Architecture from a human perspective

I’ve been playing with the idea of writing an article on my vision on Enterprise Architecture for a while now, but never got around to actually do it. This weekend I was handed the last part of the puzzle by my kindergartner, I hope you enjoy it!

 What is it what you do?

My oldest, asked me what I do at my job all day. And I realized, I could not explain it to him simply yet effectively. Which is kind of strange. In my opinion you should always be able to tell what you do, and why you do it, to anyone. So why couldn’t I?

 To answer his question I went back to what I’ve done the last couple of years, and I noticed it all revolved around the same thing; making things better based on change.

 Starting as an Olympian I spent years on improving myself, to peak at a certain moment. Each loss was a learning opportunity, each success of my relay team a source of happiness. Criticisms were welcome opportunities for growth.

I know as no other how change can be disruptive, no matter its source. I love the big and small disruptions of everyday life, they provide an opportunity for continuous growth and the delivery of sustainable advantages. It is how we react to that change what allows us to shine. 

When moving into my professional career I took those core capabilities with me.

Which brings me to the core of my story, what is it what I do all day. I talk to people and find out what the big picture is. Where are we now? Is that a problem? Where do we need to go? How do we get there?

 Sure, there might be some bumps in the road along the way, and sometimes there might not even be a road, but in the end it is all about finding the best route towards a goal and a clear set of directions on how to get there.

Note that this is not necessarily about technology, it is about providing a change to an organization which might include IT. I’ve noticed that people jump on the opportunity to find the perfect tool, the cool gadget or the latest “buzz word”, where the focus should lie on the business problem and business outcome. 

 On each way point, I try to be a living conscience. Are we still on the right track, or do we need to alter our course? Do we need a different route?

 So, what is it what I do?

Theoretically speaking an Enterprise Architect is the "bridge" between Business and IT. It is perceived that business and IT speak different languages, and thus needed a translator to work together.

This doesn’t sit well with me. To create value we should all work together, business and IT should be finely intertwined.

 I think an Architect excels at delivering purposeful help. Being ok with getting into the details of finding the needle in the haystack, but at the same time being able to have that helicopter view to guide the business where it needs to go.

To me, architecture is about helping people solve problems, deliver outcome and facilitating growth, by all conceivable means despite disruptions.