What happens to the role of the Business Analyst in an increasingly Agile world? I tried to answer this question a few years ago in a Modern Analyst Article and now having been through a number of Scrum implementations it seems like a good time to reflect on these predictions.

With a transition from Waterfall to Scrum the role of the Business Analyst changes and my opinion improves for a number of reasons.

Clarus had a great time presenting to the Auckland chapter of the IIBA recently.  Colart Miles and Milan Holzapfel took the group of 24 business analysts through Tom Wujec's Marshmallow Challenge (http://marshmallowchallenge.com). The Marshmallow Challenge is a remarkably fun and instructive design exercise that encourages teams to experience simple but profound lessons in collaboration, innovation and creativity.

Wow recently a major bank has picked up on something we’ve all known for a long time.  Stories are powerful.  We engage with them, we grow with them and we use the context of their knowledge to help build our own understanding.  And who has the best stories?  One group is great writers who can link their experiences with our own; and the other is US the people in business who make business happen – often this needs some BA help which we’ll come to further down – but the key point is remember how much engagement you have in a great story... you could have heard it many times but it still involves you  :-)