# Looking Into It By:: [[Ross Jackson]] 2023-04-18 What is it that analysts do? A case could be made that analysts “look into it.” Most individuals and organizational functions are engaged with direct execution. Analysis is an indirect function. If a payment needs to be made, a person might oversee processing payments. That person might have a perpetual backlog of payments to process. The person processes payments, new payments come in, and the person keeps processing. Day in and day out. That person, or that person’s boss, might have a great idea. In fact, the person might ask, “Can’t somebody look into that?”. Analysts “look into that.” There are some interesting implications associated with this. First, analysts are frequently in other people’s business. In this case, an analyst might be digging into aspects of executing the processing of payments. Whatever is being investigated, there is a good chance that it resides in a function outside of analytics within the organization. Second, analytics typically unfolds over a course of time. The project, since it is outside one’s area of expertise, requires time to acquaint oneself with the context and nuances of the operation. This type of operation is different from the day-to-day grind. If an organization has something to look into, it probably needs to hire analysts – it’s what they do! #### Related Items [[Analytics]] [[Work]] [[Investigation]] [[Organizational Analytics]]