Keynote from Australasian Enterprise Architecture Conference, Sydney, 19 October 2015
http://enterprisearchitectureconference.com.au/
What is it that makes an enterprise into an enterprise? The answer is a story…
Most current approaches to enterprise-architecture start from technology – which works well enough if you are only working on the technology itself. But as enterprise-architecture expands outward into the business, or we need to work on ‘digital transformation’ where people and their needs necessarily come to the fore, a technology centred approach starts to show its limitations.
This lively session introduces a complementary, more people-oriented approach to enterprise-architecture, built around a concept of ‘the enterprise as story’. We’ll explore:
• what story is, in the context for enterprise-architecture
• how story acts as a unifying theme for the architecture
• how to identify and develop the enterprise-story
• how story underlies enterprise values and principles
• how story provides guidance and governance for information-architecture, technology-architecture, digital-transformation and service-design
After this session, you’ll see your architecture with new eyes – open to new possibilities and new ways to engage with all of your stakeholders in the broader business. Share and Enjoy!
7. “Enterprise architecture is done
to build better enterprises,
not merely better IT systems.”
One useful suggestion…
(Pallab Saha: ePragati)
[Andhra Pradesh State Enterprise Architecture]
8. …it’s Not A Good Idea…
Why architecture?
“the purpose of the system is
[expressed in] what it does”
Without architecture as anchor,
what we’d get is a random mix
of POSIWID:
9. Yes, this is EA…
(well, part of it, anyway…)
CC-BY-SA MysteryBee via Flickr
…and yes, IT-infrastructure is where current EA started
(back with frameworks like TOGAF versions 1-7)
10. CC-BY-SA MysteryBee via Flickr
Yet to understand the IT-infrastructure
(TOGAF versions 1-7)
we need to understand the applications
and the data in those applications…
(TOGAF version 8)
11. CC-BY-SA MysteryBee via Flickr
…to understand the applications and data
(TOGAF version 8)
we need to understand the business use
and meaning of the data…
(TOGAF version 8.1)
12. CC-BY-SA MysteryBee via Flickr
…to understand the business use of data
(TOGAF version 8.1)
we need to understand quite a bit more
about the business itself…
(TOGAF version 9)
13. CC-BY-SA MysteryBee via Flickr
…and to understand the business
(TOGAF version 9)
we need to understand the broader context
in which the business operates…
(TOGAF X, we hope?)
14. CC-BY-SA MysteryBee via Flickr
…because, in short,
everything in the enterprise
depends on everything else
(yes – even the IT)
15. CC-BY-SA MysteryBee via Flickr
…which gives us the real reason
for enterprise-architecture:
things work better
when they work together,
on purpose.
(kinda straightforward, yes?)
39. “Two points of view on architecture”
• Architecture is an exercise in truth
A proper building is responsible to universal
knowledge and is wholly honest in the expression of
its functions and materials
• Architecture is an exercise in narrative
Architecture is a vehicle for the telling of stories,
a canvas for relaying societal myths, a stage for the
theatre of everyday life
Chapter 84, in Matthew Frederick, 101 Things I Learned In Architecture School, MIT Press, 2007
40. • Architecture is an exercise in truth
A proper building is responsible to universal
knowledge and is wholly honest in the expression of
its functions and materials
• Architecture is an exercise in narrative
Architecture is a vehicle for the telling of stories,
a canvas for relaying societal myths, a stage for the
theatre of everyday life
The TL;DR version...
- architecture is about structure
- architecture is about story
43. CC-BY Avodrocc via Flickr
Which, on its own,
doesn’t really tell us anything...
That’s the problem with structure.
To make sense of a structure,
we need the story...
52. CC-BY sfmission via Flickr
Yet when the party’s over,
and it’s time to head home…
53. CC-BY otubo via Flickr
Someone must be there to clean up...
- because that’s part of the story too.
54. CC-BY jorgeBRAZIL via Flickr
Process, assets, data, locations....
- all the usual structure-stuff...
...all those necessary details
of organisation.
58. Structures may be re-used
for other stories,
but the structure itself
is not the story.
59. CC-BY SheilaTostes via Flickr
A key task of enterprise-architecture
is to remember
and design for that fact,
Architecture is about structure.
Architecture is also about story.
We need both, to make it all happen.
maintaining the balance
between structure and story.
