tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-234024992024-03-07T06:27:35.726+00:00Services FabricA space to discuss where service orientation and event centric concepts might be going - business value and technology opportunity discussion.Nigel Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426482151464159257noreply@blogger.comBlogger33125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23402499.post-76768672237352588592010-09-25T11:14:00.004+00:002010-09-25T16:12:12.048+00:00A new context for EA: The Enterprise: An eco-system of Values and Value<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://blog.fry.com/.a/6a010536b0eff3970b0120a5d29f43970b-800wi"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 600px; height: 528px;" src="http://blog.fry.com/.a/6a010536b0eff3970b0120a5d29f43970b-800wi" border="0" alt="" /></a><br /><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#C0C0C0;">Reflecting on recent discussions, Tweets and other online threads, there seem to be two reoccurring and related topics: </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><ol><li><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#C0C0C0;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#C0C0C0;">Making Enterprise Architecture valuable </span></li><li><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#C0C0C0;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#C0C0C0;">Selling the need for Enterprise Architecture practice to CxOs.</span></li></ol><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#C0C0C0;">Recent discussions with the OMG EAC2010 Working Group, Brenda Michelson, Sally Bean, Verna Allee, Chris Bird and Chris Potts are shaping a ‘Next Practice’ point-of-view for Enterprise Architecture. All seem centred around values and value:</span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#C0C0C0;">Values = ‘The things cared about”</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#C0C0C0;">Value = “The worth of an interaction between Systems”.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#C0C0C0;">How do the V’s apply across an Enterprise? My definition of Enterprise includes the subject organization’s relationship with customers, markets, and trading-partner communities.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#C0C0C0;">Value Network Analysis seems to provide one of the simplest ways to represent these relationships, in this System-of-systems, we call the Enterprise. Value Network Maps are a representation of the Roles (sub-systems) and the interactions between them. Each Role has a set of dominant Values (things-they-care-about) and a number of ‘transactions’ that produce and consume tangible and intangible value with other Roles.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#C0C0C0;"><a href="http://valuenetworks.com/public/blog/207591?archive=Monthly+.2008-12"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Click here for examples of Value Network Maps</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">.</span></span></p></div> <!--EndFragment--> <!--StartFragment--> <p class="MsoNormal"><!--StartFragment--> </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#C0C0C0;">I believe understanding “The Enterprise” as a complex system of interacting Values and Value-Transactions is fundamental to selling the need for Enterprise Architecture as a practice (note: whether or not someone carries the title ‘Enterprise Architect’). A recent LinkedIn discussion with Verna Allee helped clarify this perspective:</span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:35.45pt"><i><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#C0C0C0;">“… value network mapping indeed provides an overlay for business processes. … This gives you a "process" view, but it is one with all of the key intangible interactions built into the process and not mysteriously hanging outside. At Boeing VNA is their Lean + tool and they use it extensively prior to doing the deep dive into process modeling. It serves as that reality check to be sure that a) all of the critical interactions are addressed and b) the processes do not become over structured in contrast to what is most essential.</span></span></i></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#C0C0C0;">The discovery, and the concise abstraction of </span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#C0C0C0;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#C0C0C0;">‘The System-of-Values’ across the enterprise, seem critical to understanding the style of EA required and its “Worth” to the subject organisation.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#C0C0C0;"> </span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#C0C0C0;">The ‘Systems-Of-Values’, will vary, sometimes dramatically, from company to company and will change over time depending on all sorts of factors from market demand to changes in leadership.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#C0C0C0;">Brenda Michelson recently commented that she always does anthropology before architecture; I believe this exploration of the ‘V’s’ aligns with that thought. I also believe, that it is possible to create a usefully abstracted, values-based reference model of the enterprise that acts as a grounding-point subsequent views of EA (e.g. process, information and technology).</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#C0C0C0;">This worldview of EA seems all the more important as governments and businesses need to become more connected to external organisations to stay relevant and aligned with the values of their citizens, customers and trading-partners.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span></p> <!--EndFragment--> <p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-ansi-language:EN-GB"><br /></span></p> <!--EndFragment--> <p></p> <!--EndFragment-->Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23402499.post-61697222495292528162010-06-21T07:13:00.001+00:002010-06-21T07:13:13.399+00:00Chris Bird: applying P-E-C @ Sabre<center> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://blip.tv/scripts/pokkariPlayer.js?ver=2009070701"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://blip.tv/syndication/write_player?skin=js&posts_id=3801162&source=3&autoplay=true&file_type=flv&player_width=&player_height="></script> <div id="blip_movie_content_3801162"> <a rel="enclosure" href="http://blip.tv/file/get/Nigelpsgreen-ChrisBirdApplyingPECSabre885.mov" onclick="play_blip_movie_3801162(); return false;"><img title="Click to play" alt="Video thumbnail. Click to play" src="http://blip.tv/file/get/Nigelpsgreen-ChrisBirdApplyingPECSabre885.mov.jpg" border="0" title="Click to Play" /></a> <br /> <a rel="enclosure" href="http://blip.tv/file/get/Nigelpsgreen-ChrisBirdApplyingPECSabre885.mov" onclick="play_blip_movie_3801162(); return false;">Click to Play</a> </div> </center><div class="blip_description">Chris Bird explains how he has used the core of the vPEC-t framework as a set of principles from which to derive patterns for large-scale Event Distribution.</div><br />Nigel Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426482151464159257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23402499.post-78397948839383797842009-06-06T17:20:00.009+00:002009-06-10T05:01:14.346+00:00Balancing Reliability-X and Validity-YEarlier this week a Tweet from<a href="http://twitter.com/rotkapchen">@rotkapchen</a> (<a href="http://www.fastforwardblog.com/2009/02/01/le-petit-chaperon-rouge/">Paula Thornton</a>) introduced me to <a href="http://twurl.nl/c8m7ju">this video of the Canadian academic Roger Martin</a>. He talks about 'designing in hostile territory' and the tension between 'Reliability' and 'Validity' in the context of the challenge designers face in working with business and vice-versa. He hints at the dangers of measuring the things that are easy to measure and challenges McKinsey's notion the that 'Gut feel' management is dead and that “management will go from art to science” because we can now use 'algorithmic decision-making techniques' to run businesses. He contrasts that with the a designer's recent article that quotes William Blake: “I must create a system or be enslaved by another mans; I will not reason and compare: my business is to create”. (I thoroughly recommend watching his video when you have a spare 50 minutes or so).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WCtgWQYqnEY/SiqmwCVyVlI/AAAAAAAAAGc/wKTMwkEOrZU/s1600-h/hands+RV.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 191px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_WCtgWQYqnEY/SiqmwCVyVlI/AAAAAAAAAGc/wKTMwkEOrZU/s400/hands+RV.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5344267252020696658" border="0" /></a><br /><br />His presentation, however, is not banging-the-designer's-drum, it is all about reducing the Business-Exec/Designer communication gap – the same subject of that <a href="http://9times6.blogspot.com/">Carl Bate</a> and I tackle (between Business and IT) in '<a href="http://www.lithandbook.com/">Lost In Translation</a>'. It reminded me of a various conversations with Carl about the challenges of being a right-brained, theory Y, innovator in a predominantly left-brained, theory X, reliability-focused corporate world. Roger Martin also reinforced for me a the importance of patterns, analogy and story-telling 'to generate quasi past data' for the X-ers around me. He also reminded me that the X-ers are 'guardians of reliability' which probably explains why the creative 'Y-ers' are best left in their labs to innovate rather than run-the-business.<br /><br />All this got me thinking back to the thread of Tweets that had led up to Paula sending this link. Over recent weeks my fellow Twits and I (in particular, <a href="http://twitter.com/Cybersal">@Cybersal</a>, <a href="http://twitter.com/chrisdpotts">@Chrisdpotts</a> and @<a href="http://twitter.com/richardveryard">richardveryard</a>) have been sharing views about Enterprise Architecture and the need for a broader <a href="http://lenscraft.wikispaces.com/">set of lenses </a>to fully understand the behaviour of organisations. And so this week when I saw a Tweet from complaining about the technical focus of many Enterprise Architects from Paula, it prompted me to reply “EA should be focused on business behaviour before tech drafting - good EAs provide organizational 'therapy'”. This in turn led to Paula sending me the link to Richard Martin's presentation. <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">So now I'm pondering the following:</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p> <ul><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">A good Enterprise Architecture must be a balance of X(Reliability - Doing-things-Right) and Y (Validity – Doing-the-right-thing) or to put another way, Industrialization and Innovation.</p> </li></ul> <ul><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">We've spent to much time of methods that attempt to industrialise EA (to the point that I'm told TOGAF 9.0 runs to 800 pages)</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"></p> </li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">We need to spend more time on developing pattern-based storytelling skills in Enterprise Architects for EA bring break-through changes and allow for innovation in TO-BE models.</p> </li></ul> <ul><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Being X or Y minded is equally valid but both sides need to see the value of the other – I'm not always appreciative of my X colleagues as they 'herd' me towards on-time delivery and finished products, and I suspect they don't always see the value of my storytelling and idea-nurturing approaches.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"></p> </li><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Recession needs to bring forth more Y-minded thinking ( with some sensible X-controls) - because doing the wrong-thing-well (repeatedly) got us into this mess!</p> </li></ul> <ul><li><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">The world can't be fully explained or governed algorithmically (thank god!)– not while values and trust dominate the way organisations function.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"></p> </li></ul> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WCtgWQYqnEY/SiqndsnTOcI/AAAAAAAAAGk/TZeEQd5ZLGk/s1600-h/LB+Brain.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 302px; height: 320px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_WCtgWQYqnEY/SiqndsnTOcI/AAAAAAAAAGk/TZeEQd5ZLGk/s320/LB+Brain.