Systems Analyst to Sales.

I used to be a Systems Analyst.
Then I stepped into sales.
Overnight, the rules changed.

In systems analysis, things are structured, logical, predictable.
The odd error wasn't usually catastrophic, just inconvenient.

But in sales, failure isn’t an error in logic.
It's missing quota and letting the team down.

Ultimately that underperformance meant losing your job.

It wasn't like Systems Analysis at all.
No diagrams. No specifications. Just… humans.
Unpredictable, emotional, inconsistent, awkward, people.

And I’m introverted.
I don’t “schmooze.”
So how was I supposed to survive?

Not knowing the answer I fell back on what I knew worked.

I observed.

Not markets.
Not scripts.
Salespeople.

And not just any sales people.
I watched how elite salespeople operated.

They didn’t talk more — they talked less.
They asked questions that created silence.
They waited until the other person fill the space.

They used this rhythm like a jazz musician.
Their confidence wasn't from volume.
It came from conviction.

I studied.
I mimicked.
I failed.
I iterated.

Over time …

Stories replaced flowcharts.
Connections replaced process maps.

Systems thinking shifted from machines to human decision-making.

And that’s when it hit me: Sales isn’t the opposite of Systems Analysis.

Sales is Systems Analysis.
Just with new variables.
Human behaviour.
Human logic.

Once I understood that, everything changed. And the introverted analyst didn’t just survive sales, he joined the top performers.