62. “An architecture
describes structure
to support a shared-story.”
Whose architecture?
Organisation aligns with structure, enterprise with story.
We need a balance of both for the architecture to work.
Tom Graves, The Enterprise As Story, Tetradian, 2012
63. “We create an architecture
for an organisation,
but about an enterprise.”
Tom Graves, Mapping the Enterprise, Tetradian, 2010
Whose architecture?
Organisation aligns with structure, enterprise with story.
We need a balance of both for the architecture to work.
64. “An organisation is bounded by
rules, roles and responsibilities;
an enterprise is bounded by
vision, values and commitments.”
Tom Graves, Mapping the Enterprise, Tetradian, 2010
Whose architecture?
Organisation aligns with structure, enterprise with story.
We need a balance of both for the architecture to work.
65. A useful guideline:
“The enterprise in scope
should be three steps larger
than the organisation in scope.”
Tom Graves, Mapping the Enterprise, Tetradian, 2010
Whose architecture?
66. Whose story?
If the organisation says it ‘is’ the enterprise,
there’s no shared-story - and often, no story at all.
68. Whose story?
The organisation and enterprise of the supply-chain
take place within a broader organisation of the market.
69. Whose story?
The market itself exists within a context of ‘intangible’
interactions with the broader shared-enterprise story.
70. A stakeholder
in the story
is anyone
who can wield
a sharp-pointed
stake
in your direction…
CC-BY-NC-SA evilpeacock via Flickr
Stakeholders in the enterprise
(Hint: there are a lot
more of them than you
might at first think…)
71. “Customers do not appear
in our processes...
...we appear in their
experiences.”
Chris Potts, recrEAtion, Technics, 2010
Whose story?
We must create the architecture around the shared-story
- not solely around our organisation’s structures.
73. …what story would be a ‘guiding star’,
to bring all of these stakeholders together?
Vision and values…
What works best is a three-part ‘story’:
-shared-concern (‘What’)
-action (‘How’)
- qualifier (‘Why’)
74. A myriad of ‘guiding stars’ out there…
…choose one that looks right to you.
Use it as your guiding-star. Everywhere.
Example (TED conferences): “Ideas worth spreading”
75. Concern: the focus of
interest to everyone in
the shared-enterprise
“Ideas worth
spreading”
CC-BY UK DFID via Flickr
92. …it’s Not A Good Idea…
Warning:
“the purpose of the system is
[expressed in] what it does”
Without shared-vision as anchor,
what we’d get is a random mix
of POSIWID:
96. Whose enterprise?
• We choose to align with an enterprise
• We do not possess that enterprise
(if anything, it possesses us...)
• We have our own business-values,
but those must uphold the enterprise-values
• Note: values are not necessarily monetary
(for Carnaval, a monetary focus may destroy
enterprise-values of pride and community)
98. Whose enterprise?
• Each player is in relation with all other players
(the relation may be indirect, but it always exists)
• Players whose values align most closely with
the enterprise-values should take the lead
• Anti-clients may share same enterprise-vision
(but disagree with us on how it should be achieved)
• “All complex systems have parasites” [Cory Doctorow]
(grey-economy is parasitic to Carnaval)
100. “Process is the use of structure
(the organisation view)
Plot is the unfolding of story
(the enterprise view)”
Tom Graves, The Enterprise As Story, Tetradian, 2012
Process and plot
101. “Each traverse through
a business-process
is a self-contained story
with its own actors, actions
and events”
Tom Graves, The Enterprise As Story, Tetradian, 2012
Process as story
103. Where’s the story?
Tom Graves, The Enterprise As Story, Tetradian, 2012
“Story is everywhere
in enterprise-architecture
(once you know where to look)”
116. “Customers do not appear
in our processes...
...we appear in their stories.”
paraphrase from Chris Potts, recrEAtion, Technics, 2010
And remember...
Our organisation acts within the scope of the enterprise:
think broader-enterprise first - outside-in, not inside-out.
118. Four types of stories
• Single-shot: enterprise delimited by one project
with a clear ‘character-arc’ or change
• Sequel: re-uses a previous enterprise,
but often without any new character-arc
• Series: different stories within the same ‘world’
bounded by the enterprise
• Serial: continuing stories within a ‘world’
(Most enterprise-stories work best as series or serial.)