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5344268036462557634" border="0" /> <span style="font-size:78%;">Uploaded to Flickr by </span></a><span style="font-size:78%;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/vaxzine/2278300537/" target="_blank">vaXzine</a> (under Creative Commons license)</span><p></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><em>Thanks for thoughts about 'doing-the-right-thing' to <a href="http://twitter.com/catuslee">@catuslee</a><br /></em></span> </p>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23402499.post-31384975271801957332009-04-25T15:00:00.005+00:002009-04-30T08:45:40.473+00:00Revamped Services Fabric Blog<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOLD0q9UOqrqCj6pcJoBacxQOh0v1MO994skvFlLZ4Nzpv3vD3OWJBb4Egs3wP4w-516VQ10fKP4pV8HE68q3An0Nq-q09-D__6Hk8d_VNaGIK0mwGCmLMEi7J7pmKMoET80-J/s1600-h/88242671_0d3f0fa3be.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOLD0q9UOqrqCj6pcJoBacxQOh0v1MO994skvFlLZ4Nzpv3vD3OWJBb4Egs3wP4w-516VQ10fKP4pV8HE68q3An0Nq-q09-D__6Hk8d_VNaGIK0mwGCmLMEi7J7pmKMoET80-J/s200/88242671_0d3f0fa3be.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5328646240180398530" /></a>I decided I'd spend thisn weekend tarting-up this blog and making use of the new blogger template gadets etc.I've also added more meaningful labels to make filtering on a specific topic easier (e.g. click VPEC-T below to see all VPEC-T related posts)<div><br /><div>Other news: Richard Veryard created a <a href="http://lenscraft.wikispaces.com/">Lenscraft wiki</a> that promises to be a interesting place for developing a number of themes my Twitterati pals and I've been discussing for a while.<br /></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">Photo Credit ShoZu on Flickr</span><br /></div></div>Nigel Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426482151464159257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23402499.post-41740207653483346992009-04-10T06:52:00.010+00:002009-04-25T14:49:55.496+00:00The Tao of Project Management<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/Philosophy/Taichi/Images/confucius.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 144px; height: 324px;" src="http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/Philosophy/Taichi/Images/confucius.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a><p align="LEFT" style="text-align: left;margin-bottom: 0cm; widows: 2; orphans: 2; "><span><span><span style=""><span style="font-style: normal"><span style="font-weight: medium"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;">I thought I'd do something different for Easter so I've dusted-off this short piece I wrote about 10 years ago after being asked to deliver internal project management training around the DHL Asia Pacific region (those were fun times!).Here it is...</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;">We're all Project Managers. True, some of the projects we've managed might be nearer the gluing-autumn-leaves-in-a-scrap-book type than the launching-a-space-shuttle type, nevertheless, most of us would claim we have project management skills - after all it's just common sense, isn't it?</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-style: italic; "><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;">Taoists, of course, would agree - projects should be run simply, honestly, holistically and with a sense of fun.</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;">A few thoughts that you are unlikely to come across on a Project Management training course:</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span><span style=";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;">Creating and managing projects is as much an art as a science. That is not to say that we should abandon tried and tested methodologies and techniques - just that balance is required - a 'Whole-Brain' approach to project management. </span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"> <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;">Taoist teachings emphasize the need for balance and unity - yin and yang.</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;">Engineering and organisation alone do not guarantee success. I've witnessed well engineered and administered projects fail - the most significant of which ran to more than US$500 million before it was stopped - with very little to show!</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;">The key to success is in the softer issues of business vision, people and flow. Much has been written about left and right brain and more recently 'whole brain' thinking. I suppose that's what I'm talking about. The most common representation of this thinking is the yin and yang symbol. Two opposites live together in a circle: one feminine/ right brain and the other masculine/left brain. </span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;">Projects are about people. People respond best to a balance of left and right brain - so projects are best run with a 'Whole Brain' approach.</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;">Here are some key words that might help to stimulate a 'Whole Brain' approach …</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <table class="MsoNormalTable" style="width: 245.25pt;" border="0" cellpadding="0" width="327"> <tbody><tr style=""> <td style="padding: 0.75pt; width: 48.58%;" valign="top" width="48%"> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style=";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;">Deliver</span></span></span></span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></p> </td> <td style="padding-top: 0.75pt; padding-right: 0.75pt; padding-bottom: 0.75pt; padding-left: 0.75pt; width: 49.58%; " valign="top" width="49%"> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style=";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;">Communicate</span></span></span></span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style=""> <td style="padding: 0.75pt; width: 48.58%;" valign="top" width="48%"> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style=";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;">Structure</span></span></span></span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></p> </td> <td style="padding-top: 0.75pt; padding-right: 0.75pt; padding-bottom: 0.75pt; padding-left: 0.75pt; width: 49.58%; " valign="top" width="49%"> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style=";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;">Empathize</span></span></span></span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style=""> <td style="padding: 0.75pt; width: 48.58%;" valign="top" width="48%"> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style=";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;">Standardise</span></span></span></span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></p> </td> <td style="padding-top: 0.75pt; padding-right: 0.75pt; padding-bottom: 0.75pt; padding-left: 0.75pt; width: 49.58%; " valign="top" width="49%"> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style=";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;">Relate</span></span></span></span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style=""> <td style="padding: 0.75pt; width: 48.58%;" valign="top" width="48%"> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style=";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;">Procedure</span></span></span></span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></p> </td> <td style="padding-top: 0.75pt; padding-right: 0.75pt; padding-bottom: 0.75pt; padding-left: 0.75pt; width: 49.58%; " valign="top" width="49%"> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style=";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;">Share</span></span></span></span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style=""> <td style="padding: 0.75pt; width: 48.58%;" valign="top" width="48%"> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style=";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;">Administer</span></span></span></span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></p> </td> <td style="padding-top: 0.75pt; padding-right: 0.75pt; padding-bottom: 0.75pt; padding-left: 0.75pt; width: 49.58%; " valign="top" width="49%"> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style=";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;">Unify</span></span></span></span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style=""> <td style="padding: 0.75pt; width: 48.58%;" valign="top" width="48%"> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style=";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;">Analyze</span></span></span></span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></p> </td> <td style="padding-top: 0.75pt; padding-right: 0.75pt; padding-bottom: 0.75pt; padding-left: 0.75pt; width: 49.58%; " valign="top" width="49%"> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style=";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;">Include</span></span></span></span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></p> </td> </tr> <tr style=""> <td style="padding: 0.75pt; width: 48.58%;" valign="top" width="48%"> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style=";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;">Engineer</span></span></span></span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></span></p> </td> <td style="padding-top: 0.75pt; padding-right: 0.75pt; padding-bottom: 0.75pt; padding-left: 0.75pt; width: 49.58%; " valign="top" width="49%"> <p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style=";"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;">Simplify</span></span></span></span></span></b></p></td></tr></tbody></table> <p><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;">Given that you believe like I that people are the primary concern of the Project Manager, </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;">Communicate</span></span></span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"> must be at the top of his list next to </span></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 204, 255);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;">Deliver</span></span></span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;">. I leave the reader to judge the relative importance of the rest of the list.</span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;">Tao teaches us that neither side is more important. Balance and harmony matter most.</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p><code><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204); font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;">Thanks to </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(102, 204, 204);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;">http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/Philosophy/Taichi/lao.html</span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204); font-style: italic; font-weight: bold; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(102, 204, 204);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial;">for the image</span></span></span></span></span></code></p><code></code>Nigel Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426482151464159257noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23402499.post-44116319903094749152009-03-22T12:17:00.011+00:002009-04-30T08:32:49.553+00:00Serious About Play and Comics<div><p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; border: none; padding: 0cm; widows: 2; orphans: 2"><span><span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-style: normal"><span style="font-weight: medium"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);">This morning I watched Dr. Stuart Brown talking about the importance of </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span><span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-style: normal"><span style="font-weight: medium"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);"> play. He makes a number of compelling points about the role of play in the development of trust, innovation and social interaction. More specifically, Dr. Brown reminds us that stories and storytelling provide "the unit of intelligibility in our brains" (how we make-sense of stuff).