In the May 15th issue of CIO magazine, there is a rather interesting article, especially for Enterprise Architecture practitioners. The article, written by Stephanie Overby (a freelance writer), is titled “RIP I.T. Value” and opens with the following paragraph: The end of…
From time to time, I hear interesting anecdotes from colleagues or friends outside Microsoft, telling me a story about what it’s like to work at Microsoft. Often these stories are placed into a comparative context, as in: our culture is different than…
In work, the Chief Architect receives his instructions from the CEO, collects his team and focuses his resources. When in difficult situations, stay agile and work to seek out possibilities. In situations where high politics intersect, join hands with the stakeholders. Do…
In order to solve a problem, you have to know the problem you are solving. In a growing number of organizations, Enterprise Architecture is responsible for insuring the alignment of business change programs (including but not limited to programs that impact computing…
The more time I spend as an Enterprise Architect, the more I realize just how important this role is. Yet, the stories that we tell fail to bring across that value. Our metaphors (framework, capability, roadmap) are woefully inadequate to communicate the…
I am an Enterprise Architect. It is my job to look at things the way they are, and envision the things that should be. It is my role to describe specific actions that specific people can take to change things (systems, processes,…
About a week ago, I blogged a short story about a fictional town that faced a problem, with two competing solutions. There are many observations about life in corporate IT that I included in that story: how different people can end up…
Last week was a big one for me and for Diamond. It marked the beginning of a new chapter for both as we joined forces with PwC. Much remains to be seen as with any new adventure, but it promises to be…
Over the past month, I hit a couple of career milestones. On August 31, 2010, I completed my 18th year of service at British Columbia Institute of Technology. On Sept 4, 2010, I completed 3 years as the Manager, Business Application Services…
Todd Biske posted a summary of a conversation he had with Mike Rollings, Brenda Michelson, Chris Bird and others. They were discussing the future of Enterprise Architecture. A theme that emerged from their talks focused on whether your practice is defined by…
Since I completed both the UBC Sauder School of Business – Certificate in Management Excellence and the Carnegie Mellon Institute of Software Research International – Certified Enterprise Architect program, I have been looking to take the next step in my education. Here…
Have you read The Goal? It is (still) a pivotal book in the Lean movement. I’ve been telling architects that The Wheel on the School (a children’s story by Meindert deJong) is the hidden jewel of that genre—namely novelization of business fundamentals.…