Process or Tool, which should come first?

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Just like the mystery of which came first, the Chicken or the Egg, those of us fortunate individuals that have worked in the Information Technology field for many years have also been dealing with a difficult question, “Which should come first, Process or Tool?  One of the changes in the IT Service Management arena that complicates this question even more is the recent onslaught of very mature and high functioning […]

Q&A with Allen Brown, President and CEO of The Open Group

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By The Open Group Last month, The Open Group hosted its San Francisco 2014 conference themed “Toward Boundaryless Information Flow™.” Boundaryless Information Flow has been the pillar of The Open Group’s mission since 2002 when it was adopted as the … Continue reading →

Irony at work

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I have come to realise that in my professional life I am an Ironist.

In ‘Contingency, Irony and Solidarity’ Richard Rorty described 3 conditions of an ironist:

(1) She has radical and continuing doubts about the final vocabulary she currently uses, because she has been impressed by other vocabularies, vocabularies taken as final by people or books she has encountered;

(2) she realizes that arguments phrased in her present vocabulary can neither underwrite nor dissolve these doubts;

(3) insofar as she philosophizes about her situation, she does not think that her vocabulary is closer to reality than others, that it is in touch with a power not herself.

How do I think this applies to me?:

I was once a SQL Server DBA but i could see the merits of other relational and non-relational databases. it was the best vocabulary I had at the time.

I was once a C# .net developer but I could see the merits of other languages and the limits of the tools i used. It was the best vocabulary I had at the time.

I was once a scrum master but i could see the merits of other approaches and the limits of scrum. It was the best vocabulary I had at the time, it has become part of my vocabulary.

I am an Enterprise Architect, my approach is based loosely on TOGAF, but I can see the merits of other approaches and the limits of TOGAF and Enterprise Architecture as a discipline. It has become part of my vocabulary.

I continue to explore new (to me) approaches e.g. Service Design and Coaching. I can see the merits of other approaches and the limits of Service Design and Coaching, it is becoming part of my vocabulary.

My vocabulary will change. The context in which i use my vocabulary will change.

My challenge is to always make my vocabulary the best vocabulary it can be, whilst knowing that it will never be the best vocabulary.

I doubt therefore I am an Ironist 🙂

Business architecture: Is it happening in the right place?

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In the digital age, we think that architecture matters even more for the long-term success of organizations. However, when we hear about architecting, it’s often related to IT. The term isn’t very common on the non-IT side of the business, yet architecture impacts the entire company. At MIT CISR, we’ve launched a research project, “Making […]