</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; border: none; padding: 0cm; widows: 2; orphans: 2"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);">Dr. Stuart Brown: "</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);">The basis of human trust is through play-signal</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);">s"</span></span></span></p> </div><div><div><div><object width="334" height="326"><param name="movie" value="http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="bgColor" value="#ffffff"> <param name="flashvars" value="vu=http://video.ted.com/talks/embed/StuartBrown_2008P-embed-PARTNER_high.flv&su=http://images.ted.com/images/ted/tedindex/embed-posters/StuartBrown-2008P.embed_thumbnail.jpg&vw=320&vh=240&ap=0&ti=483"><embed src="http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf" pluginspace="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" bgcolor="#ffffff" width="334" height="326" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="vu=http://video.ted.com/talks/embed/StuartBrown_2008P-embed-PARTNER_high.flv&su=http://images.ted.com/images/ted/tedindex/embed-posters/StuartBrown-2008P.embed_thumbnail.jpg&vw=320&vh=240&ap=0&ti=483"></embed></object></div></div></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);"><br /></span></span></div><div><p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; border: none; padding: 0cm; widows: 2; orphans: 2"><span><span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-style: normal"><span style="font-weight: medium"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);">This reminded me of an </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><a href="http://www.iasahome.org/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=48ba3e78-bb3e-4ce1-a2bd-e3d56c645d71&groupId=25692"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(102, 204, 204);">article I wrote for IASA</span></span></span></span></span></a></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><a href="http://www.iasahome.org/c/document_library/get_file?uuid=48ba3e78-bb3e-4ce1-a2bd-e3d56c645d71&groupId=25692"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(102, 204, 204);"> </span></span></span></a></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);">where I talk about my experience of importance of storytelling skills to Enterprise Architects. Here's a couple of things I said:</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p> <p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; border: none; padding: 0cm; widows: 2; orphans: 2"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);">"Enterprise Architects should be convincing and credible storytellers....We architects must learn to become comfortable with the journalists’ technique of ‘Simplifying and Exaggerating’. It’s </span></span></span><span><span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: medium"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);">much more important to convey a highly simplified message about a complex problem to the business stakeholders than it is to demonstrate our grasp of the complex and the obscure. We </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span><span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: medium"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);">must become proud of our ability to distill and </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span><span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: medium"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);">communicate the important opportunities – and the barriers to change.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span><span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: medium"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);">”</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);"><br /></span></span></span></p> <p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; border: none; padding: 0cm; font-weight: medium; widows: 2; orphans: 2"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);">and<br /></span></span></span></p> <p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; border: none; padding: 0cm; widows: 2; orphans: 2"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);">“</span></span></span><span><span style="font-size:100%;"><i><span style="font-weight: medium"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);">Cartoons and other visual media are a powerful way of communicating often quite complex, and sometimes contentious issues, simply".</span></span></span></span></i></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);"><br /></span></span></p> <p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; border: none; padding: 0cm; widows: 2; orphans: 2"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);">Building on the value of play and storytelling in communicating sophisticated ideas, another TED video from Scott McCloud got me thinking more about the value of comics & cartoons.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);"><br /></span></span></p></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);"><br /></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);"><br /></span><object width="334" height="326"><param name="movie" value="http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="bgColor" value="#ffffff"> <param name="flashvars" value="vu=http://video.ted.com/talks/embed/ScottMcCloud_2005-embed_high.flv&su=http://images.ted.com/images/ted/tedindex/embed-posters/ScottMcCloud-2005.embed_thumbnail.jpg&vw=320&vh=240&ap=0&ti=432"><embed src="http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf" pluginspace="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" bgcolor="#ffffff" width="334" height="326" allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="vu=http://video.ted.com/talks/embed/ScottMcCloud_2005-embed_high.flv&su=http://images.ted.com/images/ted/tedindex/embed-posters/ScottMcCloud-2005.embed_thumbnail.jpg&vw=320&vh=240&ap=0&ti=432"></embed></object><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);"><br /></span><p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; border: none; padding: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: medium; widows: 2; orphans: 2"><span><span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);">Architects are comfortable with the idea of creating visual maps and blueprints. They seem less inclined, however, to see the value in 'less scientific' visual expressions. Scott McCloud does a great job of resolving this science v. arts discomfort. He uses a number of phrases that rung-a-IS-architecture-bell for me – he talks about “</span></span></span><span><span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-style: normal"><span style="font-weight: medium"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);">watching for patterns” and explains the journey from "visual iconography to language" and creating “temporal maps” - this is the stuff of IS architecture.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p> <p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; border: none; padding: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: medium; widows: 2; orphans: 2"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);">Finally, he talks about creating “durable mutations” of the comic medium that create window's back into our world. And as these mutations develop they will “provide people with multiple ways of re-entering the world through different windows and when they do that it allows them to triangulate the world that the live in and see its shape".<br /></span></span></span></p> <p align="LEFT" style="margin-bottom: 0cm; border: none; padding: 0cm; font-style: normal; font-weight: medium; widows: 2; orphans: 2"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(204, 204, 204);">Could one of these “durable mutations” be a new way to express Enterprise Architecture to 'the business'? And is this idea more generally applicable to how we communicate our values and build trust - independent of practice or discipline?</span></span></span></p> <div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Nigel Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426482151464159257noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23402499.post-85078571185552134042009-03-14T13:44:00.015+00:002009-04-30T08:30:01.611+00:00The Great Granularity Debate<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsoaTk_l-BDYTkXpyWXZQKtCfhBkiJuPbml4iqocIzOvLEE70juShx9_rb7YqE_YXAoVfStPLcdyuBmWOZQ8pu8KrNZ7fE3HskeJb7XR6w4uVyTvefpVqhiyReR-80hkqcv56-/s1600-h/soa+gran+lego.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 301px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsoaTk_l-BDYTkXpyWXZQKtCfhBkiJuPbml4iqocIzOvLEE70juShx9_rb7YqE_YXAoVfStPLcdyuBmWOZQ8pu8KrNZ7fE3HskeJb7XR6w4uVyTvefpVqhiyReR-80hkqcv56-/s400/soa+gran+lego.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313050869314391346" /></a><div>Events of the past week have led me back to the "Great Granularity Debate" that goes hand-in-glove with Service Orientation. I was discussing this with some colleagues last night - I described the problem I was dealing with as a 'nano-Lego' problem. This problem seems to come about when technically-focused architects define a 'SOA' without binding it to business drivers and objectives - this results in a plethora of fine-grained 'architecture-for-architecture-sake-services-for-god's-sake technical services that look suspiciously like re-usable 'OO' objects (they didn't get reused either did they?).</div><div>In this particular case, the business would like to move away from their old monoliths to more granular architecture that would allow for more efficient change. They don't seem to be bothered about reuse and put performance much higher on the list. They also recognise that they're not experienced in doing things a 'Service Oriented' way and can see some of the problems in funding cross-project service development. <br /></div><div>All this tells me that the most appropriate SOA for these guys would be a coarse-grained and business focused. Finer grained services might be developed later as their maturity in things service oriented develops.<br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj9y4chJTFCrigiIx3US90GS3Jrc_fvZHgeU2wP3Y4ne0YcScaE-Ht6tcEBrsmI6GQaoxy3V034jUbczl92Flmz8y82OvTuzHczFrBcu4XYT1_MTvkXMjNflzKo5tW1HP7xGPQ/s1600-h/soa+tweezers.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 280px; height: 308px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjj9y4chJTFCrigiIx3US90GS3Jrc_fvZHgeU2wP3Y4ne0YcScaE-Ht6tcEBrsmI6GQaoxy3V034jUbczl92Flmz8y82OvTuzHczFrBcu4XYT1_MTvkXMjNflzKo5tW1HP7xGPQ/s400/soa+tweezers.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5313050532655298914" /></a>So my message to the techies - put the tweezers away and find some heavy lifting-gear to put those chunky business services in place first.</div>Nigel Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426482151464159257noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23402499.post-22390465919441171652009-03-01T23:09:00.012+00:002009-04-30T08:23:16.639+00:00A Question of Meaning<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://vpec-t.googlegroups.com/web/sky+hook+vpec-t.jpg?gda=YQSdPkUAAAAb6Oebnqmigcwb5fV57bjvpfgRFIG8mRbOgz8Cfo9wtIXOhY7R6qO_SSf0g4dN1vRzlqnWZQD3y6jZqCMfSFQ6Gu1iLHeqhw4ZZRj3RjJ_-A&gsc=hnRK_gsAAAAbbTgoFATnknsjAi5FcyKc"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 270px; height: 249px;" src="http://vpec-t.googlegroups.com/web/sky+hook+vpec-t.jpg?gda=YQSdPkUAAAAb6Oebnqmigcwb5fV57bjvpfgRFIG8mRbOgz8Cfo9wtIXOhY7R6qO_SSf0g4dN1vRzlqnWZQD3y6jZqCMfSFQ6Gu1iLHeqhw4ZZRj3RjJ_-A&gsc=hnRK_gsAAAAbbTgoFATnknsjAi5FcyKc" border="0" alt="" /></a><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm">A flurry of emails, tweets and posts that took place after Richard Varyard posted a question that asked how '<i>meaning</i>' is addressed in <a href="http://www.informationtamers.com/VPECT/VPECT-and-business-information-systems.html">VPEC-T</a> (the main points of which are captured in <a href="http://groups.google.com/group/vpec-t/browse_thread/thread/52c4ddd04981744b/b75d1c840f52ae53#b75d1c840f52ae53">this thread</a>). </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm"> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm">The reaction from VPEC-T practitioners & supporters was interesting in that they were quick to defend the simplicity and ubiquitous & 'Agile' nature of VPEC-T due to that simplicity. A view I share with them.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm">To quote my colleague, <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/profile?viewProfile=&key=2505923&trk=NUS_CONN_conntr&goback=.hom">John Schlesinger</a>,<i> “Meaning is a sky hook for VPEC-T” </i><span style="font-style: normal">( and by implication not a missing dimension per se)</span><i> </i><span style="font-style: normal">and </span><a href="http://www.linkedin.com/profile?viewProfile=&key=1096019&authToken=aOYR&authType=NAME_SEARCH&locale=en_US&srchindex=1&goback=.psr_*1_peter+evans+greenwood_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_Y_gb_AL3+7PB_*1_*1_*2_*2_*2_Y_Y_*1_Distance*4Relevance">Peter Evans-Greenwood</a> suggested: <i> “Light-weight, user and business centric approaches (such as VPEC-T) provide us with a way to remain relevant and a more dynamic and light weight business world”.