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In this episode, we are delighted to host Laura Brandenburg, a seasoned Business Analyst, CEO, and founder of Bridging the Gap. She shares her wealth of experience and knowledge, navigating the fascinating intersection of business analysis and project management.

Diving deep into the career path of a Business Analyst, Laura helps unravel the trajectory one can expect, skills required, and significant turning points that shape the BA career. She provides insights for those eager to step into the BA world, suggesting strategies for transitioning from other fields, addressing potential challenges, and sharing invaluable resources for those starting out.

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This episode is sponsored by The Agile PrepCast. Earn 37 PDUs::

Cornelius Fichtner and Elizabeth Larson

This interview with Elizabeth Larson was recorded at the 2015 PMI® Global Congress in Orlando, Florida. We discuss her paper and presentation "I Don’t Have Time to Innovate: I’m Too Busy Doing Business Analysis" (Co-written with Richard Larson). Here is the paper's abstract:

Everyone seems to be talking about the importance of organizational innovation, as well as what it means for practitioners of business analysis. Are business analysis and innovation even compatible? This paper answers this question affirmatively: yes, they are. But what is innovation and how can business analysis practitioners help organizations innovate? Innovation may include process improvement as some have suggested. It also may include doing root cause analysis to identify problems and then finding solutions to those problems as others have claimed. And it can certainly include doing projects agilely, changing the features of the product being built as needs become known.

However, although each of these is an important factor in developing creative solutions, each by itself is probably not enough. Innovation requires us not only to spot all manner of opportunities, but also to use our influencing skills to convince the organization to seize them.

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This episode is sponsored by The Agile PrepCast. Earn 37 PDUs::

Cornelius Fichtner and Richard Larson

This interview with Richard Larson was recorded at the 2015 PMI® Global Congress in Orlando, Florida. We discuss his paper and presentation "Entrepreneurial Business Analysis Practitioner" (Co-written with Elizabeth Larson). Here is the paper's introduction:

Given both authors are entrepreneurs and have done extensive business analysis work, it seems logical for us to write about this topic. But, why bother? What possibly could be relevant about entrepreneurialism for a business analyst or project manager? For starters, entrepreneurship is an increasingly attractive career option within an organization and as a start-up, and is more and more viable with each passing year. Even if we are not interested in forming a start-up, the principles of entrepreneurship are becoming increasingly important for organizations to innovate and stay competitive.

In this paper, we will explore several aspects of entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs and what it means for business analysis. Our firm belief is that by adopting a more entrepreneurial way of working, practitioners will be more effective and organizations will benefit.