My second answer was going to be sit around and sound smart.

[...] you’re not sure what Analysts do, see what my readers said, much of this is very accurate, If you’ve got an analyst joke or stereotype, I’d love to hear, all in good [...]

“In the past it has been your job to provide the aggregation of many discussions you get to have across a market space.

Today I think it is more about promoting discussion around topics of interest. Given the power of social media I think analysts become more relevant if they are able to guide the discussion rather than summarize the discussion as they have in the past. Perhaps it is about doing what social media promotes….listening rather than shouting……..”

Discussion leadership, perhaps a new job requirement?

[...] already shown that you know what analyst do, but how we do it is a shrouded mystery, so now, you’re getting a behind the scenes tour as I [...]

I like Paula’s addition to this discussion – analysis is clearly part of the job, but synthesizing is more important. Raw analysis can be done by machines. Synthesizing and interpreting, combined with a solid radar sweep, that’s the trick.

A failing I see from time to time – although I sometimes envy analysts who are hyper-focused on an area, it worries me to see people who aren’t able to pop up and out and look at larger systems.

That’s why, for example, our current research topic is Findability, rather than just Enterprise Search, or, last quarter, we researched Enterprise 2.0 rather than just wikis.

I could talk/write for days just on “pure” search (or heck, even just relevancy, or taxonomy, or interface design, etc.), but it’s not until you think of the entire system and what it’s impact can and should be, that you begin to provide some useful and actionable insight into the world. Otherwise we’re just serving to point people to tools in a void, and that’s where tech investments become sinkholes. The tools themselves are useless, unless they are helping you to accomplish something.

Closing thought, and something I have to remind myself of from time to time, is what Jeremiah has been doing lately.

Our job is not to have all the answers, it’s to ask the right questions. Right?

But really, human behavior is never rational, nor is it ever understandable, there is no perfect system, life is absurd, and even if something works once, that doesn’t mean it will work again, anyone telling you they have the perfect system or sure-fire stock market plan, is lying. Everything works, and nothing works.

So cue up the witchdoctors, everything is always and ever a crisis, the world will end if you don’t do this now, doom, gloom, you are stupid, you need us, we know the way out, save us all, the ship sinks, film at 11. Checks accepted here.

[...] to backup your assertion, so we can better learn. This should be interesting, I’m listening.[Read original] Tags: Assertion, Business Model, Candid Responses, Day Job, Misconception Related [...]

I understand your point, part of the role is to figure out what’s new, what it matters, and to help others to easily understand it so they can act on or against it. As a result, new technologies are often hard to explain so new terms come around.

A good analyst doesn’t try to create a buzzword, but instead, a meaningful phrase to help the market. Most –myself included– mess it up.

This is all a good dialog to have, thanks again for joining in.

Business model – most of value creation in the “information age” is based on knowledge – those with more knowledge or skills selling or applying them in selling goods or services. Nothing wrong with that. It’s wonderful. Buyers (including myself) are willing to pay for good market research, trend analysis, analysis of vendors’ positions, and other advice. I happen to like Forrester. Really. Thanks for all the honest dialog.

Thanks for this honest –yet brutal– feedback, it’s important to hear what your really think.

Understanding what is happening outside the firm and deciding what the firm should do is the job of management, especially executive and line management. Analysts tell the herd smart-sounding and sometimes smart things they can’t easily find on their own that may (or may not) be helpful. If managers are too stupid to tell the difference, they deserve what’s coming to them. Caveat emptor.

I think an analyst should be capable of delving into the depths of a subject and a good enough thinker to make sense of what they understand in a context relevant to his/her audience.

Again, I’m going to chime in with a distinctly EU perspective here, and, that, from the former Bloc, to boot.

Social media analysts, like advertisers and PR-hacks, are generally viewed in my part of the world as providing a service that generally has minimal impact upon actual consumer/social networking behaviour on the part of their ultimate end-users/clients.

That’s not to say analysts inputs are shunned or that they’re disparaged…it’s just that an analyst’s value-add is not deemed to be on a par with the paper-reamed deliverables of one who toils in the “Old Economy” trenches — someone who spent a significant amount of time studying law, economics, or something scientific, and who knows how to work well within the confines of the bureaucratic system. To be sure, this won’t last for long and once the Czech Republic ascends to the EU Council Presidency, I see a due evolution in the value placed upon Social Media Analysts and their consulting services.

I’m not saying this is correct — I’m merely saying that’s the Czech (and Slovak) perception.

As for my own professional activities and services — and the “bona fides” I attempt to convey for my savvy in Web2.0 stuff, more generally — I’d not succeed in “selling” these nearly as well had I not the hardcore Old World-foundation upon which to persuade my interlocutors, and my track record of having operated in the space already for quite some time in the capital (Prague).

You write:
“I would love to see more dialog between analysts, creatives and developers.”

You’re at the right place then, the discussion is here on my blog, moves to twitter, then friendfeed and back again.

I’m always open for conversation, let’s learn together.