</i> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm">The table below is my interpretation of <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/profile?viewProfile=&key=220658&authToken=I2A5&authType=name">Chris Bird's</a> email that described VPEC-T as columns and an open list of 'Cross Cutting Concerns' that shape <i>meaning</i> across the five VPEC-T dimensions. </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm"> <img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 425px; height: 256px;" src="http://vpec-t.googlegroups.com/web/Cross-Cutting+Concerns.jpg?gda=ncGTpkwAAAAb6Oebnqmigcwb5fV57bjvYgbhro86Jl9eRn2lOakNMW2W5LjY3AoTLwIKNEV32JQVi3J5rBgfNUmJ_GpS45wd_Vpvmo5s1aABVJRO3P3wLQ&gsc=hnRK_gsAAAAbbTgoFATnknsjAi5FcyKc" border="0" alt="" /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm">Full size image <a href="http://vpec-t.googlegroups.com/web/Cross-Cutting+Concerns.jpg?gda=ncGTpkwAAAAb6Oebnqmigcwb5fV57bjvYgbhro86Jl9eRn2lOakNMW2W5LjY3AoTLwIKNEV32JQVi3J5rBgfNUmJ_GpS45wd_Vpvmo5s1aABVJRO3P3wLQ&gsc=hnRK_gsAAAAbbTgoFATnknsjAi5FcyKc">here</a>.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm">From my point of view, this discussion helped me with a 'writer's block' problem I was having with where and how to take VPEC-T forward. It became very clear to me that I need to start to build an 'Open' repository of VPEC-T Use Patterns. These patterns will make VPEC-T more 'real' through description of how the dimensions are applied in particular situations and to tackle the sort of 'Cross-cutting Concern' that Chris mentions.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm">I hope to start work on the repository soon and plan to host it at <a href="http://www.vpec-t.org/">vpec-t.org</a> (I'll post on this blog when I get something worth looking at up).</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm">Here's the <a href="http://vpec-t.googlegroups.com/web/a+question+of+meaning.jpg?gda=C02thEsAAAAb6Oebnqmigcwb5fV57bjvI4gyJXBUFYOhFtFABKrxZdhnGbKao8mryQwzGTUlJ_4he1aHfdz9gEpSXnOnRbeDBkXa90K8pT5MNmkW1w_4BQ&gsc=hnRK_gsAAAAbbTgoFATnknsjAi5FcyKc">concept map</a> I used to order my thoughts following the stream of emails, tweets and posts.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm"> </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm"> </p>Nigel Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426482151464159257noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23402499.post-43707230266089628952009-02-15T15:02:00.003+00:002009-04-30T08:41:00.077+00:00Why Do I Find Twitter So Useful?Maybe its my background in Tracking & Tracing systems that leads me to see event-centric patterns in almost everything - and Twitter is no exception. But what's intriguing to me, is how Twitter seems to be the result of the coming together of a number of design patterns. I find this makes Twitter a usefully addictive, relationship-building and idea-stimulation tool.<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://datamining.typepad.com/data_mining/2007/04/twitter_social_.html"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 372px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 400px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://datamining.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/04/08/twitter20070405.png" border="0" /></a>But the thing that I find really intriguing, is how it seems to illustrate the value of separation of 'content' from 'event'. That is, a tangible value from broadcasting and receiving short/short-lived messages (signals) that describe what you're doing or perhaps, more importantly, what your thinking independently of, but with reference to, the full text, dialogue, or any other expression of an idea or perspective (the content). This combined with the ability to choose who you follow and who follows you, creates trust-building relationships across a network of like-minded brains. These snippets of information shared, referenced and re-referenced (Re-Tweeted), by those I follow and those who follow me, have become a great reference source and provide regular source of thought-provoking ideas.<br /><div><br />Twitter illustrates how much can be achieved with some very simple patterns, without top-down control or grand-design. IMO its success is due to its ease-of-adoption and the simplicity of its policies and protocol. In some ways its similar to internal email groups I subscribe to, but the big difference is the ability to explore the endless chain of Follower/Followee synapses, find like-minds and then follow urls to content that I wouldn't normally discover. </div><br /><div>What does strike me as I write this, is that I suspect people have very different experiences with Twitter depending on what interests you and therefore who you connect to and what you talk about. </div><div><br />I know a number of my colleagues are not convinced of the value and will probably remain unconvinced after reading this post. I wonder how much our, life circumstances, personalities and philosophies affect the value we get from Twitter?</div><br /><div><br /><a href="http://twitter.com/taoofit">http://twitter.com/taoofit</a></div>Nigel Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426482151464159257noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23402499.post-71584079438669195052009-02-01T11:08:00.007+00:002009-04-30T08:29:34.967+00:00Why Service Orientation should start with Systems and not (always) end in systemsIn publishing this I'm throwing caution to the wind (and ignoring, in part, the good advice of a respected friend!). <a href="http://businessanditarchitecture.blogspot.com/">Chris Bird</a>, suggested that I should avoid talking about <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Systems_thinking">Systems Thinking</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service_Oriented_Architecture">Service-oriented Architecture</a> and other such consultantese. But I've decide I will talk about Systems Thinking and SOA as they relate to a broader world-view of services (given the focus of this blog).<br /><br />To start the discussion, however, I'd like to quote Chris: <em>“ SOA starts in the wrong place. The tools are tools and not grand strategies. I don't look at the screwdriver in my hand and say, "Cool, now what projects can I undertake?" I think about what needs fixing in my house and what tools I need (aside - the checkbook is my favorite tool)”.</em><br /><br />Mindful of Chris's words and a client's SOA-related organisational challenges in mind, I thought it was about time I added my two-pennies-worth to the SOA-doesn't-work debate. My observation is that many SOA projects start in the wrong place - that being in the technology weeds i.e. Conversations around ESBs, WS*, Registries, EJB, XML et al. I believe the first step towards 'service orienting' a business is taken by applying Systems Thinking (that is Systems in an ecosystem sense) rather than thinking about Services per se and certainly before technology view of SOA). Most importantly, the notion that a business is comprised of multiple, interacting, 'Systems' of people, processes and technologies (agents of the system) that cannot be viewed in isolation one from another but accepts each system/sub-system works within a unique set of values.<br /><br />Taking a fresh Systems Thinking (capital 'S' Systems from now on) perspective helps to breakdown the more traditional organisational and process bounded views of the business and that the complexity of the behaviour of the business is best tackled by examining the interactions between 'Systems' that often span traditional boundaries. This then helps layout the organisation as a set of 'System' behaviours that can, for example, be examined as core or context to the business operation/strategy/well-being. I've found that with this approach, its possible to evolve certain 'Systems' into 'Services' by defining the Consumers, the Policies/Contracts that apply, the Events that trigger action and the Content being exchanged (physical and/or informational). This 'Big Services' (Systems)view allows the business to see how to chunk-up aspects of the operation in new ways that helps with business problems such as: simplifying post M&A situations, executing major transitions, outsourcing. And, from an IT perspective, where/how to apply SOA, COTS packages or SaaS for that matter.<br /><br />I've been accused of being too idealistic when I say Service Orientation starts in the boardroom not the IT department. I agree, it's often hard, if not impossible, to get SO on the business agenda but if your SOA is being 'sold' as a way to achieve 'business relevant' efficiencies and associated cost reductions through service reuse, then board members must be the sponsors. This becomes most obvious when organisations realise they must change the way they fund software development and/or procurement projects to realise the desired sharing and reuse.<br /><br />So how can 'Systems Thinking' be introduced to the CxOs without appearing to be too academic?<br />The rule is to avoid talking about Systems Thinking and, for that matter, SOA. Instead, the discussion is focused on delivering business value around a topic that is front-of-mind for the board: Compliance, Profitability, Green-agenda or Strategy execution might be such topics. Then the trick is to use simple 'Systems Thinking' techniques and tools (akin to S.W.O.T. or Forcefield and Mindmaps or PowerPoint) to start to describe the emergent services.<br /><br />As Chris points out, it's important to be looking at the cross-cutting concerns of the enterprise (and the extended enterprise - but extended from a business sense, not an IT sense). I believe that getting the CxOs to buy-in to SOA via Syetms Thinking - (without necessarily trying to teach them the Theory!) - is the way to make SOA work, and for that matter, improve many aspects of their business operations and strategy execution with or without SOA or with or without IT systems.<br /><br />To bring to a close, I'd like to paraphrase Chris again:<br /><br /><em>“We must focus on what the enterprise wants to achieve. There are many ways of getting "it done". Goldblatt in "The Goal" makes some useful analogies. The goal in manufacturing isn't about keeping the machines busy, it is about increasing value - converting raw materials into products at the optimal rate for making profits (even if you have to underutalize resources). In the SOA world, the corporate goal is not to maximize the use of IT tools, (to suborn everything to the technical services oriented architecture), but to look for services that deal with the Events that the business has to deal with. I think we have to get the very loose coupling done first before thinking about SOA in companies. Until the businesses think in terms of hand-offs instead of commands, they won't get any of the benefits possible anyway”.</em><br /><br />I believe subtly applied Systems Thinking will help us put controls where controls are needed, don't control what doesn't matter and help us answer the question; “How do you focus on what is important, and at the same time not miss the critical details?”<br /><br />The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynefin">Cynefin</a> framework and <a href="http://www.informationtamers.com/VPECT/5D-lens.html">5D lens </a>are both tools that can help introduce Systems Thinking to broader audiences.<br /><br />As always, I welcome your comments.Nigel Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426482151464159257noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23402499.post-52188417766061907312008-11-02T14:15:00.003+00:002009-04-30T08:24:57.409+00:00VPEC-T Google GroupI've set up a <a href="http://groups.google.co.uk/group/vpec-t">Google Group</a> for discussions and resources related to the VPEC-T Framework, Anyone can view and post to the discussions there however, non-members' posts are moderated. <div><br /></div><div>This will effectively replace the now defunct VPEC-T wiki (since Scribblewiki went to the wall!)</div><div><div>n.</div></div>Nigel Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426482151464159257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23402499.post-30649879141282057592008-10-25T11:52:00.007+00:002009-04-30T08:24:00.149+00:005D Lens (aka VPEC-T) as a Mindmap<div>Roy Grubb, a consultant in Hong Kong, has produced a great Mindmap of the VPEC-T framework as part of a <a href="http://www.informationtamers.com/VPECT/VPECT-and-business-information-systems.html">comprehensive review</a> of Lost In Translation and the VPEC-T approach to IS analysis.</div><div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.informationtamers.com/images/VPEC-T_mindmap.