Link: http://www.etc-architect.com/?p=824
From ETC-Architect
If you ever go to first level support groups they will tell you that architects are often useless people that are not able to perform a single job, who are just as good with words as politicians (not meant as a compliment) and have the same brownnosing instincts.
So what makes an architect different from another job such as a developer or system admin. For that lets go back on building architects and look at the last 3000 years since the concept of an architect is around. So what is the main distinction between an architect and a universal good handyman. History mainly tells us about two differences and they are not creativity, technical skills or any education (with the exception of the last 100 years), but rather the ability to provide design leadership and to work in a political environment. A good handymen is not expected to communicate his design to the many but just get the work done. The same applies on politics.
However by this definition a lot of architects are nor architects and so what. Outside of the English speaking world (and Englisch is not one of my first languages either) there are also fewer people called architects. Architects that have never come in conflict are often also a sign for people that just follow on a pattern, as in the dark ages on French cathedral the test for a senior architect was someone who at at least had one run in with the inquisition (and many never recovered from that experience).
