Architect: not just technically great
Complex software is a collective work product, so constructing software systems necessarily has a social dimension, complicated by the fact that the work is innovative and non-routine. And we can’t...
View ArticleWhat distinguishes the Software Architect?
Allan Hoffman at Monster.com is researching the software architect role for an upcoming article on Monster.com, and he asked me to give input. Here is his leading question (in italics) and my response:...
View ArticleModularity and what we can learn from Trek
I love my Trek bicycle, but with Shimano gears and brakes, and Bontrager frame, wheels, tires, and pedals, the ineffable Trek quality cannot be pinned down to any Trek-branded component. The success...
View ArticleOpening Up The Innovation Engine
Corporate and product identity is important in helping customers narrow options and make choices in a flooded marketplace (Malan and Bredemeyer, June 2005). Identity is a market simplifier. And it...
View ArticleThat Vision Thing
I get challenged on the question of vision. Is it management’s responsibility to come up with the vision, or the architect’s? Well, this is my push-back: the architect needs to be sure there is one....
View ArticleElementary Lessons in Vision and Teaming
Have you read The Goal? It is (still) a pivotal book in the Lean movement. I’ve been telling architects that The Wheel on the School (a children’s story by Meindert deJong) is the hidden jewel of that...
View ArticleConway’s Law
The Wikipedia community describes Conway’s Law like this; I paraphrase it like this: if the architecture of the system and the architecture of the organization are at odds, the architecture of the...
View Article
