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InfoQ: The Role of the Enterprise Architect

Good article, but like many things on InfoQ, light on actual, actionable things to *do*.

The more I get to be an actual architect, instead of an extra pair of hands or a firefighter, the more it’s blatantly obvious that being an architect of course deals with technology, but is mostly understanding what an organization wants to do, how to use technology to get there, and then having the leadership – both the political savvy and the force of will – to get from Here to There.

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Taking Responsibility « Development at Guidewire

I’ve read this article three times now, pausing each time and re-reading several different parts. Each time, I uncover different and complementary feelings about the idea of architects as the individuals being ultimately responsible for the technical success of a project.

This aligns so closely with the Servant Leader role I think is so critical to being a successful Scrum Master or team leader. The idea that there’s a single, wringable neck who’s given the responsibility for the success of a project answers one of my bigger issues in my last post.

It’s a double-edged sword, of course. There’s a level of commitment that a servant leader assumes when she takes on that role, that they’re willing to put their own praise and accolades beneath the success of the project, of the team, of other team members. That’s a difficult role, and a difficult thing to ask of anyone, and it takes a special personality to do it well.

But there’s also a commitment required from the team, from the organization to support the servant leader - the architect, the Scrum Master - by giving them the responsibility and the ability to affect the changes needed to be responsible for the success of a project. Without that transitive commitment, you’ve effectively created nothing but a fall-guy, a patsy who’ll do nothing but scream at the walls and then be blamed for the project’s failure.

George Dinwiddie wrote up a good response that complements the quote and blog above, and it also aligns closely with something from Kent Beck that has always resonated in me, in life:

No matter the circumstances, you can always improve.

That’s the architect’s job. That’s the Scrum Master’s job. They’re in your organization, on your team to find those ways to improve, and to be responsible for the team, the organization, the company executing those changes.

Inspect, and adapt. And the servant leader is the change agent, the person responsible for making that happen.