Analysis: There seems to be one thing that can't be taught and that is the analytical attitude. Maybe this is the wrong name - perhaps willingness is a better term, or professionalism - don't know.

But without an analytical attitude you are going to struggle. That attitude can be summed up as
"Trust nothing, believe no-one, prove everything".

"Trust nothing" = things aren't always what they seem. Don't assume because a report is headed "profit report" that it is reporting profit. Define what profit is to that organisation, examine the input to the report, the process it goes through to calculate profit and prove that it is what it says it is.

"believe no-one" = just because a Director or subject matter expert tells you something is so does not make it true. Get it corroborated. Validate it against other information. Prove the correctness to your satisfaction.

And this applies to Business Analysis and our methods as well! Just because some BA guru tells you something does not make it true if it is only based only on the status of that guru.

"prove everything" = "trust nothing" + "believe no-one" + build your conclusions based on facts that have been proved.

This attitude cannot be learnt - it has to be part of the character of the individual.

The analytical attitude: good for all kinds of investigative work such as business analysis, crime investigations, scientific discovery - anywhere in fact that new information needs to be uncovered.

Is there one true method or approach for doing this? No. There are hundreds of valid approaches. But if you don't have the attitude you will be following the method without knowing why (why would you trust the method - you don't trust anything!).

The attitude is one thing, the skillset that maximises on the attitude is another and there are any number of training courses out there (check out my business analyst training offering).