Aggregated enterprise architecture wisdom
When I was a relatively new manager, I would occasionally get into disagreements with my peers. My CIO would call me into his office and tell me I should go fix the relationship. Being the good employee, I saluted and said, “Yes sir.” The third time this happened I pushed back. “Why are you always […]
Booze&Co recently published an interesting article as part of their strategy+business series. The title of the article is Six Secrets to Doing Less, written by Matthew May. It is an excerpt from his new book: The Laws of Subtraction: 6 Simple Rules for Winning in the Age of Excess Everything. I haven’t read the book […]
Each of us is born with a set of DNA that determines a good amount of our basic physical, intellectual, and emotional makeup. We also get a set of parents, extended family, and friends that shape us into who we become. That’s the life we are given. If we are truly fortunate, the life we […]
Well this is timely – December 12 , 2012, my 200th blog post and my 50th birthday. I still can’t believe it because when I look in the mirror or at the mental image of myself, I feel like I am 35 years old with so much to learn. Yet everyday I go to work, […]
The post A Personal Thank You for My Half Century appeared first on Enterprise Architecture in Higher Education.
An overly large focus on the way things “should be” is one of the biggest inhibitors to innovation and productive action. A focus on what should be rather than what can be inhibits new ideas and siphons off a tremendous amount of energy. Though this is a problem throughout most organizations, it seems to be […]
We are now well into the fourth era of information technology evolution. Along the way IT professionals have been challenged to evolve their skills to keep pace with advancing technology as well as evolving business expectations. Here is my skills view of the architect’s transformation: Mastery – For the first 25 years of business computing, […]
Five years ago today, I moved from being a senior staff member (Enterprise Architect) to the Manager, Business Application Services and Enterprise Architecture at BCIT. Over the past few weeks, I met with many colleagues and friends that I work with for a farewell coffee or lunch. (See my earlier post: My New Adventure) […]
The post Reflecting on Management appeared first on Enterprise Architecture in Higher Education.
Today, I celebrate 20 years of service at the British Columbia Institute of Technology. When I joined BCIT on August 31, 1992, I was in my late 20′s. I had been married for 4 years and we had a baby girl who was just over a year old. I started as…
Last week, I accepted a 2 year contract as the Director of Information Technology at the American University of Sharjah in the Emirate of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates. Sharjah is one of seven emirates that are federated together to form th…
If you are an established business architect you are most likely already doing most of these items. But if you are new to business architecture or are coming from IT or other operationally focused organizations, you should give each of these steps serious consideration. Spend more time with business leaders. You don’t have to corner […]
There are lots of models around describing leadership characteristics and roles. Here is one I have been using for a number of years to introduce the role of the leader. While not a complete model, it does get across some of the more important attributes of excellent leaders. VISION – One of the first roles […]
I just want to be heard. And, OK, maybe understood a little. Agreeing with me would be nice too, but honestly, most of the time I would be content with just being understood. And isn’t that what we all want – to be heard, really heard. The problem is, so few people know how to […]