Link: http://www.etc-architect.com/?p=336
From ETC-Architect
As architects we often end up in strategy execution tasks that place us in or near the upper management. The most dangerous thing is that we actually lose the specific skills and value add of our profession. It is not uncommon to see architects creating PowerPoint or similar where when you remove the word ‘architecture’ and substitute it with marketing, sales, production, leadership, etc. the presentation will still make sense. If you have reached that point you know you are a senior manager without content as you actually produce exactly what the other managers are doing as well.
Usually the only change in that place is that you or someone else have read something that sounded great. If it comes from you this is then even called the architecture, as any craftsmanship is not seen as suitable. The main problem with this is that it will really never help the organisation. Instead a lot of enterprises are so profitable that this kind of management can not really hurt them.
So if you want to really create a genuine architecture that might actually change things for good you need to avoid the evolutionary organisational step of mutating in to senior management. An important step is to dissociate yourself from trade publications and analyst reports. If these inputs are absolutely crucial try to break their argumentation. Key is that your presentations will always be critiqued of being too technical. Technical has nothing to do with technology, but with knowledge required to understand.
