and flags, are means whereby the ears and eyes of the host may be focused on one particular point.

The host thus forming a single united body, it is impossible either for the brave to advance alone, or for the cowardly to retreat alone. This is the art of handling large masses of men.


BA ToolkitBusiness Analysis Commentary - Manoeuvring

Develop Effective Communications

Stakeholder Analysis

– Interests / Stake

– Communication Preferences

Communication Methods

– Minutes, Reports

– Meetings, Road Shows

– Websites, Podcasts

Work Package Formats

Approval Mechanisms

Change Management

Have a method for clear communication:

– What is the message?

– Why is it important?

– Who is the target?

– Who is the messenger?

– How is the message sent?

– When will it be sent?

Do not use the same communications for every situation

Not all messages are received in the same manner

Good news may only need to be delivered once

Seek Project Team consensus to generate momentum

“Engage stakeholders and tailor communication plans to individuals and groups. Prepare decision packages based on the purpose and audience.”


九變，九变

8. Variation in Tactics

Chapter Summary:

Focuses on the need for flexibility in your responses. It explains how to respond to shifting circumstances successfully.

Strategic Rules:

28) Consider Tactical Options

29) Prepare adequate Defences

30) Avoid the faults of Leadership

Avoid the Faults of Leadership

Translation:

There are five dangerous faults which may affect a general:

i. Recklessness, which leads to destruction;

ii. cowardice, which leads to capture;

iii. a hasty temper, which can be provoked by insults;

iv. a delicacy of honour which is sensitive to shame;

v. over-solicitude for his men, which exposes him to worry and trouble.

These are the five besetting sins of a general, ruinous to the conduct of war.

When an army is overthrown and its leader slain, the cause will surely be found among these five dangerous faults. Let them be a subject of meditation.


BA ToolkitBusiness Analysis Commentary – Variation in Tactics

Avoid the Faults of Leadership

Emotional Intelligence (EQ)

Behavioural skills

– Relationship building

– Communication

– Listening

– Influencing

– Leadership

– Patience

Techniques

– Facilitation

– Negotiation

Flaws in the personal qualities of the Business Analyst will cause opportunities to be lost.


1. Recklessness means gung-ho, which lacks thought and empathy

2. Cowardice refers to ‘analysis from desk’ which stinks of the hypothetical and assumption

3. A hasty temper demonstrates frustration or rejection of critique, that exposes chinks in the armour

4. Delicacy of honour is being afraid to ask the ‘obvious’ or ‘stupid’ question for sake of shyness or embarrassment

5. Over solicitude means too much care to detail, beware ‘analysis paralysis’ quicksand

“Have ego-strength (and I don’t mean a big-head!). BA’s need self confidence, be able to endure stress and sustain belief in their position. BA’s mustn’t bruise easily. ”


行軍，行军

9. The Army on the March

Chapter Summary:

Describes the different situations in which you find yourselves as you move into new enemy territories and how to respond to them. Much of it focuses on evaluating the intentions of others.

Strategic Rules:

31) Occupy Strong Natural Positions

32) Always seek the High ground

33) Make an estimate of the situation

34) Perform Professionally

Perform professionally

Translation:

If soldiers are punished before they have grown attached to you, they will not prove submissive; and, unless submissive, they will be practically useless. If, when the soldiers have become attached to you, punishments are not enforced, they will still be useless.

Therefore soldiers must be treated in the first instance with humanity, but kept under control by means of iron discipline. This is a certain road to victory.

If in training soldiers commands are habitually enforced, the army will be well-disciplined; if not, its discipline will be bad.

If a general shows confidence in his men but always insists on his orders being obeyed, the gain will be mutual.


BA ToolkitBusiness Analysis Commentary – The Army on the March

Perform Professionally

Relationship Building

– Active listening

– Empathy

– Appreciation for perspectives

Political Awareness

Professionalism

Leadership

Key Performance Management

– Benchmarking

– Performance Management

– Coaching

Build relationships with the Business Stakeholders and Project Team members alike

– Listen with purpose; understand them; don’t expect them to understand you.

