Cay Hasselmann

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 … Continue reading When is an architect an architect? →

If I translate from English to German I will loose a lot of content even if I use the best translators. Now this a normal and expected behavior well known and the reason that we keep translations to a minimum. Now comes the architects and deliberately or undeliberately forgets that this same wisdom also applies … Continue reading Lost in translation →

Remember the mid 90s (or not) with the so called PoC Products where you would create a minimum viable product? Well many of those PoC are still around in production (about a third of all barcode Point of sales as an example)and others are responsible for some of huge IT disasters (usually as they were … Continue reading Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is like TNT →

We all know that part of our work is done using semantics (both natural and artificial) and intrinsic processing. This does not only lead to the individual, but also to group intrinsic non semantic processing as we do not only communicate via semantics. These non semantic operations often create a problem for architects and business … Continue reading Hidden operations →

When we are looking to accounting we find comparability as one the most important design principles. In other areas we usually use standards such as ISO to promote comparability. However an area where comparability is key, but where it is not really used is within business analysis and design. These areas however are however where … Continue reading Comparability →

Almost all architects have some good stories to tell about managers that aim to be strong, just to behave like total idiots. My proposal is that you need to aim for meekness to be a true strong leader. If we exercise meekness in areas where we encounter a general mean spirited negative environment we will … Continue reading Aim too be meek, not strong →

User error has many synonyms such as layer 8 error or error 18 indicating that the problem is 18 inches away from the computer. I personally still prefer PICNIC (Problem In Chair, Not In Computer), as it is the easiest to remember. For me user error is a fact of life and as architects we … Continue reading PICNIC →

When I talk about a domain I do not mean the mathematical domain definition where the parameters defining the boundaries of the domain and sufficient mappings into a set of ranges including itself are not well enough understood to provide a systematic description of the domain. Instead I use the domain definition as a minimal … Continue reading The vital problem of a problem domain →

Cognitive dissonance in psychology is the mental stress (discomfort) experienced by a person who simultaneously holds two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values; when performing an action that contradicts one of those beliefs, ideas, or values; or when confronted with new information that contradicts one of the beliefs, ideas, and values. As such it … Continue reading The importance of cognitive dissonance with architects →

Guessing is how we work at our core brain level. once we start any action we are guessing the next steps such as if we move down a flight of stairs and only if something happens that does nor meet our guessing aka expectation than this will be alerted to our conscious level. The same … Continue reading Guessing makes the difference →

1967 Richard Montague first voiced: “There is in my opinion no important theoretical difference between natural languages and the artificial languages of logicians; indeed, I consider it possible to comprehend the syntax and semantics of both kinds of language within a single natural and mathematically precise theory.” A few years later he than published his … Continue reading 50 years ago Richard Montague invented his grammar that first enabled IT architecture first possible →

When talking about abstractions to IT architects I am naturally always reminded on the inner-platform-effect that is defined as:’ The inner-platform effect is the tendency of software architects to create a system so customisable as to become a replica, and often a poor replica, of the software development platform they are using.“ So layers will … Continue reading Layers of Abstraction →