You're a Business Architecture professional looking to advance your career. What skills should you focus on?

1 Business acumen

Business acumen is the ability to understand the business context, the market dynamics, and the financial implications of your decisions. It helps you to identify the opportunities and risks that affect your organization's performance and goals. To develop your business acumen, you should keep up with the industry trends, learn from the best practices, and communicate effectively with the senior executives and the business owners. You should also be able to measure and communicate the value and impact of your business architecture initiatives.

2 Systems thinking

Systems thinking is the ability to see the big picture, the interrelationships, and the feedback loops that shape the behavior and outcomes of your organization. It helps you to design and optimize the business architecture as a holistic and adaptive system that can respond to the changing environment and customer needs. To develop your systems thinking, you should use frameworks and tools such as the Business Motivation Model, the Business Capability Model, and the Value Stream Map. You should also be able to leverage the data and insights from the business intelligence and analytics platforms.

3 Stakeholder engagement

Stakeholder engagement is the ability to build trust, rapport, and collaboration with the people who have a stake in your business architecture projects. It helps you to understand their needs, expectations, and perspectives, and to align them with the strategic vision and the value proposition. To develop your stakeholder engagement, you should use techniques such as the Stakeholder Map, the Empathy Map, and the Persona. You should also be able to facilitate workshops, presentations, and feedback sessions with the stakeholders.

4 Innovation and creativity

Innovation and creativity are the abilities to generate and implement new ideas, solutions, and approaches that can create value and differentiation for your organization. They help you to challenge the status quo, explore new possibilities, and experiment with new concepts and models. To develop your innovation and creativity, you should use methods such as the Design Thinking, the Lean Startup, and the Business Model Canvas. You should also be able to foster a culture of innovation and learning within your team and your organization.

5 Continuous improvement

Continuous improvement is the ability to monitor, evaluate, and improve your business architecture processes, practices, and outcomes. It helps you to ensure the quality, efficiency, and effectiveness of your work, and to adapt to the feedback and changes. To develop your continuous improvement, you should use tools such as the Balanced Scorecard, the KPI Dashboard, and the PDCA Cycle. You should also be able to solicit and act on the feedback from your stakeholders, customers, and peers.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?