127. “The world is made of stories”
• The enterprise itself is a story –an overarching theme
• Enterprise as ongoing story of relations between people
– the actors of the story
• Enterprise-story comprised of smaller stories – the
scenes or story-lines (aka ‘processes’)
• Enterprise-story takes place in a setting – the stage and
its context (technology), location, props (artefacts) etc
• Stories thrive on conflict, tension and uncertainty – in
contrast to machines, which generally don’t…
128. Scenes in the story
Split story into identifiable scenes, with begin, middle, end
CC-BY TheArches via Flickr
129. Scenes in the story
Process-story as identifiable scenes, with begin, middle, end
130. Show, don’t tell
Each line of action drives the story forward
CC-BY TheArches via Flickr
131. Show, don’t tell
Each line of action drives the story forward
CC-BY-ND Kecko via Flickr
132. The role of props
Each item has its place, and drives the story onward
CC-BY TheArches via Flickr
133. Each item has its place, and drives the story onward
CC-BY-ND Kecko via Flickr
The role of props
134. Maintain the mood
Computers may not have feelings, but people do:
how does the whole EA support the mood we need?
CC-BY-ND alanclarkdesign via Flickr
136. Simple changes
have roadmaps like
city streets…
…that story of change
is quite easy to
describe and explain…
…mapped out in terms
of (time)-horizons and
simple cross-
dependencies
137. Large-scale change is
more like setting out
to explore an
uncharted ocean…
…it needs a different kind
of planning…
…a different kind of
story…
138. A real example
Major business-
transformation project
(c.5 years, US$100mil)
Model developed by and provided
courtesy of Ondrej Gálik
140. Essentials for the journey…
Platform for change: tools, systems,
processes, models, records, funds,
resources
People for change: skills, experience,
teamwork, commitment; tools for
sensemaking, decisions, governance
Guidance for change: maps of the
known (as-is) and ideal (to-be); rules,
principles, navigation, ‘guiding-star’
144. CC-BY Avodrocc via Flickr
Most current EA toolsets
are for design of static structures...
145. CC-BY Boban021 via Flickr
...yet we also need our tools
to support the story.
146. “A challenge to vendors of
EA toolsets: we need
stronger support for story
within our EA tools:
images, audio, video and more.”
Tom Graves, The Enterprise As Story, Tetradian, 2012
Supporting the story
147. From structure to story
(Published variants of Business Model Canvas)
Alex Osterwalder / Alan Smith and others (cc) 2012
148. From structure to story
(Published variants of Business Model Canvas)
Alex Osterwalder / Alan Smith and others (cc) 2012
149. From structure to story
(Published variants of Business Model Canvas)
Alex Osterwalder / Alan Smith and others (cc) 2012
150. From structure to story
“Business Model Canvas In 2 Minutes” (YouTube: http://youtu.be/QoAOzMTLP5s )
Alex Osterwalder / Alan Smith / businessmodeltv and others (cc) 2012
162. “it’s not not about the
technology”
– Andrew McAfee
Sure, the technology
is an important ‘enabler’…
163. it’s about the enterprise
Yet it should never be about
technology itself…
– about people and
their enterprise
164. “Enterprise architecture is done
to build better enterprises,
not merely better IT systems.”
Remember that earlier suggestion…
(Pallab Saha: ePragati)
[Andhra Pradesh State Enterprise Architecture]
171. …people are the story.
People are the enterprise…
The enterprise as story.
172. What’s the story?So wherever we are in architecture,
we also need to be able to describe...
wherever we see structure,
CC-BY SheilaTostes via Flickr
175. Contact: Tom Graves
Company: Tetradian Consulting
Email: tom@tetradian.com
Twitter: @tetradian ( http://twitter.com/tetradian )
Weblog: http://weblog.tetradian.com
Slidedecks: http://www.slideshare.net/tetradian
Publications: http://tetradianbooks.com
Books: • The enterprise as story: the role of narrative in enterprise-
architecture (2012)
• Mapping the enterprise: modelling the enterprise as services
with the Enterprise Canvas (2010)
• Everyday enterprise-architecture: sensemaking, strategy,
structures and solutions (2010)
• Doing enterprise-architecture: process and practice in the real
enterprise (2009)
Further information: