6 years, 4 months ago

Organizations as Systems – Kurosawa, Clausewitz, and Chess

In order to respond appropriately to the context we find ourselves in, it’s helpful that we be able to correctly define that context. It’s something humans aren’t always good at. Not too long ago, Sun Tzu’s The Art of War was all the rage as among executives. While the book contains some excellent lessons that […]

6 years, 6 months ago

This is not a project

My apologies to René Magritte, as I appropriate his point, if not his iconic painting. After I posted “Storming on Design”, it sparked a discussion with theslowdiyer around context and change. In that discussion, theslowdiyer commented: ‘you don’t adhere to a plan for any longer than it makes sense to.’ Heh, agree. I wonder if […]

12 years, 7 months ago

Nogility

Large technology organizations don’t simply become agile. They’re either agile or not. If they’re not, the path to being so is via change, often radical change at that.

12 years, 8 months ago

Unprincipled Architecture

Anything IT does should be seen as consistent. Using words like “Principle” with the definition most people have for it is a sure-fire way to disappoint folks. It turns out that instead of a iron clad ‘always-will-do’ thing, our Principles are merely s…