One of my art teachers regularly commented that making the first brush mark on an empty canvas should not be rushed and that it requires consideration as it will form the foundational reference for any subsequent brush marks. Analogous to this is where to place the first process symbol on the empty ‘process canvas’. Some start with all the stakeholders in a room and after a number of iterations (and some heated arguments), believe they have found the common ground and proceed from there with the process development effort. After a lot of effort and stakeholder time spent on its development it is found that these processes are incomplete, do not fully address the particular business area and cross multiple capability boundaries.
Creativity is the Next Competitive Advantage
Do you value creativity in your organisation? In his book A Whole New Mind: Why Right-brainers will Rule the Future, Daniel Pink says we have entered the ‘Conceptual Age’ of creators and empathizers, where creativity will become the competitive difference. He outlines six essential elements: Design, Story, Symphony, Empathy, Play and Meaning.
A short-time ago I spent 3 days with a swarm of highly creative business people in Amsterdam at a Business Models Inc event
What’s Under the Hood of Digital Capability?
It’s everywhere, people swiping and tapping on smartphones doing all number of wondrous things, from paying bills in real-time, ordering cut-price designer clothes, to working out the most cost effective way to arrive in Zanzibar via Rio. This is where the myth begins, where your average punter believes they cannot live without their smartphone and all its wonders. The reality, however, is that the phone is just a digital portal. It’s a small cog in a digital machine where the big cogs in the background are actually responsible for all the smarts.
Architects are Made, Not Born
As a talent management consultant for an architecture consulting firm I am often asked what I look for in an up and coming architect and my first answer is usually: at least a few years’ experience in the discipline as well as formal training. However, after an 18 year career in talent management and psychometric interpretation, with 8 of those in architecture, it has become glaringly obvious to me (call it intuition or experience) that there are a few fundamental skills that have been evident in those I have noticed early on in their careers and which I now hold up as a comparison when interviewing junior architects.
Architecture for the Masses: A New Approach
It might seem counter-intuitive to see established institutions like MIT, Harvard and Stanford jumping on board the MOOC bandwagon – in case you’ve just crawled from under a rock that’s Massive Open Online Courses; the wave of technology innovation sweeping across the Higher Education and Training sectors. After all – these education mega-brands have long been regarded as bastions of exclusivity, patronised by the world’s best, brightest and most privileged. Why would they decide to give away their courses for free?
Well – they’re not the only ones getting on board…
Cloud? – Just Let the Business Decide!
The other day I was discussing matters of cloud strategy and adoption with a major client. Quite proudly the chief architect tabled a recently produced cloud policy document. Authored by a reputable global consultancy it well exceeded the thud test and gave all the impression of a bespoke policy.
EA Effectiveness – ONE Measure that Matters
Today I saw on one of the Linked-In Architecture Forums a variation on the classic question of measuring Enterprise Architecture value and effectiveness. The member wrote: “……..So what are the most useful ways in which you have measured the effectiveness of architecture efforts/outcomes in organisations you have worked for”?. Of course this elicited a stream of predictable responses and suggestions relating to levels of compliance, investment alignment, productivity improvement, sourcing effectiveness, blah, blah, blah.
The Open Group APAC Conference Highlights
Well the dust has settled now with the conclusion of The Open Group ‘Enterprise Transformation’ Conference held in Sydney, Australia for the first time on April 15-20. Enterprise Architects is proud to have been recognised at the event by The Open Group as being pivotal in the success of this event. A number of our clients including
Where the Rubber hits the Roadmap: Architecture Value to Projects
Opinions vary regarding the value an architect adds in the world of project delivery. Some architects define their roadmaps and think their job is done and do not concern themselves with delivery of their architecture. However, delivery teams are frequently left wondering; what can we deliver within our budget, how do we deliver the roadmap and who can we partner with to deliver it.