書摘：The Business Analyzer and Planner 1

Chapter 1 Adjust Your Thinking
This chapter can build your confidence that the process described in The Business Analyzer and Planner is that better way, whether you are solving a problem, evaluating an opportunity, or planning a strategy.

All business challenges are really the same regardless of whether they involve products or services, problems or opportunities, or high tech, low tech, or not tech. Why? Because in each the these situations, you are always seeking the same end results: increase sales and profits, reduce cost and risk, and just simply make things better.

There are three pitfalls to reaching those goals.

1. The excuse that never seems to be enough time for proper analysis.
2. The lure of what is familiar and comfortable, which usually leads to recycled decision that do not match new problems very well.
3. Emotional excitement, which, in the heat of crisis or in the euphoria of success, usually blocks the cool thinking to solve problems or to take full advantage of opportunities.

In order to get past these pitfalls, you need a fresh solution-finding process that is fast but not hasty, thorough but not tedious, and objective instead of subjective. It's like using radar to find the best business decision -- fast, accurate, and forward looking.

The Seven Phases

The foundation of The Business Analyzer and Planner rests on the principle that both problems and opportunities are actually dilemmas. Both contain elements of risk, uncertainty, and choice. For this reason, planning a course of action does not begin until you first analyze and thoroughly understand the nature of your dilemma.

Phase 1, begins the analytical process with a quick appraisal of the challenge facing you. This is where you briefly outline the symptoms of your situation in simple terms before any solutions or decisions are entertained.

Phase 2, simplify your task into twenty-four clearly defined categories, called THE MATRIX classifies. THE MATRIX provides a fast but extremely thorough device to get you to the heart of the symptoms that you have just diagnosed.

Phase 3, you survey the internal and external resources that you need to reach your objective. This involves pinpointing such things as the finances and staffing that are available to you.

Phase 4, you develop at least three alternative courses of action:

1. The ideal plan, which gives you the best results you could want.
2. The status quo, which says that you will do nothing for now.
3. A compromise between these two choices.

Phase 5, you along by offering you numerous tools and techniques for designing and constructing the plans -- just select the ones that best suit your needs and preferences.

Phase 6, once your plans are complete and put into effect, you monitor their success or failure by using prepackaged checklists. These checklists serve as painless vehicles to track schedules, budgets, and assignments. They also facilitate any change in plan that is necessitated by new development.

Phase 7, you develop failure avoidance contingencies, based on your examination of the past and your expectations for the future. These backup plans became your insurance policy against being unprepared and surprised by changing conditions.

Each of the seven phases flows into the next (see Figure 1-1). All of them uniformly point to finding, evaluating, planning, implementing, tracking, and protecting the best formula for success.

Fig 1-1 Overview of The Business Analyzer and Planner process.

Zambruski, M. (1999) The Business Analyzer and Planner. AMACOM. P5~7.