Towards a whole-enterprise architecture standard – 1: Introduction

For a viable enterprise ­architecture [EA], now and into the future, we need frameworks, methods and tools that can support the EA discipline’s needs. What we need now are tools and techniques that can extend all the way out to

Making a knowledge-base for whole-enterprise EA more accessible

I have a problem. One that might be relevant for you too, if you work in enterprise-architecture or related disciplines. Here’s the situation: I have here this weblog on enterprise architecture and suchlike, built up out of almost a decade of

Form Follows Function on SPaMCast 389

This week’s episode of Tom Cagley’s Software Process and Measurement (SPaMCast) podcast, number 389, features Tom’s essay on Agile acceptance testing, Kim Pries talking about soft skills, and a Form Follows Function installment on sense-making and decision-making in the practice of software architecture. Tom and I discuss my post “OODA vs PDCA – What’s the […]

Form Follows Function on SPaMCast 385

This week’s episode of Tom Cagley’s Software Process and Measurement (SPaMCast) podcast, number 385, features Tom’s essay on Agile portfolio metrics, Kim Pries talking about the value of diversity, and a Form Follows Function installment on sense-making and decision-making in the practice of software architecture. Tom and I discuss my post “Architecture and OODA Loops […]

The game of enterprise-architecture

Given the parlous state of most current enterprise-architecture ‘education’, is there any way we could do it better? One option might be to reframe EA-education as a game. I don’t mean ‘gamification’ as per the asinine ‘boy-scout badges for enterprise-architects’

Innovation on Tap

Two articles from the same site (CIO.com), both dealing with planned innovations, but with dramatically different results: “Report: Twitter’s algorithmic timeline may arrive next week” reports that rumors (or “rumors”) of Twitter switching from a chronological timeline to one curated algorithmically has led to an uprising under the hashtag #RIPTwitter. Twitter’s CEO, Jack Dorsey, has […]

What I do, and why

“Are you the guy who writes books?”, asks the young woman behind me in the cafe. Well, yes, I am – but much as for her, it’s taken me a moment or two to recognise her, and then remember the

OODA vs PDCA – What’s the Difference?

In my post “Architecture and OODA Loops – Fast is not Enough”, I stated that sense-making and decision-making were critical skills for the practice of software architecture. I further stated that I found the theories of John Boyd, particularly his OODA loop, useful in understanding and describing effective sense-making and decision-making. My conclusion was that […]

Architecture and OODA Loops – Fast is not Enough

Sense-making and decision-making are critical skills for the practice of software architecture. Creating effective solutions (i.e. the collection of design decisions that make up the product) is dependent on understanding the architecture of the problem. In other words, the quality of our decisions depends on the quality of our understanding of the context those decisions […]