Elicitation and the Peanut Butter Sandwich

Last Spring I had the pleasure to attend the Business Analysis World Symposium Series in Seattle Washington. The conference was an incredible experience as not only did I get to attend some incredible presentations, but I also wrote (and passed!) my CBAP® exam.

Of all the things I remember from that conference, the concept that stuck in my mind the most was the peanut butter sandwich story told in one of the sessions. I shared that story with my colleagues and we've decided to make it a part of our elicitation sessions.

The facilitator explained that when she is interviewing someone for a PM or BA role, she'll ask them how to make a peanut butter sandwich. Invariably the answer she receives is that you spread peanut butter between two pieces of bread.

However, a good Business Analyst should further question her asking for such details as what type of bread she wanted, what type of peanut butter, how thick the bread should be, and even how much peanut butter she wanted. She surmised that a good Business Analyst wouldn't be content with making just a peanut butter sandwich, but wanted to make the RIGHT peanut butter sandwich.

At the time I thought it was not only a great story but a great way to break the ice with the audience. It was the proverbial joke to set a more relaxed tone in the presentation. It stuck with me and I took it one step further. Upon my return to Calgary I told the story to a number of my colleagues and one of them suggested that we use the story in our facilitation sessions.

I'm certain that my company is the only company where getting business involvement in projects is nothing short of miraculous. "Go away and come back when it's finished" seems to be a mantra for our business community. I am of course exaggerating, but some days it seems like this is the case.

The idea behind using the peanut butter sandwich story is to bring in large posters of peanut butter sandwiches and to ask our stakeholders how they'd make one. I'm 100% positive that their response will not be as detailed as much as I'd like.

At that point I can point out that the requirements for the project need to be as detailed as those for the peanut butter sandwich. Given what they've asked for in a peanut butter sandwich, I could give them two pieces of moldy bread with the thinnest whiff of rancid peanut butter and it would fulfill their requirements although it clearly wouldn't meet their needs.

During the session I'll explain to them that I need the specific details of what they want rather than the bread and peanut butter version. Throughout the session I'll ask for confirmation that the details they're giving me isn't just peanut butter.

Hopefully the analogy of the peanut butter sandwich demonstrates the importance of the requirements and sets the stage for the elicitation session as effectively as it did my conference session in Seattle. Now I just need to make sure that they really want the peanut butter sandwich and not a roast beef sandwich on rye...