subject: If I Knew Then What I Know Now [print this page] Knowledge is not a gift completely bestowed to one person all at one time. People throughout history are renowned for their quotes and authority in certain subject matters because theyve accumulate knowledge over time. They work for it by living and learning and thereby accumulating a wealth of knowledge to pass on to others who are willing to pay attention.
Difficult as it may sound, we too can live and learn from others. To learn from experience does not always mean that you must be subjugated to the same experiences. No, and in fact you can easily learn from what others before you have already done. To know then what you now know is a flashback of impossibility, mostly because you cannot dwell on the past if you want to succeed in the future. Instead, use the knowledge from the past, in all aspects and sources, to help you attain your goals.
Listen before you act
Always know that there is an opportunity for you to learn in every situation. Essentially, you must be ready to look, listen, and observe every situation. Dont overwhelm your mind with thoughts or design your own thoughts while others are speaking. Instead, listen to them and absorb what they have to say. Only then can you truly comprehend the words of another. Discussion should only occur after someone has had their say. This will give you the opportunity to fully absorb and comprehend what was discussed, rather than closing your mind to your own inner conclusions that can blind your ability to understand.
An always important topic concerns how important it is to listen to the customers. This is because they usually already know whats going on. They are able to see your business from an outside perspective and how it functions as a whole, not just in departments. Customers are often the first to realize a lack in customer support, product availability, and even communication breakdowns that take place internally. Customers are one of the most valued sources of information, and are definitely the people you want to talk to regularly.
Understand your situation
Perhaps one of the biggest concepts within a business environment is to be able to understand the power chain and who is in charge of what. Dont wander around the business blindly and end up finding yourself the one asking whos responsible for this? As a business analyst, comprehending procedures and knowing who is in charge of what scenario is essential to enabling you to perform properly within your business environment.
To be the best at what you do, it is therefore essential that you listen to others as well. Take into consideration what others have to say and never overestimate your correctness. When in a situation, you must be ready to learn from your present situation, whether it has a positive or negative outcome. Pay attention to where you are right now and what is presently going on. Though nobody likes learning from their mistakes, only a fool refuses to do so.
Dont waste time
While the art of learning is an ongoing practice, you will want to fit in as much education as possible in as little time need be required. So, its up to you to avoid any unnecessary time wasted. Test inquiries and assumptions quickly to eliminate improbable solutions before they consume too much valuable time. In other words, as a business analyst, you must always spend time wisely and effectively.
When interacting in a brainstorming situation, the purpose is to widen the perspective and influence creative thought by learning from one another. Understand that the idea behind these types of scenarios is not to focus on what isnt likely, but find what is possible. That is why it is essential to eliminate misconceptions and irrelevant ideas before they waste your time and efforts. There is therefore a separation between learning by paying attention to everything and learning by paying attention to what is important. Be ready to learn, but do not waste your time focusing on that which is irrelevant to your cause.
Knowledge is accumulated over time and from sources everywhere. Keep your ears and mind open so that when something important is said, you hear it and can act on that opportunity. Know what you have to do by learning from the past, so that in time you will be able to clearly understand what you need to do to achieve success in the future.