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 624px;" src="http://www.informationtamers.com/images/VPEC-T_mindmap.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>Roy's work has reminded me to mention Mindmapping as a tool for applying VPEC-T, particularly when doing a desk exercise. The a pre-developed Mindmap or Concept Map before by a 5D Lens workshop is a great way to get the thinking started.<br /><br /><div>Thanks Roy!</div><div>n.</div>Nigel Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426482151464159257noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23402499.post-64944741772102448022008-10-25T11:05:00.004+00:002009-04-30T08:25:23.592+00:00The Tao of Enterprise IT Episode 2Heres the next episode in the Tao of IT webcast.<div><br /></div><div><br /></div><br /><center> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://blip.tv/scripts/pokkariPlayer.js?ver=2008010901"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://blip.tv/syndication/write_player?skin=js&posts_id=1402137&source=3&autoplay=true&file_type=flv&player_width=&player_height="></script> <div id="blip_movie_content_1402137"> <a rel="enclosure" href="http://blip.tv/file/get/Nigelpsgreen-TheTaoOfEnterpriseITEpisode2735.wmv" onclick="play_blip_movie_1402137(); return false;"><img title="Click to play" alt="Video thumbnail. Click to play" src="http://blip.tv/file/get/Nigelpsgreen-TheTaoOfEnterpriseITEpisode2735.wmv.jpg" border="0" /></a> <br /> <a rel="enclosure" href="http://blip.tv/file/get/Nigelpsgreen-TheTaoOfEnterpriseITEpisode2735.wmv" onclick="play_blip_movie_1402137(); return false;">Click To Play</a> </div> </center>Nigel Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426482151464159257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23402499.post-69705690347833862052008-10-19T14:05:00.003+00:002009-04-30T08:25:40.065+00:00Tao of Enterprise ITHere's the first episode of a webcast based on a presentation I made to CIOs and IT practitioners in Hong Kong in September.<br /><br /><br /><center> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://blip.tv/scripts/pokkariPlayer.js?ver=2008010901"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://blip.tv/syndication/write_player?skin=js&posts_id=1380547&source=3&autoplay=true&file_type=flv&player_width=&player_height="></script> <div id="blip_movie_content_1380547"> <a rel="enclosure" href="http://blip.tv/file/get/Nigelpsgreen-TheTaoOfEnterpriseITEpisode1326.wmv" onclick="play_blip_movie_1380547(); return false;"><img title="Click to play" alt="Video thumbnail. Click to play" src="http://blip.tv/file/get/Nigelpsgreen-TheTaoOfEnterpriseITEpisode1326.wmv.jpg" border="0" /></a> <br /> <a rel="enclosure" href="http://blip.tv/file/get/Nigelpsgreen-TheTaoOfEnterpriseITEpisode1326.wmv" onclick="play_blip_movie_1380547(); return false;">Click To Play</a> </div><div id="blip_movie_content_1380547"><br /></div><div id="blip_movie_content_1380547" style="text-align: left;">I decided to break it down to 3 or 4 episodes to make it easier to consume over the web. I hope to post the other episodes over the next ten days or so.</div><div id="blip_movie_content_1380547" style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div id="blip_movie_content_1380547" style="text-align: left;">In the meantime, if you watched this episode and are hungry for more background to the 5D Lens (aka VPEC-T) please take a look at the original blog post <a href="http://servicefab.blogspot.com/2006_08_01_archive.html">here</a> and the <a href="http://www.lithandbook.com/">book website</a>. You will also find reference scattered throughout this blog - so feel free to explore!</div><div id="blip_movie_content_1380547" style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div id="blip_movie_content_1380547" style="text-align: left;">If you have any comments about this first episode, please feel free to post them here.<br /></div><div id="blip_movie_content_1380547" style="text-align: left;"> <p style="margin-bottom: 0.5cm">Thanks</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0.5cm">Nigel.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0.5cm"> </p> </div> <br /></center>Nigel Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426482151464159257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23402499.post-14613124386448318742008-09-16T07:17:00.006+00:002009-04-30T08:34:13.723+00:00X&Y and Enterprise 2.0sHere are the full proceedings of the MashUp* Enterprise 2.0 event. I was prompted to post them here now following a couple posts on the Capemini CTO blog - <a href="http://snipurl.com/3qppl">X&Y</a> and <a href="http://www.capgemini.com/ctoblog/2008/09/two_phrases_you_wouldnt_expect.php">Ent 2.0 and Simplicity.</a><div><br /></div><div>The hook for the latter is "<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic; ">I believe this is to be important because, this is the first t time, a strong relationship can be made between emerging business leadership practices, Web 2.0 phenomena and the practice of IS architecture".</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></div><div>The video's below are worth a look if you want to hear the debate about Web 2.0 applied to the Enterprise and , in my case, why I think we need to develop new thinking to get to the value.</div><div><br /><br /><br /><embed src="http://blip.tv/play/AceAGwA" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="256" height="206" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed><div><br /></div><div>The seems low at the start of this next video - but don't be fooled, the first speaker isn't using the mic for the first moments!<br /><br /><embed src="http://blip.tv/play/AceBYgA" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="256" height="206" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed><br /><br /><embed src="http://blip.tv/play/AceBZAA" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="256" height="206" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed><br /></div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Nigel Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426482151464159257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23402499.post-83608165644709345282008-07-22T16:02:00.009+00:002009-04-30T08:26:13.043+00:00Business behaviour before technologyPrompted by <a href="http://www.capgemini.com/ctoblog/2008/07/sociotechnical_systems_not_it.php">Carl Bate's post </a>and <a href="http://www.capgemini.com/ctoblog/2008/07/business_technology_not_inform.php">Andy Mulholland's post</a> on the Capgemini CTO blog, I felt compelled to add my two-pennies-worth. Recently, I've been working on the seemingly endless challenge of describing why the <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/capgeminimedia/vpect-the-movie-book-trailer-edit6">VPEC-T framework</a> helps both business and IT. To me, the points Carl and Andy make about Business and IT being fused into 'Business Technology' driven by the Web, are reasonable observations but dance around the edge of what really matters - that being <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">behaviour</span>. My hypothesis is that <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">the behaviour</span> of organisations, communities and individuals is what's really behind the 'Web' effect. And it's the examination of behaviour (including and in the context of unfolding events) that helps us understand how to make better us of information technology. Moreover, when we focus on behaviour we can look at both 'top-down', directed aspects and the bottom-up emergent aspects. So isn't a Business Architecture a simple expression of behaviour of a particular network of value (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value_network">Value Network</a>)?<br /><br />Here's my attempt at explaining how VPEC-T helps uncover the behaviour of an organisation.<br /><div style="width: 425px; text-align: left;" id="__ss_524050"><a style="margin: 12px 0pt 3px; font-family: Helvetica,Arial,Sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 14px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; display: block; text-decoration: underline;" href="http://www.slideshare.net/nigel_green52/generic-vpect?src=embed" title="Generic Vpec-T">Generic VPEC-T</a><object style="margin: 0px;" height="355" width="425"><param name="movie" value="http://static.slideshare.net/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=generic-vpect-1216743603061893-9"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://static.slideshare.net/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=generic-vpect-1216743603061893-9" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" height="355" width="425"></embed></object><div style="font-size: 11px; font-family: tahoma,arial; height: 26px; padding-top: 2px;">view <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/nigel_green52/generic-vpect?src=embed" title="View Generic Vpec-T on SlideShare">presentation</a></div></div>As always, comments and builds most welcome.Nigel Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426482151464159257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23402499.post-8570383752322306702008-07-06T13:44:00.022+00:002009-04-30T08:28:41.920+00:00Thinking Adaptive and Adoptive over Fish & Chips<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi74Fiu6Cu8AuJ2I4ksRiK8wTtAh5mdeYYcSsQxASYndzZDXE3b33a9tPA67cZ9STD492IoTjr9b2y3T8crObXpjuI6N7MKoDDmuAeYsdprALbwTPM8iuG-YpKAd6iwq5dpk2kD/s1600-h/cricks.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer; width: 220px; height: 211px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi74Fiu6Cu8AuJ2I4ksRiK8wTtAh5mdeYYcSsQxASYndzZDXE3b33a9tPA67cZ9STD492IoTjr9b2y3T8crObXpjuI6N7MKoDDmuAeYsdprALbwTPM8iuG-YpKAd6iwq5dpk2kD/s400/cricks.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5219898379113865170" border="0" /></a><span style=";font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:100%;">My home village has two problems: a local bye-law prevents us form having a Fish & Chip Takeaway and, like so many other country pubs, one of the villages most important watering holes,The Cricketers is struggling to keep its business going on wet-trade alone.</span> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style=";font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:100%;">Around eight weeks ago, The Cricks was taken- over by new licensee's; Andy, Colin and Debbie. Since arriving, the new management have been keen to share their ideas for revamping the pub with 'The Regulars' and very attentive to their needs and suggestions. It was their adoption of one such suggestion a couple of days ago that prompted this post.</span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style=";font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:100%;">A few of the regulars were having a moan about the lack of a Fish Chip Shop in the village, when someone suggested the pub should do take-away fish and chips. The new landlords had already decided they were going to focus more on food and said they wanted to avoid going too far down the '<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Gastro</span>-pub' route (i.e. wobbly towers of fiddled-around-with food the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">jus</span> of-something-pretentious dribbled all over it), so the idea of old-fashioned fish and chip suppers wrapped in newspaper seemed to be a good fit. So a word was had with Andy and sure enough, six fish and chip suppers were sold on the first night the new kitchen opened and many more since.</span></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style=";font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:100%;">Then it struck me, my new landlords were demonstrating a number of the qualities described in Dave <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Snowden's</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Havard</span> Business Review article - 'A Leader’s Framework for Decision Making' (<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">HBR</span> November 2007). They were showing a willingness to experiment and the were thinking 'Complex Adaptive System' (without knowing they were!). They had come up with a set of 'light-constraints' for the new vision of the Cricks; they would focus on food but they'd keep the pub atmosphere and help the locals to adopt the new version of their pub. They listened carefully to the regulars comments, even when made in jest, and acted to try to keep the locals happy and give them a sense that 'their' pub was still theirs. In other words, they were doing 'weak-signal' detection and amplifying signals that worked within their 'light-constraints'; they were allowing the agents of the system (regular customers) affect the system operation. Andy, Colin and Debbie, also recognise that a bit of experimentation makes sense – the 'safe-fail' ( as opposed to fail-safe) trial of fish and chip take-ways seems to be a winner in just a few days. Is it reasonable to suppose that a dose of similar agility, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">adaptiveness</span>, and adoption could be injected into the veins of corporate and public sector behemoths?