EA

There are many books, articles and scholastic treatises on the art of strategy underpinned by just as many people selling all sorts of ‘solutions’ from the pragmatic to snake oil. Each with its own methods, templates and questionable processes promising the perfect outcome. So why I am writing another one? Well I’m not, rather quoting Porter from 1996 specifically around what should be left out rather than how much to stuff in. Before I do, first let me tell you why. I’ve been working with HEDIIP and the Higher Education sector on assessing and increasing their data capability. We use corporate objectives to ‘hang’ the benefits of improving [...]

  Digital transformations are quite the thing. Many organisations seem to have a self-styled Chief Digital Officer trumpeting the reinvigoration of their products and services with a capital D.  While it would be churlish to deny the benefits of making such products and services simpler to access, easier to use and more interesting to consume, I do have a couple of issues with the concept of digital transformation. Firstly it’s not a project or a plan. It’s underpinned by a step change in people and culture. Yet so much of it is envisaged from the standpoint of technology driven UX, and that’s [...]

Well, yes of course. And indeed no, not really.  Like much in Enterprise Architecture, we’d start by agreeing the initials match before embarking on a rumbustious dialogue on exactly by what we mean by the word ‘Advocacy’. A fine debate it would be as well, especially when tangentially gathering ideas around the much debated EA reporting line. I’m leaving that alone for now, other than to offer the perspective that the functional hierarchy of EA is far less important than the individual leading it. Of course the visibility and value of the EA team is strongly linked to where it is [...]

There’s almost an entire industry devoted to the power of the mistake, and why you should make them. From clichéd motivational images, to reworking failures now presented as successful new outcomes. Whether it’s a poster coupling mistakes with bravery or Keizen approaches to process improvement, they’re all saying the same thing: ‘it’s okay to screw up’ And we all know, deep down, this is absolute nonsense. Pity the poor school-kid sticking their hand up enthusiastically before giving the wrong answer. Peer abuse follows. We’re conditioned from a very young age to cover up our mistakes, blame others, misdirect and just plain lie. Honestly, [...]

Since it appears everyone else in our little pocket of the industry is.  As ever, there are a myriad of discussions splattered far and wide over the Internet, with the mother-lode being mined on LinkedIn. By trying to engage with these somewhat robustious debates, it’s confirmed my initial view of much heat but not a great deal of light. That’s not because the protagonists – for or against – do not make interesting and sometimes compelling arguments. It’s the fact that there’s not even a nudge towards a common ground which may disrupt the status quo. Reading this article written by Jason [...]

  Accreditation and certification. Two words that excite, divide, animate and occasionally overspill to righteous anger within the Enterprise Architecture community. It’s an important debate, although not quite as important as many would have us believe. Those who predict the death of EA without some kind of trading body are as deluded as the lazy chancers who cling to a title without any clue to what they are doing. Let’s break this thing down – there are two types of accreditation; practitioner or practice. I’ll be back to both of these in more detail (in later articles) but today let’s cover [...]

Before we answer that, let’s first pretend we have a choice. Which may be a valid assumption, or there may be much work to do before the big reveal. Underpants on the inside to get us started – this isn’t the place for Superman saving the corporate world. At least not yet. After my last post, a colleague of mine coined an interesting distinction on the outliers of an EA practice; I’ve paraphrased it below: Our EA function is striving to be genuinely Architects of the Enterprise because we have a wide remit and a large and experienced team. I believe we have [...]

Here’s a fun game to play: Sit two Enterprise Architects in a room and start the clock. Then scribble a best guess for a time until THE QUESTION ‘How do you get anyone to understand the Value of EA in your business?’ is asked. Hint: write fast, it won’t take long. I’m not poking fun at my fellow practitioners, rather highlighting the problem of a function launched from the wrong place and struggling to find somewhere useful to land ever since. If the very people who are passionate about EA cannot agree on the value of it, it seems somewhat churlish [...]