“Which #BusinessAnalysis skill turned out to be the most transferable skill?” asks Vanessa Grant on our monthly #BadAssBA.
For Ashley Douglas, APTD, it wasn’t a framework, a tool, or a technique.
It was discovery.
The ability to ask good questions.
To sit with ambiguity.
To understand where people actually are — not where the process says they should be.
Those skills show up everywhere:
🍩Designing learning and training experiences
🍩Supporting change and adoption
🍩Coaching
🍩Breaking down problems that feel overwhelming into something manageable
Paul Ginsberg says that clients often can’t articulate what they want – not because they’re unclear, but because the problem feels too big.
When you slow things down, ask better questions, and work in small chunks, the impossible suddenly becomes achievable.
One insight really struck me though.
In consulting and BA work, we often take people’s answers, reframe them, and hand them back as “solutions”. In coaching, you do the opposite — the client owns the solution. That ownership is empowering.
Perhaps the BA role should be more explicitly articulated as:
“You already have the answers. I’m here to help translate and structure them.”
Kristyna Turner talked about being a translator.
That’s what we are.
Same skills.
Different mindset.
Very different impact.
Curious how others have seen their BA skills travel into unexpected places.
If you’re not here – sign up now 👇🏻
