Do you like your Enterprise Architecture?

Have you ever considered the possibility that you might like your Enterprise Architecture. Do you go to work with a smile on your face every day? Could it be that it means that your happy with the way things are going. Or are you dissatisfied with the current situation? Maybe it’s just an itch that you can’t really scratch. Then what is the problem, what is it that stands in your way?

Have you asked your self the right questions?

• Do we really want the EA we’ve got?
• What illustrious vision is it that could change our EA from where it is to be the key differentiator?
• How can we move our EA vision from idea to reality?

Make a list of all the positive things

Have you ever made a list of all the positive things that the EA work and the architecture has brought with it? Try to be realistic and at the same time dare to care for the results implied.

• What is good with our EA today?
• What is positively bad with our EA today? (you know it’s bad but it’s good, like principles and the way people react to them).
• Make your selves and others see the value in our EA by asking people to express the value they perceive.
• Make a top ten list of all the things people disliked before we had our EA.

Change happens, dare to evolve

Every day change happens, the scope changes, the environment changes and time races on. You have to become part of the flow so set your goals high, but not higher than could be realistically reached.

• Make your selves and others see the value in our EA by asking people to express the value they would like to see.
• Re-prioritize your efforts to match those strengths and capabilities your really possess.
• Move out of your own box and spend some time working with the non-EA folks on non-EA issues in the enterprise.

Enough is when your proud of your results

You have to know what you know and you have to know what you don’t know and you have to know what you cannot possibly know. If you know all that, then its possible to be proud in success as well as in the face of apparent failure.

• Consider the pieces that you are really pleased with and communicate those to other people.
• Don’t try to do more than can be done.
• Remember that if the stakeholders are happy with the outcome then you have done a great job no matter what.

Less is more

Sometimes less can actually be more, it’s not that you simply get away with not doing the important things, rather it’s doing the important stuff, the stuff that really makes a difference and letting the other stuff be the fluff it was supposed to be. Is it so then that you can take something like TOGAF or Modaf and configure it in a really lean and practical way and hope to succeed in all matters of Enterprise architecture? I don’t think so, and hopefully neither do you.

How much is enough?

Enough is when you have done as little as possible but satisfied all stakeholders and feel proud of what you have achieved.

Securing your enoughness

How then can we make sure that we hit the “enough” target? First, you have to realize that there is no single way to carry you forward to all possible goals. Second, you can base your effort in any single framework you like. Third, you are dealing in change and as such things will have to adopt to change. Simply said, every engagement needs to be tailored and it  is easier to tailor some generica(Togaf, Modaf, Dodaf) you have tailored many times before.

Simple rules to guide you

1. The bigger the effort, the greater extent of the generica needed
2. The faster from idea-to-solution, the more specific the extent of the generica need to be
3. The more regulated, the greater the extent of the generica needed

You have decided and have the determination to accept the challenge to pursue an Enterprise architecture either as a consultant or as an employee, it does not matter. What matters is what you and the target organisation stand to gain for doing it? I suggest you settle down for a moment and reflect on this, then write down some answers before you continue to read.

The benefits you can hope to achieve depends on who you are, the target organisation, the collective capabilities you posses, the time and resources you are all willing to spend. Except from that it is your will to never surrender that decides whether this Enterprise architecture will be brought to fruition or left to rot in the pit of good intentions.

Aim for success

The first five steps to success are:

1. Have a clear and concise goal
2. Know what knowledge and which skills are needed to reach the goal
3. Train hard individually and as a team
4. Make it a common effort
5. Deliver on promises made

Set your ambitions high

The ultimate ambition to strive for is the answer you wrote to the question above. “What is it you stand to gain from an Enterprise Architecture?”. A part from that you can set almost any goal as long as they are achievable within reasonable time. You may choose to divide your initial goals on other dimensions like time, costs, benefits and efforts. Anyway you choose to do it is a small step towards actually achieving the goal itself.

Make sure the goals are:

1. S.M.A.R.T.E.R
2. Documented and published
3. Understood and agreed upon

Perform an effective execution

There is always many obstacles to surmount on the way to a goal worth achieving. It is not without a doubt that an effort of such a grandeur as an Enterprise architecture requires one to focus dearly on the end goal.

Since time and resources most likely will be scarce you will have to be verry effective in your execution. Planning the execution is of utmost importance and focusing each single work item on an outcome that leads you to the target is essential. Some would say that you should go Lean and Agile. I say stay focused and persist whatever may come your way. If that spells out as Lean and Agile to you then so be it.

1. Plan to succeed, revisit the plan to respond to change (have a look at the OODA loop)
2. Consistently stay focused, do not deviate lightly from the plan, the goal or the task at hand
3. Make sure each work item takes you one step closer to the goal by focusing on creating excellent architecture artifacts

The Great Master Lea was sitting on his mountain top basking in the sun. Earlier this morning a well known strategist from a global consultancy house had come before him to tell him the truth about planning. This is what the strategist said: “Only by first knowing where you stand can you judge how far you have to go”. The great master Lea looked at the strategist then turned his head towards the sky and said: “There are two ways I can consider your thinking; the first way is that true planning considers the fact that all is not known at any time; the second way is that distance is a meassure made on assumptions of the past”.

In an interview on MIT Sloan Leadership Center featuring Mikael Kaiser, I found the core qualities, abilities and aptitudes of a great architect.

#1 Do good work

“The most important thing is to do good work. It’s as simple as that,” Kaiser insists.

#2 Focus on long range planning

“Long-range planning is critical to bringing troubled organizations back from the brink of disaster”

#3 Stay true to your core business and stand by the plan laid down

“He credits his successes not to wholesale firings, bringing in his own people or slashing costs and wages, but to concentrating on creating good art, increasing marketing, opening the door to the press, and staying “hyperfocused” on the organization’s plan. “

#4 Take the lead, but stay humble

“You will never see me doing an audience survey asking an audience what they want to see or hear. I don’t believe in that,” Kaiser says. “I believe my job is to lead the public and not to follow the public.”