By Wolfgang Goebl, Milan Guenther, Annika Klyver and Bard Papegaaij
Enterprise Architects are – in general – passionate people: they see it as their mission to help improve the enterprises they work for, and work very hard to design and coordinate the best possible changes they can come up with. You would think this would put them amongst the most popular and sought-after people in any business. After all, who wouldn’t want to have the support of an individual or team whose sole purpose in life it is to make things better for you? The reality, however, is not that straightforward.
Many Enterprise Architects find that they are marginalised, ignored or even actively opposed when they try to be a force for positive change. They find it hard to get the ear of the decision-makers. They are seldom involved in strategic discussions about the future of the enterprise. When they earnestly try to align and coordinate change initiatives across the enterprise, their efforts are seen as interference, needlessly limiting activity, or unnecessarily slowing things down. Overall, the most heard complaint from Enterprise Architects all over the world is that they find it very hard to deliver the benefits they know they can bring to their enterprises, in spite of all their hard work.
“Enterprise Design Patterns: 35 ways to radically increase your impact on the enterprise” is our answer to this situation. Over the past 9 months we have collected the wisdom and experience of many experienced practitioners in the field and condensed that into 35 patterns. Divided into four sections, these patterns provide a behavioural guide to many situations Enterprise Designers (of which we consider Enterprise Architecture to be a subset) regularly encounter. Each pattern is a practical, pragmatic, proven suggestion for what to do to overcome the typical obstacles to having influence and impact.
Example Pattern
This book is the first official publication of the newly formed Intersection Group, a not for profit organisation created by the bringing together of Enterprise Design Associates and the Architectural Thinking Association. Our mission is to help people create better enterprises. We aim to do this by publishing books and toolkits, organising events and collaborating with organisations and practitioners to progress the development of a truly inter-disciplinary approach to designing the enterprises of the future.
