eapatterns

[eapatterns]

All your boards are belong to us

There is a point where unmanaged complexity becomes prionic.

At that point a crystalline logic takes over, and every thing that touches the tangle becomes transformed by the tangle to be a new part of the tangle.

That includes all attempts to control it. 

At this point governance is a fools errand. 

Your architecture review boards and your IT strategy boards will be assimilated.

(Photo: Complicated, Marco/Zak, 2007, some rights reserved)

[eapatterns]

The Simplest metamodel in the world ever!

No need to thank me, don’t worry this metamodel will be released under GPL. You can refer to it as ‘The Thing MetaModel’.

Some thoughts:

1) Some of the most effective architecture diagrams I’ve seen have been created using powerpoint objects

2) The stakeholder community that either understands or cares about the difference between modelling an object as a platform service/information system service/logical technology/application component/physical technology/application component is so small and the semantic impact so tiny that its not something you should worry about if you wish to be efficient and effective.

3) Effective and efficient Enterprise Architects should Nevermind the metabollocks and focus on delivering tangible value into the organisations with which they work by focusing on communicating effectively with stakeholders. Communicating effectively with stakeholders is not predicated on successfully navigating a metamodel. Your stakeholders don’t give a fuck about a metamodel.

[eapatterns]

Agile is not Agility

Agile is a way of changing things.

Agility is a quality of the things you want to change. 

If moving one block is going to bring down the tower, being agile won’t help much.

And being agile doesn’t stop you building lots and lots of towers.

Photo: Antony Mayfield

Copyright 2013 Creative Commons 2.0 Generic

https://www.flickr.com/photos/antonymayfield/8579688786/

[eapatterns]

Agility is not Speed

Agility is the ability to change direction quickly.

The paradox of agility is that it is that the slower you are moving the faster you can change direction.

Just going really fast, in the belief that speed is agility, can lead to a nasty, sudden stop.

Photo by Dan Masa

https://www.flickr.com/photos/danmasa/27160870210/in/dateposted/

creativecommons.org 2.0

[eapatterns]

Learn to spot Unicorns

Horns, horses and wings exist.

Unicorns do not.

Just because you can talk about “proactive infrastructure”, a “dynamically configurable platform”, or “contextually aware flow routing”, doesn't mean they exist.

There are a lot of folk out there selling Unicorn architectures.

Learn to subject proposed architectures to common-sense, plain-English reality checks.

[eapatterns]

How do you feel about using the same toothbrush as a stranger (after it is cleaned)?

How do you feel about using the same fork as a stranger (say, in a cafe, after it is cleaned)?

Framing is important because it affects how we feel and how we feel affects what we do.

As a solution architect, how would you feel if,

A: You had to submit a solution architecture for approval. B: You had to submit a solution proposal for review.

Frame things so people can feel like they are working together as peers - and the probably will.

[eapatterns]

[eapatterns]

Why not call that which you've named the cup's architecture, the cup's essence? (Essence: the intrinsic nature or indispensable quality of something, especially something abstract, which determines its character.)

(skiplumley’s question refers to this post: What is Architecture)

There isn’t any strong reason to avoid using the word essence to describe something definitive. 

As long as we recognise that 'essence' is a philosophical term. It's meaning depends on one’s ontological commitments.

Architecture intends structure. In the built world I think architecture is an appropriate term. In the video I posted the word architecture does the job very nicely. It is clear, to the point and does not invite too many digressions.

To quote a nineteenth-century american revivalist, “That is perfect that best suits the purpose for which it is intended.” As the purpose of the video is to get the viewer to think more deeply about what architecture is - I should think, by definition, architecture is a fine word to use in this context. 

Which is not to say it is the perfect term to use in every possible answer to the question “What makes a cup a cup?”

[eapatterns]

The Business? No!

From Baked Idea, this scathing critique of a favourite enterprise architecture cliche...

"Unless you are some sort of corporate stowaway that has secreted yourself into an organisation just for shits and giggles, you are part of ‘the business’...

There is no gigantic creature called ‘The business’ sitting in your stationery cupboard saying “no!”..

Referring to ‘the business’ is a sign of laziness. It is a sign that you can’t be arsed to put the effort into thinking about your context...

[eapatterns]

The Irony of Enterprise Architecture

It has been observed that...

Every institution tends to preserve the problem to which it is the solution.

When I think of enterprise architecture as an institution irony often ensues...

[eapatterns]

What if value is in the noise?

If thought precedes action, what idea does enterprise architecture move towards? 

The clarity of a signal lifted out of the noise? Tidy cubicles or hacker spaces?

To find a form that accommodates the mess, that that now the task of the enterprise architect.

(Apologies to Beckett).

[eapatterns]

If you sell a problem too successfully, you will not enjoy what comes next.

Enterprise Architecture doesn't usually decide specific action.

So be very careful about how you characterise the need for action. 

A problem-focus generates conflict and disorder.

A benefit-focus generates unity and collaboration.

[eapatterns]

Buy-before-build is generally sound advice. But uncritical acceptance and use of this principle has created a cargo-cult mentality.

Gunnar Hellekso has written a great article about the Cult of the Product.

Compulsory reading for every Enterprise Architect.

[eapatterns]

The chance that your car might be washed away is not the only reason to avoid driving across a flooded road.

The greater danger is that the road under the flood waters has already been washed away.

How many large system projects fail because of unexpected dependencies or unknown conditions?

Visibility is a clear and immediate benefit of a mature EA practice. 

And remember, just because the road is going in the right direction - i.e., is aligned with your business - does not mean it's at all safe.

Photo By Brian Stansberry (Own work) [CC-BY-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

[eapatterns]

Our relationship to technology isn't only utilitarian.

It is also emotional.

Technology empowers us, it amplifies us in the world, and gives us super powers.

Maybe productivity is a not just a function of the design, but also of our attachment to it.

And maybe that emotional connection best expresses itself aesthetically - in personalisation, decoration and symbols of individuality.

And just maybe the reverse applies and standardising, commoditising, and depersonalising technology degrades the productivity of those who have to use it.

[eapatterns]

What is reification? This is when ugliness of reality is eschewed in favor of a beautiful model. The model, created by great credentialed brains, is a jewel, an object of adoration so lovely that flaws noted by outsiders are seen as gratuitous insults. The model is such an intellectual achievement that reality, which comes free, is felt an intrusion; the third wheel in the torrid love affair between modeler and model.

William M. Brigs

[eapatterns]

It's an unexceptional and foundational principle that governance is about behaviour.

But behaviour is about intentions.

Governance machinery that focuses on behaviour to the exclusion of intentions destroys value. 

As this great story of the little bike that wasn't, from Tom Graves illustrates so well.