Business Analysis Tarot Cards

I wrote this overview for a linked in article – for more information on the cards and their uses see the “about the cards” menu.

I have been studying for a couple of BA qualifications and although I have been going into businesses for many years consulting on business change and growth, I found the BA processes extremely similar to the work that I have been doing. Over the last 10 years I developed a process for Business Development and when reading background information for the application of BA processes I came up with an idea for helping BA’s particularly when going through the elicitation process for workshops and interviews.

Although I do not profess to be a Business Analysis academic I think that some of my experiences in business have come together to produce something that will be useful to any business owner and business analysts.  I am about to produce a run of these cards for anyone who wants to try them out.

Cards have been used for investigating ideas, concepts, futures etc for many years. The first documented tarot packs were recorded between 1440 and 1450. My twin brother has used cards to investigate brand archetypes and investigate future planning (see: Nockwood Cards), which first showed me how useful a tool like cards are to help open up discussions with clients.

Whilst studying Business Analysis Techniques I adapted my original 6 Functions of an Organisation to be a structure for the BA cards. (see website  Link here  and article on linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/.)

To begin with I started with the Aces to represent the foundation of an organisation.

The Aces represent the 6 Functions that are based on the NATO 6 functions in war-fighting (Command, Intelligence, Protection, Logistics Firepower and Manoeuvres)

Business strategy is embedded in military strategy. From Sun TZU and the Art of War, through Clausewitz to todays 6 Functions that I have adapted and used for over 10 years with great success in business.

I am not going to describe every card but Business Architecture represents “a blueprint of the enterprise that provides a common understanding of the organisation” Knowledge and Resources are self explanatory, Conduct represents the actions and promises of the organisation, Winning represents the competitive nature of business and the need for efficiency and automation. Finally Cunning represents strategy.

Below is an image of all the cards, organised by Suit. There are 6 Suits to expand upon the 6 functions. Within each suit there are 6 key considerations within each of the functions. (see other pages for details of all the cards)

As well as the suits and their respective cards I have also added some additional cards to represent tools that I often use when studying a business.

6 W’s Cards: These cards are always useful when investigating actions, activities and projects. Used since Cicero in 64BC – I prefer to use the Kipling Poem to explain the 6W problem and investigation words.

Finally I wanted something to represent the principal drivers for Business Analysis – I have called it the Holy Trinity – Value to the Customer, Value to the Business and Value delivered through IT and systems.

I have written full instructions with the cards that explain each card some of which is on tis site and how it can be used. On the reverse of the cards I have added several process stages applicable to Business Analysis techniques. The image below is on the reverse of all the Aces – The business analysis process model.

These are particularly useful when planning workshops, interviews and analysing the results of Elicitation techniques.

I have used these cards for most processes for BA and Business Development but users are free to use them in any way that they find useful.

If needed the reverse of the cards can be customised for any additional processes as required. You are not restricted to keeping within the suits, individual cards can be used in any order or sequence depending on the requirements being investigated.

Originally I made these cards for myself but interest from other BA’s and business owners have meant that I have  decided to make them available.

Currently I only have a handful of card sets but will be producing a longer run for anyone that wants them;