What Is Analysis?

Do you think?  

If you think, then you perform analysis.  You analyze things, situations, people, data, information, all sorts of things to make decisions.  Analysis is a form of thinking, a detailed examination of something so that you can understand it.  Analysis is a fundamental part of thinking.

Can you draw?  

I am sure that you can draw – even if it is just stick figures and simple shapes.  We all can draw.  We draw to show the carpenter how we want the window to look or draw charts to show our boss how something works.  

Do you draw well? 

If I asked you to draw a picture of your spouse, youngest child, or your favorite car, what would it look like?  Could you draw well enough that somebody else could look at it and recognize the subject of the drawing?

Me neither.

We admire people who can draw, sketch and paint things that are pleasing to the eye.  We call them artists, a skill mixed with a talent.  Part of the package is teachable; another part depends on talent, and a big part on patience and drive.  We call people who are good at the art of drawing artists.  While we are all capable of drawing, not all of us are artists.

The same holds true with analysis.  Not all of us are good at it.  Just because we are capable of analysis doesn't mean that we are good at it.  In fact, I argue that most people don’t put in the effort to be good.  We all are capable of analysis, but few are really analysts.

I believe that analysis is an art.  Like drawing, or painting, we can practice on our own and maybe develop the skills to be ok.  With training we can get better.  Unlike drawing or painting, I think that all of us, with enough training and practice, can be fair analysts.  However, like drawing and painting, when someone has a talent for analysis, they become masters of the art.

This whole section of WATP focuses on analysis.  Our mission is to provide our readers a chance to see the work of others, to explain the art of analysis in a way that you have some training to leverage.  Just reading and watching the material is not enough to become good, you must apply what you read and see, you must practice, because it is only through practice that you can master the skill.

I am an analyst.  For most of my life, I asked questions to understand the world around me.  Naturally curious about how things work, as a kid I pestered adults to tell me what they were doing, and why.  I pestered repairmen, carpenters, telephone linemen, firemen, police officers; it did not matter, I asked questions.  I watched what they did, building my observational skills.  I took things apart and put them back together again to understand how they worked; sometimes getting them back together and working the first time.  I learned how to use tools, like spreadsheets and databases to study data.  I learned math to help make the data understandable.  I studied physics, accounting, psychology and history, all so I could understand the world and its interrelationships.

Am I a master analyst?  Perhaps I am.  I know that many of my clients think that I am.

Can you learn to be a better analyst from me?  Perhaps you can.  That is the mission of this section of the Practitioners site.  This is a work in progress, as we continuously add more content about the art of analysis.  Read the articles, study the models, take the tests and quizzes.  And check back to review new content.

Don’t be shy.  Let us know if you have questions.  Tell us what you want.

I make you this one promise.  You are going to think.