Category Archives: Psychology
Assumptions, Assumptions – Stereotyping and project teams
Stereotypes are familiar to most people via initiatives to reduce discrimination in the workplace and news reports highlighting the wider impact it has on the society we live in. Most people know of them, even if they have never heard … Continue reading
Our Poor Brains
The amount of information we have to manage on a daily basis is quite phenomenal. In 2010, Eric Schmidt (CEO of Google) told us that every two days, we create as much information as we did from the dawn … Continue reading
Overcoming Availability Bias as a BA
A question from Steve in the USA “How does a business analyst reduce the instance of availability bias when asking stakeholders about problems and issues?” What is the Availability Bias? The availability bias determines the facts that you pick to … Continue reading
Confirmation Bias and the BA
A question from Steve in the USA: “Assuming that it is important during elicitation to get accurate information, how does a business analyst overcome confirmation bias in him or herself, and in the person providing the information?” What is … Continue reading
BA Summit 2018 – Cognitive Biases and The BA
Early in 2018 I was a guest on Penny Pullan’s BA Virtual Summit, talking about cognitive biases and the Business Analyst. As part of this attendees were invited to submit questions to speakers. Penny was kind enough to transcribe our … Continue reading
Glued to your phone? Of course you are!
There is an ongoing hum of concern about the effect the smartphone has on our lives. For many of us, the first thing we do in the morning is reach for our smartphone. People complain that others are glued to … Continue reading
When the going gets tough…….Overcoming the fear of failure
One of our biggest challenges in working with a team is keeping people motivated when things get hard. Why does one person work themselves into the ground doing far more work than is necessary, while another spends hours on … Continue reading
Really Alexa?
I am coming across lots of articles waxing lyrical about how virtual assistants like Alexa or Cortana will change our lives, the way we interact with computers, companies and each other. These devices are incredibly popular and it is assumed they … Continue reading