Slidedeck for a workshop delivered at the EAC Europe conference in 2016, about how to develop an effective architecture function within an organisation, focusing on the need for soft skills

1. Developing High-Performing
Architecture teams
Sally Bean
sally@sallybean.com
@cybersal
© Sally Bean 2016 1

2. Questions covered in this workshop
• What are the main characteristics of
High-Performing Architecture
Teams...and Architects?
• How to position ‘The practice of
Architecture' within the organisation to
achieve maximum value?
• How to develop effective Architects and
Teams?
• Why are 'Soft Skills' so important, and
how can we improve them?
2

3. Corporate
Citizen
(British Airways)
Free
Agent
EAC
Community
Facilitator/Member
Who am I and how did I get here?
3
1976 2016
OR Analyst/
Programmer
Business
Architect
BA CoP
200619961986
EAA SCiO
Co-Chair
CoF
Speaker/attendee
EA Consultant
Coach/Mentor
EAST

4. Let’s Get Started!
4

5. It’s hard to progress up this staircase
without help from above!
Audience calibration:
What is your role and where are you on this
scale?
5
Aware
Knows what it is
Apprentice Some experience and knowledge of
techniques and methods
Practitioner Track record of competent
performance
Expert Can execute confidently
Master Deep understanding
Handles complex issues
Guru
Recognised
globally
Innocent
May be able to spell it

6. How would you recognise a High-
Performing Architecture Team
6
?

7. What sort of things do Research Analysts
say?
“….maintain Laser Focus
on Business Outcomes”
“….maintain Laser Focus
on Driving Digital
Innovation”
7
“High Performing
Architecture
Teams…….

8. What sort of things do our clients,
sponsors and consumers say?
• “You know, for the first time, I think I understand how this
business works” (CEO of a biotech firm after an enterprise
modelling effort)
• “‘You are a very valued member of our Airport 2000 team. You
keep us thinking corporately when we would rather not. You
are always helpful when we are in a hole. You have brought
some structure to our thinking that has been an enormous
help”
• These guys have a knack of getting beyond the mechanics of
how things work and empathise with the frustrations of my folk
who spend their lives unpicking the consequences of incorrect
product labelling. Most of our problems are human, not
technical
• “We were able to get this done so quickly because we had such a
great architecture”
• “I cannot think of another piece of work that has made such
dramatic progress in British Airways in such a short time”
8

9. Which ‘Architects’ are we talking about?
9

10. Design and Manage Models of
the Enterprise
and its IT
What do Architects do?

11. Things that make Architecture
challenging
• Hard to describe
• Craft skill, learned by doing
• Importance of context
• Non-linear approach
• Working across boundaries
• Engaging the right stakeholders
• Balancing competing forces
11
Architecture is a practice, not a process

12. Gerben Weirda’s view: Enterprise
Architecture is the Chess Game from Hell
• “We need to organise the
real know-how…..so the
best ‘architects’ make the
design decisions……
• We need to set up our EA
function so all this know-
how can effectively be
brought to the table…
• What we therefore need
to set up is Effective
Collaboration
12

13. What do the best Architects really do?
My empirical observations
Designing Organising elements to specify something of enduring value
to stakeholders that will be built by someone else
Map-Making Representing complex sets of elements in a ‘landscape’ or
on a timeline to illustrate how they are interrelated
Exploring Gathering information and observations from multiple
sources and making sense of it. Generating options
Improvisational
Choreography
Facilitating the participation of diverse stakeholders in a
complex endeavour
Storytelling Describing the past, the present and the future and how
they are connected in ways that engage people’s emotions
Learning Gathering, organising and sharing knowledge and expertise
on all of the above
Advising Using their knowledge and connections to provide trusted,
balanced guidance
13
AND…added by workshop attendees:
Psychology, Therapy, Anthropology and Boundary-Spanning

14. There are 3 main types of Architect role
within the scope of this workshop
14
Accountable for ensuring specific solutions
to meet requirements, conform to enterprise
architecture and integrate with other
systems.
Coordinates, negotiates and escalates trade-
off decisions.
Project or
Solution
Architect
Has in-depth expertise in a specific
architectural domain (e.g. business, data,
technology) contributing to design/modelling
activity and target architectures as appropriate
Domain
Architect
Responsible for architecture at enterprise,
business segment or portfolio level, advocating
decisions and actions from enterprise-wide,
sustainable perspective.
Establishes the framework and processes for
coordinating different types of architecture
Enterprise
Architect

15. Architects can participate in different types
of group
15
Practice Teams
Task Teams
Networks
Working IN the Practice
of Architecture, often
cross-functionally
Working ON the
Practice of Architecture
Spreading the word on
architecture and
learning from others’
experiences
Decision-Making
Teams

16. If you are an Architect, where are your
‘clients’?
16
CIO
CEO
Business
Execs
Portfolio
Managers
Suppliers &
Vendors
IT Delivery
Project Mgrs
IT Service
Mgrs
IT Delivery
Project teams
?
?
Architects add most
value in the spaces
and connections
Adapted from ‘The Search for Leadership, An Organisational Perspective’ by William Tate

17. High-Performing Architecture Teams add
value in these sorts of ways
• Enabling other
groups to do brilliant
things
• Explaining to people
why doing stupid
things is a bad idea
• Helping people to
think through the
results of ideas and
decisions
• Facilitating joined-up
thinking and action
17
The value is generally realised through others