– Take a genuine interest, respect time, energy and space.

Trust and confidence must be mutual, otherwise opinions, ideas and instructions may not be shared or fall on deaf ears

Establish professional / work standards and communicate clearly,:

– Set-up performance benchmarks as a baseline

– Feedback praise and criticism based on achievements

– Apply the same standards to everyone; no favourites

“Rapport breeds trust, trust builds solidarity when times need. Maintain personal discipline, set the bar and lead by demonstration to achieve results.”


地形

10. Terrain

Chapter Summary:

Looks at the three general areas of resistance (distance, dangers, and barriers) and the six types of ground positions that arise from them. Each of these six field positions offer certain advantages and disadvantages.

Strategic Rules:

35) Know Your Battlefield

36) Obey the Laws of Leadership

37) Fight Only Battles you Can Win

38) Know Yourself, know your opponent

Know Yourself, Know Your Opponent

Translation:

If we know that our own men are in a condition to attack, but are unaware that the enemy is not open to attack, we have gone only halfway towards victory.

If we know that the enemy is open to attack, but are unaware that our own men are not in a condition to attack, we have gone only halfway towards victory.

If we know that the enemy is open to attack, and also know that our men are in a condition to attack, but are unaware that the nature of the ground makes fighting impracticable, we have still gone only halfway towards victory.

Hence the experienced soldier, once in motion, is never bewildered; once he has broken camp, he is never at a loss.

Hence the saying: If you know the enemy and know yourself, your victory will not stand in doubt; if you know Heaven and know Earth, you may make your victory complete.


BA ToolkitBusiness Analysis Commentary - Terrain

Know Yourself, Know Your Opponent

BA Competency Model

– Behavioural qualities

– Tasks and Deliverables

– Techniques

– Business Knowledge

Performance Evaluation

– Self-assessment

– Peer / Client feedback

Competency Assessment

Development Plans

Ensure that the right solutions are available and ready to remedy the situation:

– Match people and / or tools for the right job.

– Ensure people are competent, skilled and trained

– Secure support and raise enthusiasm

Make sure that there is demand for your talent

– Ensure training plans are supportive of career roadmap

Extend the theory by honing your skills to prepare for a variety of different situations

Be ready and prepared to adapt tactics and tackle any task whole heartedly

“Skill-up: make your strengths stronger and shore up weaknesses – then practice, practice, practice! Maintain your motivation and be ready to seize opportunity”


九地

11. The Nine Situations

Chapter Summary:

Describes nine common situations (or stages) in a campaign, from scattering to deadly, and the specific focus you need to successfully navigate each of them.

Strategic Rules:

39) Choose a favourable Battleground

40) Shape your Opponents Strategy

41) Make Victory the Only Option

42) Plan Coordinated Efforts

43) Press the Attack

44) Learn Winning Ways

Plan Coordinated Efforts

Translation:

The skillful tactician may be likened to the shuai-jan. Now the shuai-jan is a snake that is found in the Ch’ang mountains. Strike at its head, and you will be attacked by its tail; strike at its tail, and you will be attacked by its head; strike at its middle, and you will be attacked by head and tail both.

Asked if an army can be made to imitate the shuai-jan, I should answer, Yes. For the men of Wu and the men of Yüeh are enemies; yet if they are crossing a river in the same boat and are caught by a storm, they will come to each other’s assistance just as the left hand helps the right.

Hence it is not enough to put one’s trust in the tethering of horses, and the burying of chariot wheels in the ground

The principle on which to manage an army is to set up one standard of courage which all must reach.

How to make the best of both strong and weak — that is a question involving the proper use of ground.


BA ToolkitBusiness Analysis Commentary - The Nine Situations

Plan Coordinated Efforts

Business Benefit

– Goals

– Objectives (SMART)

– Critical Success Factors

– Key Performance Indicators

Behavioural qualities

– Communication

– Influence

– Facilitation

– Negotiation

A united effort improves the likelihood for success

– Foster actions that encourage co-operation

– Communicate actively to synchronise efforts

Find the common ground in difficult situations

– Establish complimentary partnerships: one holds the weapon, another the ammunition.

