Unconventional Archive

  • You can quote all the learning management, skills management, performance management and professional development plan statistics you want, but we all know that title misdirection thrives in large Fortune 500 companies. It's like a tapeworm in a Mexican restaurant: it is a target-rich environment. It isn't endemic to IT, but it seems to be especially pernicious in this critical field.

    You, Sir, Are No Architect

    You can quote all the learning management, skills management, performance management and professional development plan statistics you want, but we all know that title misdirection thrives in large Fortune 500 companies. It's like a tapeworm in a Mexican restaurant: it is a target-rich environment. It isn't endemic to IT, but it seems to be especially pernicious in this critical field.

    Continue Reading...

  • For white collar career paths, the ability to identify, assess and diagnose business problems and then go on to prescribe and execute solutions absolutely demands thoughtful approaches that don't magically come with the diploma. The education is a foundation. It is not a end unto itself.

    MBAs Are Worthless

    For white collar career paths, the ability to identify, assess and diagnose business problems and then go on to prescribe and execute solutions absolutely demands thoughtful approaches that don't magically come with the diploma. The education is a foundation. It is not a end unto itself.

    Continue Reading...

  • You might be wondering what social media has to do with enterprise architecture. Apart from my argument that EA must include social as a functional area as well as a technical layer (as it is indisputably part of the business of business), the two areas share a common culture of obfuscation and jazz hands.

    Social Media is Just Jazz Hands (and other heretical thoughts)

    You might be wondering what social media has to do with enterprise architecture. Apart from my argument that EA must include social as a functional area as well as a technical layer (as it is indisputably part of the business of business), the two areas share a common culture of obfuscation and jazz hands.

    Continue Reading...

  • A model is useful if it describes something in a context that renders a complex topic easier to digest for specific audience. Its purpose is to describe, to communicate. It is an expression of a viewpoint. It isn't a detailed map or a blueprint. It is representative of a system, it doesn't depict the system. It is an abstraction. I'm afraid we model too frequently as a cover for not actually producing things of value.

    The Power of Carefully Worded Nonsense

    A model is useful if it describes something in a context that renders a complex topic easier to digest for specific audience. Its purpose is to describe, to communicate. It is an expression of a viewpoint. It isn't a detailed map or a blueprint. It is representative of a system, it doesn't depict the system. It is an abstraction. I'm afraid we model too frequently as a cover for not actually producing things of value.

    Continue Reading...

  • Suggesting architecture in general, or enterprise architecture in particular, doesn't add value or is otherwise a fiscal black hole is akin to declaring that badly executed means discredits the ends. The objective of enhancing Business-IT alignment is a worthy one. Just because a bunch of charlatans over time have discredited one method of achieving that alignment doesn't mean we shouldn't bother.

    Bad Marksmanship

    Suggesting architecture in general, or enterprise architecture in particular, doesn't add value or is otherwise a fiscal black hole is akin to declaring that badly executed means discredits the ends. The objective of enhancing Business-IT alignment is a worthy one. Just because a bunch of charlatans over time have discredited one method of achieving that alignment doesn't mean we shouldn't bother.

    Continue Reading...