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BA Bits Book Review: Think Again by Adam Grant

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I was recently recommended the book Think Again by Adam Grant. Never one to shy away from a good book recommendation, especially one I feel may help me in my everyday roles, I seized the opportunity to pick it up and give it a read. Adam separates the book down into different topics which all challenge our ability to think again, he effortlessly weaves in case studies which underpin the lessons and to help to bring to life the concepts he discusses. The key takeaway is to challenge the way we think about things, how do we know what we are doing is right if we never question it? What strikes you from the first moment is Adam is humble and quick to point out where he hasn't thought again or has recognized a key learning moment. As a BA it poses an interesting question - when should we think again? Do we wait for the business to challenge us with a new problem, or do we look at existing systems and think again for ourselves? It also made me consider those times when a solution I have
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Why OneNote should be your note-taking app of choice

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What is OneNote? Initially released in November 2003 OneNote is a note taking program for free-form information gathering and multiuser collaboration. Part of the Microsoft Office suite and also free standalone applications. It is supported across all major platforms (Windows,Android,iOS,MacOS) and also has a web-based  version that can be accessed too. Why should I use OneNote? Firstly, it syncs across all your devices under one account so it’s a notebook that’s always with you, even if you sell or lose your device. You also use it exactly as a notebook and can put images, handwriting even calculations on the page. As a Business Analyst this is invaluable as it can become a robust store of information. Meeting notes, specifications, diagrams, everything can be collated in OneNote. What are the features? OneNote has many features, too many to list here that will bring different value to different users with different use cases. I have tried to pick out the top 5 below that fo
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Business Analysis and SQL

Many Business Analyst roles today want some some kind of coding experience and its certainly advantageous to have. This may  range from Python, R or something else, but, by far the one I see that appears the most is a demand for SQL.  This can be daunting for new Business Analysts or those who are more experienced and looking to jump to that next role that requires experience with SQL, but dont worry its very simple to get started!  I've put together a quick basics introduction guide below and linked to some further resources below which will help take those that are interested to the next steps in their SQL journey. What is SQL and what is its history? SQL stands for Structured Query Language and was originally created in the early 1970s by Donald D Chamberlin and Raymond F Boyce.  There are many different flavours of SQL but apart from some syntax differences are broadly the same. Transact SQL (T-SQL) is one of the most popular ones. What can I do with SQL? The main use for Busin
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