GLOBAL LEAD | SKILLS DEVELOPMENT GROUP
Shane Hastie
Shane Hastie is the Global Delivery Lead at Skills Development Group, with over 40 years’ experience as a practitioner and leader in software development, agile coaching, business analysis, and project management. A passionate advocate for agile methods, Shane has trained and mentored thousands worldwide, led major transformation initiatives, and contributed to industry standards such as the BABOK™ and its Agile Extension. He is a published author, ICF-registered coach, co-chair of the Agile Coaching Ethics initiative, and leads InfoQ’s Culture and Methods editorial team, hosting the Engineering Culture Podcast. Shane is based in Ōtaki, New Zealand.
Online Presentation: Customer-Centric Analysis: Building Products People Actually Want
With 90% of new products failing to meet market expectations, the difference between success and failure often lies in how well we understand our customers before we build. This session explores how business analysis professionals serve as the critical bridge between customer needs and product development, transforming assumptions into actionable insights.
You’ll discover how to leverage the Rock Crusher model to systematically break down complex customer problems into manageable components, while applying proven BABOK techniques to elicit, analyse, and validate requirements that truly matter. Through real-world examples, we’ll demonstrate how rigorous business analysis can prevent costly product failures by ensuring you’re building what customers actually need, not what you think they want.
Whether you’re a product owner, product manager, business analyst, or product team leader, you’ll leave with practical frameworks to make customer-centricity more than just a buzzword—making it the foundation of your product development process. Learn how the strategic application of business analysis can dramatically increase your product’s chances of market success.
Key takeaways: Rock Crusher analysis framework, BABOK requirement techniques, customer validation methods, and turning insights into winning products.
Wellington, Melbourne & Sydney Presentation: Analysis in the Accelerated World
In today’s fast-paced business environment, organisations are moving faster than ever—but are they moving in the right direction? As digital transformation accelerates and market demands shift overnight, the pressure to deliver quickly often overshadows the need to deliver correctly. This session challenges the “move fast and break things” mentality by demonstrating why getting back to business analysis fundamentals is more critical than ever.
Using the BA Core Concept model as our foundation, we’ll explore how the six essential elements—Change, Need, Solution, Stakeholder, Value, and Context—provide the strategic framework needed to navigate complexity without sacrificing speed. You’ll discover how mastering these core concepts enables business analysts to cut through noise, focus on what truly matters, and deliver meaningful insights even under intense time pressure.
This isn’t about slowing down—it’s about being strategically fast. Learn how returning to proven BA principles can actually accelerate your organization’s success by ensuring every initiative addresses real needs, engages the right stakeholders, and delivers genuine value.
Key takeaways: BA Core Concept model application, strategic analysis techniques for fast-paced environments, balancing speed with accuracy, and fundamental skills that drive results.