</span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style=";font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:100%;">Visit <a href="http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=cognitive-edge&sourceid=navclient-ff&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1B3GGGL_enGB257GB257&aq=t">Dave <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">Snowden's</span> site</a> for <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">podcasts</span> that describe Complex Adaptive Systems and sense-making techniques (sorry for the indirect link via Google - got a 406 Error if I tried linking directly to www.cognitive-edge.com).<br /></span></p><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEionZHf1VJBwZrKi4LbA1rsCjDfPcrfEt1V2kIRY4yuTAoXog4XttucDQ8AOeyDRLeens4BMGE89r8TbVScQbjtldMFJSEYGtaSHNtrdnl4MyWWs5fsHsn6wOLo9i_WtopNiIx7/s1600-h/fishnchips.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 305px; height: 217px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEionZHf1VJBwZrKi4LbA1rsCjDfPcrfEt1V2kIRY4yuTAoXog4XttucDQ8AOeyDRLeens4BMGE89r8TbVScQbjtldMFJSEYGtaSHNtrdnl4MyWWs5fsHsn6wOLo9i_WtopNiIx7/s400/fishnchips.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5219898633014274338" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">P.S. A good discussion thread based on this post is taking place at:</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><a href="http://www.cognitive-edge.com/blogs/dave/2008/07/interesting_uses_of_cynefin.php">http://www.cognitive-edge.com/blogs/dave/2008/07/interesting_uses_of_cynefin.php </a><br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">(cut and paste the above if clicking doesn't work)<br /></p><br /><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>Nigel Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426482151464159257noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23402499.post-33023193205461198272008-06-25T10:35:00.003+00:002009-04-30T08:35:44.529+00:00What is an Enterprise Architect?<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Ask ten IT folk and you'll get ten different job descriptions. The simplest illustration of the problem is made by Charles Edwards on his <a href="http://agileea.wikidot.com/what-is-ea">AEA site: </a><a href="http://agileea.wikidot.com/what-is-ea">Two EA definitions:-</a></p> <ol><li><blockquote><strong>Enterprise Architecture (Software Developers or Project Managers (segment) (view))</strong> = The development of a coherent set of Application Architectures for an Enterprise level system or set of Application systems. In some cases this might also involve the definition of Business processes and other business domain modeling specifically for the Application. Typically carried out by a Solutions Architect (and those) who know about Databases, Messaging, Portals, Application and Web servers, etc. This would also typically be implemented in a Programme, a Project of work or even as a Business as usual process.</blockquote> </li><li><blockquote><strong>Enterprise Architecture (CEO, CIO (enterprise or holistic view))</strong> = the management and definition of the Architecture of the Enterprise (set of organisations) that includes everything from the Business Strategy, to the Business Operation Architecture (static and dynamic) for the purposes of optimizing the enterprise; the Information systems (made up of Applications, Services and Data) and the Technology and Infrastructure that this runs on. EA also includes aspects such as Security, Data, People and Performance. The primary purpose of creating an enterprise architecture is to ensure that business strategy and IT investments are aligned. Enterprise architecture models allow traceability from the business strategy down to the underlying technology, in order to do impact analysis and have the ability to react to changes quickly, govern the Architecture and guide the business. To contain the Knowledge and the memory of the Enterprise (Architecture) in a single point of truth.</blockquote> </li></ol> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">I definitely see EA as the latter (with the exception of the last sentence that I fundamentally disagree with - I think we EAs are the guardians of multi-POVs and therefore sense-makers of the multiple 'Truths' that exist in all organisations/communities) and from, recent conversations with <a href="http://agileea.wikidot.com/start">Charles Edwards</a> and <a href="http://www.ecademy.com/account.php?id=20458">Sally Bean</a>, I seem to be in good company. </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Sally and I were discussing this yesterday and agreed that the former was much closer to an Engineer's view (we decided engineers probably don't make the best EAs – although there are always exceptions – I used to write PLAN code!). I mentioned that I'd just started to qualify my 'Enterprise Architect' moniker with 'Demand-side' which seemed to resonate with Sally. I often thought of EAs as sort of 'Super-Business Analysts' (I held the BA title longer than that of SE (PLAN progemmer)- which was <span style="font-style: italic;">my</span> saving grace!) . So maybe my BA roots help explain why this is why the 'Demand-side Enterprise Architect' label works for me. Sally simply describes herself (with appropriate Dilbert-like irreverence as “Some one who talks to people and draws pictures” which I interpret as just the same as me (what I've been known to call a 'Super-Business Analyst with a satchel full of crayons').<br /></p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">I suppose many would argue one or other or both or another of the above EA descriptions is THE correct definition of EA. Meanwhile, the rest-of-the-world continues to be confused about what we do and why. </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">So rather than search for a single version of the Truth about EA, I'm hoping that adding 'Demand-side' to my job title might just avoid some of the confusion about what I do and what I don't do within the apparently highly ambiguous label of Enterprise Architect.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">A footnote: Sally and I also identified another perhaps more sinister type of EA – which I'll call the 'Religious Fundamentalist Enterprise Architect'. These EAs seemed to be more bothered about their chosen methodology (EA frameworks & processes) than the business outcomes and the underlying philosophical and abstract reasons for EA that simply resolve to qualitatively better information systems and more useful and cost effective IT. </p>Nigel Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426482151464159257noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23402499.post-86878594449345110482008-06-22T11:43:00.004+00:002009-04-30T08:33:08.566+00:00CADS part III just finished writing an email to to my friend <a href="http://www.naymz.com/search/roy/grubb/1680587">Roy <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Grubb</span></a> in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Hong</span> Kong. I've <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">inclued</span> an excerpt from this email as I think it adds a bit more about where I'm coming from on CADS (Context Aware Dialogue Systems - see earlier post):<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"The seed of a follow-on idea to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">VPEC</span>-T is germinating </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://servicefab.blogspot.com/2008/06/context-aware-dialogue-systems.html" target="_blank">here </a><span style="font-style: italic;">this might resonate more with KM discussions. My hypothesis is to take some of the great work of folk like </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brenda_Dervin" target="_blank">Brenda <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Dervin</span></a><span style="font-style: italic;"> and others (perhaps </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://www.campus.ncl.ac.uk/unbs/sbi/emad/root.htm" target="_blank">Martin and <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Dobson</span> </a><span style="font-style: italic;">- cited in the comments) and combined with <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">VPEC</span>-T come up with a practical (easy-to-grasp) way to describe information systems behavior and therefore help promote simplicity, agility, adoption and usefulness in IT projects (of any type) and, indeed, the efficacy of non-IT information systems. All this in the context of the Web Science thinking (best summed up for me in </span><a style="font-style: italic;" href="http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=6gmP4nk0EOE" target="_blank">The Machine is Us </a><span style="font-style: italic;">)"<br /></span><br />I've only glanced at the and the Mike Martin and John <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">Dobson</span> paper referenced, but it does seem to align well. Does anyone know where their research took them and if there is any practical (non-academic) outcome I could learn about?<br /><br />I mention Brenda <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">Dervin</span> (her work introduced to me by <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/profile?viewProfile=&key=81633&fromSearch=0&sik=1213933196953&split_page=1&rd=in&authToken=b__tImFwJc9gz8yAszIwYp8gR91hldvhkR1jzx2e3cSdkd3gA8Vd3cPdz4U&authType=NAME_SEARCH&goback=%2Esrp_1_1213933196953_in">Dave <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">Snowden</span></a>) not because I've been a long time devotee of her work (<span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">although</span> I suspect I will be now!), but <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_11">because</span> I've just listened to a <a href="http://www.video.komm.ruc.dk/20040930/bd.mp3">podcast</a> of one of her lectures and realise we seem to be stumbling into a world that has some <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_12">fascinating</span> concepts that fit hand-in-glove with where Carl and I had come to with the range 'communication' problems within IT.<br /><br />Here's a link to some earlier and ongoing brainstorming around <a href="http://vpect.scribblewiki.com/Main_Page#Dialogue_Systems_.28Context_Aware.29">CADS</a>.<br /><br />n.Nigel Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426482151464159257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23402499.post-16619036047178133302008-06-17T07:09:00.005+00:002009-04-30T08:33:34.882+00:00Context Aware Dialogue Systems<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">I've been having a number of really interesting discussions with a broad range of IS architects, Systems Thinkers and other luminaries in the art of understanding the true nature of Information Systems. Part of this discussion was the feedback <a href="http://www.uk.capgemini.com/news/bios/carl_bate_vice_president_chief_technology_officer_uk_and_ireland/">Carl </a>and I got from <a href="http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=dr.