#eavoices

Is architecture art?

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The word architect comes like so many words from the greek where arkhitekton describes a carpenter master craftsman. The first time it was used in any literature was in the works of Vitruvius. At that point and architecture was described as as a cross between utility (or function) and beauty. In the following time structural … Continue reading Is architecture art? →

Supporters not Customers

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The limits of my language means the limits of my world.

Ludwig Wittgenstein

What if your business didn’t have customers? What if it just had supporters? How would that shift in language change the way in which you viewed the relationship? How much more value would you want to deliver to your supporters over your customers?

All your customers are (either potential, actual or turned off) supporters. Your customers are your supporters whether you like it or not, its up to you whether you want to treat them as they deserve to be treated.

Seven sins – a worked example (‘Natural rights’)

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Enterprise-architecture, strategy, and more: they all depend on discipline and rigour, in thinking, sensemaking, decision-making and action. But what happens when that discipline is lost? What are the ‘sins’ that can cause that discipline to be lost? How can we…

You May Not Need A CDO — But Wouldn’t You Want To Improve Your Odds Of Success?

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Jennifer Belissent and I just published a report on the role of the Chief Data Officer that we’re hearing so much about these days – Top Performers Appoint Chief Data Officers. To introduce the report, we sat down with our press team at Forrester to talk about the findings and about the implications for our clients.

Forrester PR: There’s a ton of fantastic data in the report around the CDO. If you had to call out the most surprising finding, what would top your list?

Gene: No question, it’s the high correlation between high-performing companies and those with CDOs. Jennifer and I both feel that strong data capabilities are critical for organizations today and that the data agenda is quite complex and in need of strong leadership. That all means that it’s quite logical to expect a correlation between strong data leadership and company performance — but given the relative newness of the CDO role, it was surprising to see firm performance so closely linked to the role.

Of course, you can’t infer cause and effect from correlation — the data could mean that execs in high-performing companies think having a CDO role is a good idea as much as it could mean CDOs are materially contributing to high performance. Either way, that single statistic should make one take a serious look at the role in organizations without clear data leadership.

And you’re right, there’s a ton of fantastic data in this report; the next most surprising finding is just the rapid adoption of the role. Forty-five percent of organizations globally is a lot, and this was a particularly broad-based survey, with more than 3,000 respondents.

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Seven sins – 7: Lost In The Learning-Labyrinth

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Enterprise-architecture, strategy, or just about everything, really: they all depend on discipline and rigour – disciplined thinking, disciplined sensemaking and decision-making. But what happens when that discipline is lost? What are the ‘sins’ that can cause that discipline to be…

Seven sins – 6: The Reality Risk

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Enterprise-architecture, strategy, or just about everything, really: they all depend on discipline and rigour – disciplined thinking, disciplined sensemaking and decision-making. But what happens when that discipline is lost? What are the ‘sins’ that can cause that discipline to be…

Seven sins – 5: The Possession Problem

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Enterprise-architecture, strategy, or just about everything, really: they all depend on discipline and rigour – disciplined thinking, disciplined sensemaking and decision-making. But what happens when that discipline is lost? What are the ‘sins’ that can cause that discipline to be…