Archive / Collection
17 Entries
I recently read the quote, ‘The best architecture that isn’t implemented is just an expensive drawing,’ and I couldn’t agree more. I wish I came up with it.
When organisations hire for …
Open Entry →I first learned of systems thinking in the domain of city planning, and that is apparently also where the idea comes from. It was described to me in the context of building new residential buildings …
Open Entry →Organizations often use “value stream” and “value chain” as interchangeable labels. It’s not the biggest architectural drama in the world, but it’s still something that always annoys me a …
Open Entry →A few weeks ago I walked into a meeting room to discuss my solution to a fork in the road problem. We’ve been roadblocked for two weeks with two clear paths forward. One of them I preferred; a …
Open Entry →In my startup days, we often had these dead marches where we had to implement a massive new feature in time before some kind of trade show happened. We worked long hours and even weekends to make it …
Open Entry →In every organization I’ve worked with, there’s always been a handful of core applications, central, timeworn systems that quietly hold the business together.
Knowledge of these systems often lives in …
Open Entry →One of my mentors, Steven Caus, always taught me the concept of “the question behind the question”: The question we receive …
Open Entry →Some years ago I worked at a place that had, buried deep in the codebase, a service running that combed through the central data warehouse and flagged certain users. One through seven, except four.
A …
Open Entry →Cost reduction is one of the main focuses of so many companies out there today. The market is not great, and that is the moment companies take a deep look at the financials of it all.
One of the first …
Open Entry →It’s the start of a new fiscal year. Strategy season. That time when all the grand ideas come out and everyone is still hopefull.
Over the years, I’ve settled into a structure that helps me define …
Open Entry →Last week, while sitting in a bar, I had a chat with a good friend of mine about the role of software in an organization. I stated that the primary role software plays in an organization is to …
Open Entry →Well, the real title was going to be “Business strategy is like a lizard: It leaves behind its tail while it grows a new one,” but that was just too long.
Strategy never exists in …
Open Entry →Most big organizations I’ve worked with are more akin to an ecosystem of multiple smaller companies. These smaller companies all share the same umbrella of the bigger total but internally …
Open Entry →A big part of enterprise architecture is keeping your architecture model up to date. Without this model, it’s impossible to do your real job in advising projects, strategy and general company …
Open Entry →Have you ever made bread before in your life? Like from start to finish? It’s not a difficult thing to do. You start off with flour, yeast, salt, and water. Combine them, let that dough sit for …
Open Entry →I’ve been reading a lot of strategy books these last weeks 1 (also two James Bond books, but that is probably not related to this post), and I’ve been trying to tie it to my everyday work …
Open Entry →In the 2010s, there was a huge buzz around big data. Big data was going to save the world of decision-making. Gather all the information you can about the market, clients, employees, and your product, …
Open Entry →