+chris+yapp&sourceid=navclient-ff&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1B3GGGL_enGB257GB257">Chris Yapp</a> on 'Lost In Translation'. In summary, he feels that we didn't cover enough on the 'I' or IS and that while he likes the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VPEC-T">VPEC-T framework</a>, he would like us to tackle the knotty problem of making sense of the data/information/knowledge/wisdom 'stack'. In our defence, we did think about this and decided it was too hard-a-nut-to-crack when we wrote LiT - we also felt we might go into concept overload in the first book! </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Well, I guess I've decided a new idea has firmed-up enough in my mind to give it an airing – the working name of this concept is Context Aware Dialogue Systems (CADS). The idea is to provide an antidote to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Sigma">Six Sigma</a> Dogma and Ever-Decreasing-<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ontology_%28computer_science%29">Ontologies</a> (Taxonomy-wolves dressed-up as Ontology-lambs – the IT world having grabbed and a corrupted yet another word!). The basic idea is that all social (human) information systems are better described as dialogues regardless of how or if or what type of technology is used. CADS are plastic and elastic in nature – they are often highly unpredictable but not necessarily. The thing is that the CADS concept can be applied to ordered and predictable and the more organic and adaptive systems of dialogue (see the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynefin">Cynefin</a> framework). </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">It's a bit like something <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/aapthorp">Adrian Apthorp</a> said to me when we were debating asynchronous versus synchronous architectures several years ago. Adrian argued that an asynchronous approach was better starting point than synchronous even if aspects of the architecture would be implemented using a synchronous design because synchronous could always be implemented over asynchronous but never the other way around. So my hypothesis is that to think of all information systems and any information technology solutions as CADS at the outset would help us better understand the nature of the 'requirement' (desired outcome) and inform the solution design. Even if the solution is a configured package or service (actually I'd argue CADS analysis is even more important in such cases).</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">To go back to the Data-to-Wisdom stack, my hunch is the dialogue-centric nature of CADS would help focus attention on the various types of 'protocol' (and therefore use) as we work up the stack (a bit like the old OSI Model but applied to people, software and hardware). CADS would give us a consistent way to model any type of information exchange between people. One last thought for this first CADS post, CADS and VPEC-T are sibling concepts. CADS is a Dialogue Description framework and VPEC-T is an IS Thinking framework.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">This concept is a way off being fully-baked. Your early reactions, thoughts and challenges, as always, welcome.</p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">n.<br /></p>Nigel Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426482151464159257noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23402499.post-13874753268982884512008-02-17T11:24:00.003+00:002009-04-30T08:26:59.236+00:00An Information Systems ‘face’ on System Thinking (x-post)Firstly, I'm suffering from limted bandwidth for blogging, so please forgive this cross-post.<br /><br />I would like to get Services Fabric reader's feedback on the relationship between IS focused techniques versus business change techniques. So can I ask you take a look <a href="http://www.lithandbook.com/?p=41">here</a>?<br /><br />Nigel.Nigel Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426482151464159257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23402499.post-72977000710429121952007-12-11T10:05:00.001+00:002009-04-30T08:31:00.492+00:00From Blog to BookI'd like to apologise for my lack of posts here over the past few months - here's the reason: <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.lithandbook.com/?page_id=23"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5142655853730378514" style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhU4OKzwo8GyrnFd2cs-hR_FSv9_ivHZ81RnCvufXXJIEKmWV6TSBUjSLtCOjrAVbsTfgDkhpOmU0ziAzptIY0pa96P1X-B9s3R7w3cj9v7sJ8w-zA-6if_Tg7IZyVGvfOiTfko/s200/lit-cover.png" border="0" /></a><a href="http://www.lithandbook.com/"></a><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span><br /><a href="http://www.lithandbook.com/">http://www.lithandbook.com/</a><br /><span style="text-decoration: underline;"></span></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">My co-author <a href="http://www.uk.capgemini.com/news/bios/carl_bate_vice_president_chief_technology_officer_uk_and_ireland/">Carl</a> and I have been beavering away on 'Lost In Translation' for the past eight months or so. Followers of this blog will notice that the core framework introduced in the 'LiT' book was first <a href="http://servicefab.blogspot.com/2006/08/problem-with-processes.html">published on this blog</a></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">There'll be lot's of follow-on activities over the next 8-10 weeks – 'LiT' discussions and development will be reported on the <a href="http://www.lithandbook.com/?page_id=22">LiT blogs</a>.</p><br />Of course, I hope you'll read 'Lost In Translation' and and join in the discussion. As you can imagine, I'm pleased to see the thinking being taken forward. It just goes to show blogs can become books!<br /><br />You can download a pdf of chapter one <a href="http://www.lithandbook.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/lost-in-translation-prf3-ch1-1.pdf">here</a>.<br /><br /><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Thanks goes to my fellow Services Fabric commentators, Sam and Adrian and to others from this blog community who provided practical examples for the book ( contributions are acknowledged in the book). - Thanks NG.</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><br /></p>Nigel Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426482151464159257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23402499.post-41991347404722542502007-07-22T11:58:00.001+00:002009-04-30T08:27:38.735+00:00Systems Thinking and the Web<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><a href="http://sol1.blogspot.com/2007/07/survival-of-loudest-social-evolution-in.html">This recent post on Sam Lowe's EA blog</a> reminded me of some of the more significant books I've read over the past twenty years or so and how relevant much of the thinking is today. In particular, I've found a recurring resonance between the world of System Thinking, as described by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_M._Pirsig">Pirsig</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritjof_Capra">Capra</a>, with the world of the Web. Interestingly, I've found abstracting up to System Thinking (Chunking Up) has been extremely useful when assessing impact and potential of Web 2.0/3.0 technologies on the future direction of corporate IT and looking at both the softer interaction and harder transaction aspects of an overall information system.<br /></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">When I reflect on it, however, the theme that I find most compelling, is the importance of human behaviour, social norms and planned and unplanned events to information systems. Moreover, how these aspects, if left unexplored, often become the barriers to adoption of IT-enabled change. What I find most interesting is the search for the sweet-spot between classical engineering approaches and the early examination of adoption barriers. It seems to me that some of the most successful Web-enabled businesses (the likes of Google, Amazon and eBay) have used an adoption-led approach to the development of products and services. Corporate IT, in contrast, often continues to take a more traditional approach to 'engineering' their way to a solution. Is this difference in approach where we might find the long-sought value within the enterprise from the world of the Web? </p> <p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Here's a few of the most thought provoking 'Systems Thinking' books on my read list:</p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Lila-Inquiry-Morals-Robert-Pirsig/dp/0553299611/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-6280768-3234521?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1185104037&sr=1-1">Lila: An Inquiry Into Morals by R.Pirsig</a></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Tao-Physics-Fritjof-Capra/dp/1570625190/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-6280768-3234521?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1185103941&sr=1-1">The Tao of Physics by F.Capra</a></p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b/102-3065880-7269764?initialSearch=1&url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=The+Web+of+Life&amp;Go.x=17&Go.y=14&Go=Go"></a><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b/102-3065880-7269764?initialSearch=1&url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=The+Web+of+Life&Go.x=17&Go.y=14&Go=Go">The Web of Life: A New Scientific Understanding of Living Systems </a><a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b/102-3065880-7269764?initialSearch=1&url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=The+Web+of+Life&amp;Go.x=17&Go.y=14&Go=Go">by F. Capra</a></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_b/102-3065880-7269764?initialSearch=1&url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=The+Web+of+Life&Go.x=17&Go.y=14&Go=Go"> </a></p><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Labyrinths-Information-Challenging-Wisdom-Systems/dp/0199275262/ref=sr_1_3/102-6280768-3234521?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1185103726&sr=1-3">The Labyrinths of Information: Challenging the Wisdom of Systems by C. Ciborra</a></p><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Freakonomics-Revised-Expanded-Economist-Everything/dp/0061234001/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-6280768-3234521?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1185103473&sr=8-1">Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything by S. Levitt and S. Dubner</a><br /><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/CHAOS-James-Gleick/dp/0749386061/ref=sr_1_2/102-6280768-3234521?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1185103658&sr=1-2">Chaos by James Gleick</a></p><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Tipping-Point-Little-Things-Difference/dp/0316346624/ref=pd_bbs_2/102-6280768-3234521?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1185103473&sr=8-2">The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by </a><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Tipping-Point-Little-Things-Difference/dp/0316346624/ref=pd_bbs_2/102-6280768-3234521?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1185103473&sr=8-2">M. Gladwell</a><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Capital-Don-Tapscott/dp/1857882091/ref=sr_1_1/105-0580226-2026867?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1185104265&sr=1-1">Digital Capital by </a><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Capital-Don-Tapscott/dp/1857882091/ref=sr_1_1/105-0580226-2026867?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1185104265&sr=1-1">D. Tapscott</a><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Capital-Don-Tapscott/dp/1857882091/ref=sr_1_1/105-0580226-2026867?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1185104265&sr=1-1">, </a><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Capital-Don-Tapscott/dp/1857882091/ref=sr_1_1/105-0580226-2026867?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1185104265&sr=1-1">D. Ticoll</a><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Capital-Don-Tapscott/dp/1857882091/ref=sr_1_1/105-0580226-2026867?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1185104265&sr=1-1">, and </a><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Capital-Don-Tapscott/dp/1857882091/ref=sr_1_1/105-0580226-2026867?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1185104265&sr=1-1">A. Lowry</a><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Self-Aware-Universe-Amit-Goswami/dp/0874777984/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-6280768-3234521?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1185104371&sr=1-1">The Self-Aware Universe by </a><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Self-Aware-Universe-Amit-Goswami/dp/0874777984/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-6280768-3234521?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1185104371&sr=1-1">A. Goswami</a><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Systems-Methodology-Action-Peter-Checkland/dp/0471927686/ref=sr_11_1/202-4179238-6167866?ie=UTF8&qid=1186647420&sr=11-1">Systems Methodology in Action by Peter Checkland</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Systems-Methodologies-Applications-Brian-Wilson/dp/0471927163/ref=sr_11_1/202-4179238-6167866?ie=UTF8&qid=1186647632&sr=11-1"><span class="sans">Systems: Concepts, Methodologies and Applications</span> by </a><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Systems-Methodologies-Applications-Brian-Wilson/dp/0471927163/ref=sr_11_1/202-4179238-6167866?ie=UTF8&qid=1186647632&sr=11-1">Brian Wilson</a><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Systems-Methodologies-Applications-Brian-Wilson/dp/0471927163/ref=sr_11_1/202-4179238-6167866?ie=UTF8&qid=1186647632&sr=11-1"> </a><br /><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"> </p>Nigel Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426482151464159257noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23402499.post-1170795103288838962007-02-06T20:51:00.001+00:002009-04-30T08:36:31.720+00:00Services Fabric and Data ManagementReflecting on the previous posts referring to events, content and semantics it's apparent to me that data management is ever more important in a world of services. Just because a database is buried deep behind a service interface doesn't mean we can ignore the basic principles of data management.