“I’ve cobbled together techniques from everywhere.”
It’s usually said with a mix of pride and frustration. Pride because they have clearly put in substantial effort. Frustration because, despite all that learning, something’s not gelling. Confidence is patchy. Practice feels inconsistent. The question of “which tool should I use here?” never really goes away.
Most people who collect courses are doing the sensible thing. They spot a gap, feel uncertain, and look for something that might help. A short course is manageable. It offers clarity without commitment. It fits around a busy job.
Then there’s also anxiety in the mix.
When your role includes BA work but the title does not, it’s easy to feel you need to prove yourself. Another certificate can feel like progress, even if you’re not sure how to apply the skills it aims to teach.
The missing piece is usually the basic structure. Without it, every course looks like a potential answer.
On paper, a list of completed courses looks impressive. In practice, the impact is often limited. People still feel:
This is because learning without a practical intention rarely turns into capability. Knowledge sits in isolation. There’s no through-line that ties it back to real work.
Progress in business analysis tends to come from three things working together: clarity, foundations, and practice. A simple pathway looks like this:
Not a job title, but a capability goal. What do you want to be able to do more confidently or consistently?
Shared language, core concepts, and an understanding of how the main techniques fit together. This is what turns guesswork into more authoritative decision-making.
Apply what you learn in your day job. Notice what still feels hard. Let that guide what you learn next.
This approach is slower on paper but faster in practice. You stop chasing the next bright shiny course and start building something you can follow.
Sometimes, one course really is all you need. If you have a clear foundation and a specific gap, targeted learning can work brilliantly. The problem arises when courses are used as a substitute for foundations or as a way to avoid making choices. If you are still unsure how the pieces fit together, another standalone course will not resolve that.
Foundations are not about locking yourself into a long path. They are about giving yourself a base to build from without burning out.
At Business Change Academy, the focus has always been on accredited, applied, practical learning grounded in real work. Small classes, live facilitation, and space to practise are deliberate choices, not marketing points.
The aim is not to help people collect more learning, but to help them make better decisions about what to learn next.
Before you book another course, pause and ask:
If those answers are fuzzy, designing the journey is probably the best first step for you. For a practical way to do this, you can view the BCS Foundation Certificate in Business Analysis dates, including 18 to 20 February 2026, via Business Change Academy.
Learning works best when it has a shape.
