28 Skills of a Business Analyst

I watched the president of the local chapter of the IIBA (International Institute of Business Analysis) give a talk on "28 skills of a Business Analyst." The hour long presentation wasn't horrible, but it was not very good either. He spent 45 minutes on the intro -- and then spent the last 15 on the actual material. The worst part was that he put ALL 28 skills on ONE slide! The font was tiny and no one in the audiance could read anyting. What realy struck me was how much experience this guy had. He has over 15 years of experience, and put in 6 "Centers of Excellence" among a whole slew of impressive resume stuff, and he was STILL so bad.

About the talk: The IIBA interviewed dozens of companies to ask what they look for in business analysts. They said lots of stuff (which was then pared down to 28). It fell into 5 broad categories, which I forgot -- yes, the presentation was that bad.

Key problems with the methodology: People don't say what they mean. Or, more likely, they don't know what they really want! Asking, "What do you look for in a BA?" inevitably leads to answers like "They need to be able to draw UML diagrams". This is because people think in concrete terms like "Able to Write System Requirements" instead of the more abstract (but far more accurate) "Needs to be able to solve my problems without me getting too involved."
20 Something Takeaway:

1. Never put 28 bullets on one slide.
2. The only thing I could think as I left the presentation was "Wow, I could have given the same presentation, if not a WAY better one! Experience does NOT equal quality.
   
3. Trade Organizations with Fancy Names (like the IIBA) give a huge boost to credibility, but are really just a loose collection of average/regular people.

Next Steps:

1. I know I can give a better presentation than the chapter president (or at very worst, a presentation of the same quality). I need to come up with a topic and then sell the IIBA on me presenting at the next meeting.