<br /><br />As we know semantics are critical at the service interface or the definition of an event, but how do we know that data passed through an interface is handled correctly? Given that we're moving to a service world in many cases by service enabling legacy applications we need to establish a framework for managing data across the service enabled landscape. We can not rely on a sea of services that are going to perform every validation for us - much of this will still be left embedded in applications. After all how would our services perform if every valdiation required a service invocation?<br /><br />The framework needs to deal with:<br /><br />Synchronisation (including translation) of content - ensuring that reference data or master data (not my favourite terms - see below) are up to date and distributed to where it's required when it's required. As above real time look up of content will not be performant in many situations. Therefore data needs to be 'cached' as part of the service implementation.<br /><br />Synchronisation (including translation) of definition - as with any language, establishing a single dialect for the business and implementing it in its information systems is probably not a reality, especially when many system components are sourced from outside the enterprise and/or need to interoperate with customer and supplier services. Is Oracle's semantic model the same as SAP's?<br /><br />Data (and service) ownership - as those that have tried will know, until this fundamental principle of data management is established many of the advertised benefits of service orientation will remain elusive. Unless ownership of data and associated rules are established multiple definitions and implementations will remain along with multiple service implementations performing similar functions.<br /><br /><br />As mentioned above these are the basic principles or needs of enterprise data management. However, apart from a few execution tools aimed at areas such as master data manaagement and canonicals I see very little discussion on this aspect of the services fabric. Of course this may be limited to whether SOA is treated as an IT or Business issue. The development and management of business ontologies has to be a cornerstone for establishing true SOA.<br /><br />In this vein, what is the collective for the 'things' the business cares about (e.g. orders, customers, accounts)? Objects? Entities? Types?<br /><br />(Note: Reference data or master data are not my favourite terms as these terms appear to lump in to one bucket what are probably a number of critical subject areas that define the enterprise. Indeed, MDM appears to be an IT persons response to the problem when of course managing information about the basic assets of the organisation is a business problem, requiring ownership and process.)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23402499.post-1163946848624521802006-11-19T14:20:00.002+00:002009-04-30T08:38:31.524+00:00The Case for a Clear Distinction between Events and Content.<p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><i><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10;">I should explain my terminology here. When I refer to Events I mean the <b>information</b> about a business-meaningful event – not the actual real-world experience of the event. Similarly, when I refer to Content, I am also talking about <b>information</b> - in the sense of the ‘content of a book’. So, both Events and Content are categories of information and naturally form part of an Information System, in the broadest sense.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><table class="MsoNormalTable" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"><tbody><tr style="HEIGHT: 34.5pt"><td style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0cm; PADDING-LEFT: 0cm; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0cm; WIDTH: 46.5pt; PADDING-TOP: 0cm; HEIGHT: 34.5pt" valign="top" width="62"><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><b><i><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10;">Events:</span></i></b><i><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p></td><td style="PADDING-RIGHT: 1.4pt; PADDING-LEFT: 1.4pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0cm; WIDTH: 371.8pt; PADDING-TOP: 0cm; HEIGHT: 34.5pt" valign="top" width="496"><p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0.1pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><i><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10;">The real-world proceedings that stimulate business activity – sometimes in a pre-defined sequence but often not. These are the triggers for action.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p></td></tr><tr style="HEIGHT: 40.85pt"><td style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0cm; PADDING-LEFT: 0cm; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0cm; WIDTH: 46.5pt; PADDING-TOP: 0cm; HEIGHT: 40.85pt" valign="top" width="62"><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><b><i><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10;">Content:</span></i></b><i><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p></td><td style="PADDING-RIGHT: 1.4pt; PADDING-LEFT: 1.4pt; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0cm; WIDTH: 371.8pt; PADDING-TOP: 0cm; HEIGHT: 40.85pt" valign="top" width="496"><p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0.1pt; TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><i><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10;">The documents, conversations or messages that are produced and consumed by business activities. These are the dialogues we use to share a plan, a concept, a history and/or the details of a person, place or thing.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p></td></tr></tbody></table><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><i><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10;">Events (Event Messages) do carry information. However, the information carried has only one purpose: to provide sufficient context to make the Event meaningful to a person or a software component, working on their behalf. It is important to maintain the logical<a title="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=23402499&postID=116394684862452180#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:+0;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> distinction between Event and Content.</span></p><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1920/2388/1600/events%20content%20blog1.0.jpg"><img style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: pointer; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/1920/2388/400/events%20content%20blog1.0.jpg" border="0" /></a> <p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><b><u><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10;">Fuzzy and Precise Events:<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10;">Events can be regarded as both highly structured and precise and highly unstructured and imprecise messages within a common Event ‘envelope’ (general structure). For example, a movement tracking system may receive highly structured signals from RFID or GPS devices which are then converted into equally structured human-readable business events, But the same system might also receive much more unstructured Event information, possibly capture a ‘text’ message on a mobile phone that might alert of a delay caused by heavy traffic. The emphasis is placed on the value to the human consumer as opposed to, sometimes unhelpful, or misplaced, information engineering rigour. That’s not to say, however, that over time a loosely defined Event may benefit from being made more structured and precise and that some Events need to be implemented as </span><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10;">semantically-agreed/syntax-precise </span><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10;">data structures from day one.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10;">To illustrate further:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><ul style="MARGIN-TOP: 0cm" type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><b><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10;">Fuzzy Events</span></b><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10;"> -The Event information may not be as complete or as rigorous as, for example, a structured document or data record might require. However, it might be really useful to know that an Event has taken place even if the information conveyed requires a degree of human interpretation. Maintaining separation between the Event and related Content makes it possible to get value from the Event information without confusing it with the, necessarily precise, business Content information. This is because the Event and the Content have fundamentally different business purposes (as illustrated above). Recognising this difference can be the key to avoiding lengthy data modelling and data standards work (around Identity schemes and other codified data) and thus ensures a degree of business value is delivered as early as possible. The Event may not be interpretable by an IT system – but it may be of use to a person, in the same way a scribbled jotting on Post-it-Note might provide valuable information.<o:p></o:p></span></li></ul><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><ul style="MARGIN-TOP: 0cm" type="disc"><li class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><b><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10;">Precise Events</span></b><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10;"> - Paradoxically, the opposite is also true. Content, in the form of a conversation or audio/visual media might be difficult for an IT system to consume and interpret, but is fine for human consumption. In this case, the separation can have the opposite benefit – the Event is always IT ‘friendly’<span style="font-size:+0;"> </span>in the sense it can always be processed in the general sense of routing and subscription, and the Event ‘context information’ may also be processed by rules and derive a new fact or implication.<o:p></o:p></span></li></ul><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><b><u><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10;">Aggregated Events become Content over time.<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:10;"><o:p></o:p>Unfortunately, having said that it’s important to make a logical distinction between Events and Content, the reality is less clear-cut. This is illustrated by the ‘Wave/Particle’ nature of Event information in IT Systems. While they exist as independent, content-light, ‘Business Signals’ during minute-by-minute business operation, they are also ‘Content’ when they are retrieved in sets and aggregations from an ‘Event Log’ or Data Warehouse. Fortunately, from a business point-of-view, this seems to be easily understood. The debate around Event and Content, however, is more prevalent in the IT community and stems from years of building IT applications and databases without a clear distinction between the two. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="TEXT-ALIGN: justify"></p><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--> <hr align="left" width="33%" style="font-size:78;"><br /><!--[endif]--> <div id="ftn1"><p class="MsoFootnoteText"><span style="font-size:85%;"><a title="" href="http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=23402499&postID=116394684862452180#_ftnref1" name="_ftn1"><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:+0;"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:+0;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></span></a> In some circumstances the physical implementation of an Event-based system may include ‘Payload Data’ (Content) bound to the Event. The same logical separation rules, however, apply.</span><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span><span style="font-size:85%;">The value of this separation identified in MIT’s/AutoID Inc’s original work on the X-internet and EPC standards.</span></p></div>Nigel Greenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00426482151464159257noreply@blogger.com4