– Compromise and seek ‘win-win’ outcomes

It’s one thing having a position, it’s another conveying it

– Seek internal consensus of ideas before communicating

Influence according to business goals, objectives and critical success factors

Think adept: facilitate and negotiate to navigate

“Bring shared purpose by focusing on the business benefit. Conflict is inevitable, plan for it, don't shy away, it is a positive action that raises and addresses issues.”


火攻

12. The Attack by Fire

Chapter Summary:

Explains the use of weapons generally and the use of the environment as a weapon specifically. It examines the five targets for attack, the five types of environmental attack, and the appropriate responses to such attack.

Strategic Rules:

45) Be disruptive and Intrusive

46) Consolidate Your Gains

47) Exercise Restraint

Consolidate your gains

Translation:

Unhappy is the fate of one who tries to win his battles and succeed in his attacks without cultivating the spirit of enterprise; for the result is waste of time and general stagnation.

Hence the saying: The enlightened ruler lays his plans well ahead; the good general cultivates his resources.


BA ToolkitBusiness Analysis Commentary - The Attack by Fire

Consolidate your gains

Post-Implementation Review

– Project Review

– Lessons Learned

– Change Management

Benefits Management

– Benchmarking

– Data Analysis

– Impact Analysis

Scope Management

– Change Control / Requests

Projects are vehicles to deliver business change:

– Increase revenue

– Reduce cost

– Improve customer service

– Legal Compliance

On time and on budget project delivery is subsequent to realising business benefit.

Schedule review periods to re-evaluate the impact of change, measure results, plan and act

– Bolster successful areas

– Fortify or redesign less successful areas

– Seek new opportunities for improvement

“Measure the situation before the change and don’t drop the project at implementation. Track benefits against the business case and take supportive action.”


用間，用间

13. The Use of Spies

Chapter Summary:

Focuses on the importance of developing good information sources, specifically the five types of sources and how to manage them.

Strategic Rules:

48) Invest in Intelligent Resources

49) Establish an Active Intelligence System

50) Practice Counterintelligence

Establish an Active Intelligence System

Translation:

Thus, what enables the wise sovereign and the good general to strike and conquer, and achieve things beyond the reach of ordinary men, is foreknowledge.

Now this foreknowledge cannot be elicited from spirits; it cannot be obtained inductively from experience, nor by any deductive calculation.

Knowledge of the enemy’s dispositions can only be obtained from other men.

Hence the use of spies, of whom there are five classes: Local spies; inward spies; converted spies; doomed spies; surviving spies.

Spies cannot be usefully employed without a certain intuitive sagacity.


BA ToolkitBusiness Analysis Commentary - The Use of Spies

Establish an Active Intelligence System

Sources

– Publications and Reports

– People!

Techniques

– Narrative parse

– Survey

– Observation / Driving

– Interviewing / Workshops

Behavioural qualities

– Relationship Building

Methodologies and Notations

Business Analysts Commentary:

The source of great business analysis is sound information

Foundation based on our own knowledge, assumptions and / or past experiences is incomplete.

– Analysis requires proactive elicitation, not simple gathering

Develop a network that can provide information

– Look for Subject matter Experts who may have the most information about the situation.

– Beware those who can only give opinions, baseless information will mislead.

Build rapport to leverage the greatest benefit

Establish a methodology for processing information

“People are the root source of knowledge. Elicit explicit knowledge. We can know more than we can tell; use techniques wisely to acquire the tacit.”


Trending Themes

The crux of Sun Tzu's Art of War explains that it is only through strategy that conflicts can be overcome and real victory achieved.

The flow of data for continuous

preparation

The focus of power to

conserve energy

The ability to immediately act

expediently

The psychology of influencing friend & foe

The obligation to think beyond

the ordinary


Done. Business change can often be a challenging and emotionally charged

environment. Perhaps you could think more strategically when planning your battles, and tactically as you march and manoeuvre onwards.

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