CRAFTING DEFINITIONS
A ConceptSpeak™ Primer

How to Define Business Terms in Plain English
Creating Definitions Using ConceptSpeak™

By Ronald G. Ross

Format: 26 pages / PDF
A Business Rule Solutions Primer
FREE DOWNLOAD

Click to download


Creating business documents? Business requirements? Business rules? You’ll need crystal-clear, bullet-proof business definitions. Finally, a comprehensive, easy-to-read guide.

Looking for friendly, professional guidelines for crafting business definitions? No matter what your background or target subject area, this how-to guide is just the ticket. In it you’ll find:

  • 18 must-know best practices
  • Many dozens of examples
  • Pragmatic do’s and don’ts

Good business definitions are oriented to what words mean when used by real business people talking directly about real business things. Learn the secrets of crafting business definitions of business concepts suitable for business people.

This Primer will show you how to break free of subtle IT or ‘data’ bias. Master this set of guidelines and your definitions are guaranteed world-class.

Authoritative, easy to read, easy to apply.

Business analyst? Perhaps the best part – the Primer uses familiar examples from business analysts’ own vocabulary!

Table of Contents

  • Acknowledgements
  • About This Primer
    • Basic Criteria for Great Business Definitions
  • Table of Contents
  • Setting Up a Definition Properly
    • The definition for a term should start with a noun.
    • The kick-off word of a definition should not be the term being defined.
    • A definition should not be simply a synonym of the term defined.
    • The kick-off word of a definition and the concept being defined should align.
  • Avoiding Plurals in Setting Up a Definition
    • The term being defined should be given in the singular form.
    • The kick-off word of a definition should be given in the singular form.
  • Capturing the Essence of a Concept
    • The definition of a term should express the essence of the concept, not its purpose, function, or use.
    • A definition should be clear about whether the concept being defined is an individual or a general concept.
  • Ensuring the Internal Quality of Definitions
    • A definition should not comprise multiple sentences.
    • A definition should not embed business rules
    • A definition should provide a clear antecedent for each embedded pronoun.
    • A definition should provide a clear antecedent for each definite article after the kick-off word
  • Aligning Multiple Definitions
    • The definition of a qualified term should not depart in kind from the meaning of the term that has been qualified.
    • The definition of a qualified term should not repeat (or conflict with) text in the definition of the underlying term.
    • A definition of a term, or some significant part of that definition, should not be repeated in the definition of another term.
    • The definition of a compound term should not depart in meaning from that of the underlying terms taken collectively.
    • A set of definitions should not be circular.
  • Context
    • An entry whose meaning cannot be standardized for the entire scope of a vocabulary should be disambiguated by context.
  • Glossary
  • About the Author: Ronald G. Ross
  • About Business Rule Solutions

Format: 26 pages / PDF
A Business Rule Solutions Primer
FREE DOWNLOAD

Click to download