Aggregated enterprise architecture wisdom
Ruth MalanI will demonstrate a technique for Context Mapping that leverages David Sibbet/The Grove’s work on Context Maps. We will build up the map incrementally, using the comments on this post to gather input to the Context Map which I will … Continue reading →
What we are paying attention to shapes what we perceive and pay attention to. And paying attention, requires attention. The system, thought of, observed and measured, reasoned about, designed as, a system, needs intentional attention. Attention that competes for bandwidth with the order of the day — delivery of working code (with tests, please). We […]
The following passage is drawn from Robert Pirsig’s Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. It is a wonderful book, sort of to design and systems thinking what The Goal is to process and stochastics (making it accessable in lay … Continue reading →
The following passage is drawn from Robert Pirsig’s Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. It is a wonderful book, sort of to design and systems thinking what The Goal is to process and stochastics (making it accessable in lay manager terms). … Continue reading →
Let’s do a fun problem. Consider the following problem stated by Rudolf Arnheim (I’ll give the full reference later): One morning, exactly at 8 A.M., a monk began to climb a tall mountain. The narrow path, no more than a … Continue reading →
Here is another of my favorite Richard Feynman stories (and fitting to honor the memory of Feynman today, for it is 25 years since the day he died): “When I was a kid growing up in Far Rockaway, I had a friend named … Continue reading →
James Burke (Connections, 2007), commenting on the Gutenberg printing press, observed “the easier it is to communicate, the faster change happens.” And “faster change” characterizes our experience of the times we’re in!
The “rising tide that lifts all boats” is readily associated with digital technology which has not only seen more than two billion people connected […]
Still on the theme of mastery, and further exploring attention and perception, here is another story I like to tell alongside the Master Butcher and the Agassiz fish tales. It is one of Richard Feynman’s stories from his childhood: One job … Continue reading →
As we start to navigate our way into this topic of mastery, I’d like to explore attention and perception further. Louis Agassiz became known well beyond his own field for teaching observation, and many of his students relay similar stories of how he imbued this … Continue reading →
To launch this series of posts, I thought it would be useful to convene a discussion of the role of the architect and mastery. Talking about Conceptual Architecture several years ago, Dana Bredemeyer relayed the story of the Master Butcher. … Continue reading →
Playing with a “learning chemistry” metaphor: Essentially the idea for this blog is to create an architect’s learning lab of sorts, where we create new insight compounds by tossing a starter into this learning crucible for discussion, so that we can all … Continue reading →
The Visual Architecting Process (VAP) supports the architect in leading architectural decision making and the exploration of options, the iterative resolving of critical uncertainties and challenges, and the evolution of the system.
The process is illustrated here and here, emphasizing the visual support for system conceptualization, design and reflection. We regard process as “scaffolding” (it supports […]