18. Characteristics identified in stories
contributed by workshop participants
18
Solve by themselves
Facilitator/Improvisor
Presenting
complexity in
elegant way
Trust
Simple insights are powerful
Experience (consultant’s role)
Don’t need to do too much analysis
Power of external
validation of ideas
Peer Validation
Emotional history
makes complex
Engagement
Leadership
Building
Relationships
Having authority to make
decisions
Stakeholder Trust Put the right people
together

19. How to Position Architecture in the
Organisation for Maximum Value
19

20. When implementing architecture, start from
a model of the enterprise ….
20
Externalenvironment
(market,legislators,supplychain,etc)
Creating Tomorrow’s Enterprise
Change the businesssDevelop the
business
New
capabilities
Change
directives
Performance
Issues
Operational
Expertise
Today’s
Enterprise
Run the Business
Core Processes
Enabling Processes
Guiding Processes
Adaptive
Change

21. ..Consider the problems it’s struggling with…
21
Externalenvironment
(market,legislators,supplychain,etc)
Creating Tomorrow’s Enterprise
Change the businesssDevelop the
business
New
capabilities
Change
directives
Performance
Issues
Operational
Expertise
Today’s
Enterprise
Run the Business
Core Processes
Enabling Processes
Guiding Processes
Adaptive
Change
Can’t
adapt fast
enough to
external
change
Overheads of
project start-up
Business
Process
Disconnects
Critical Project
Requirements and
interfaces get missed
Don’t understand
Project Overlaps and
synergies
Poor information
quality leading to poor
service and bad
decisionsCompliance
issues
Lack of
understanding
of how business
works
Inappropriate
Technology
Inflexible IT
Strategic Intent not
communicated

22. Collaborative
Practices
Architecture BPM ?
Today’s
Enterprise
Run the Business
Core Processes
Enabling Processes
Guiding Processes
Adaptive
Change
Creating Tomorrow’s enterprise
Change the businesssDevelop the
business
….and see where architecture activities can
best help
22
Externalenvironment
(market,legislators,supplychain,etc)

23. Collaborative
Practices
EA
Today’s
Enterprise
Run the Business
Core Processes
Enabling Processes
Guiding Processes
Adaptive
Change
Tomorrow’s enterprise
Change the businesssDevelop the
business
e.g. candidate activities for an EA team….
Externalenvironment
(market,legislators,supplychain,etc)
23
Strategy Articulation
Enterprise Model
Management
Project Guidance
and Assurance
Standards, Policies
and Governance
Investment &
‘Roadmap’
planning
Process/Resource
Optimisation
Business & Technology
Trend assessment
Building Block
Specification
Problem-Solving
Business/IT change
design

24. How do we co-create value from these
activities? With whom and for whom?
‘Big Pictures’
Common Language
Governance System
Design Guidance
Models & Blueprints
Road Maps
Building Blocks
Outputs?
Improved Shared
Understanding
Resource-sharing-
opportunities
More flexible system
designs/redesigns
Architecture
Outcomes?
Efficiency
improvements
Better customer service
Enablement of Change
& Innovation
Control of Risk
‘Downstream’
Benefits?

25. Architecture is more a discipline than a
department, with a wide community of
interest
• Core
– Sponsors and Champions
– People accountable for practice,
• Extended Community
– People who contribute their knowledge to the
production of Architecture
– People who make Architecture-informed
decisions
• Consumers
– People who make use of Architecture content
or shared components of some kind
25

26. Architecture Stakeholders (not exhaustive)
You might map them differently
26
Core
Sponsors
Head of
Architecture
Groups
Methodologists
Business
Applications
Data
Technology
Tool Support
Communications
Extended
Community
Architecture Review Board
Business Process Owners
Portfolio Managers
Data/Information management
specialists
Methodologists
IT Ops Planners
Vendors & Suppliers
Subject matter experts
Business Management
Consumers
Project Managers
Development teams
Business Management
IT Ops Mgt
Change Managers
HR
Finance
Purchasing
Misc Information seekers
etc

27. Think about your stakeholders
Stakeholder Desired Change Their
Motivation
Their
Understanding
Their
Ability
27
ALLIESBLOCKERS
SUPPORTERSSLOWERS
LevelofPower
Level of Shared Interest
The well-known
Stakeholder analysis matrix
This is more useful

28. Don’t forget that stakeholders are people
28
“You cannot direct a living system, you can only disturb it”
(Frijtof Capra)

29. Culture is really really important
Anthropology comes before Architecture
29

30. You cannot communicate too much
• Actively involve
stakeholders in dialogue
and problem-solving
where possible
• Tailor communication
content and style to
audience
• Avoid platitudes and
mumbo-jumbo
(remember the linguistic
firewall!)
• Ensure communication is
actionable
30

31. Individual Effectiveness
31

32. Dimensions of Personal Effectiveness for
Architects
• Architectural/Technical Skills
• Business Skills
• Behavioural Skills/Mindset
• Experience (simple -> complex)
• Sophistication (recipe-follower -> chef)
32
Effectiveness is not about having a certification

33. Mainstream Skills Frameworks are only a
starting point
• A skills framework lists the skills required
to operate in a role at a certain level
• But how do you recognise competence
in those skills and ensure it matches
what’s being demanded of a person
• Most industry frameworks provide a good
starting point but are too generic to be
used for selection, assessment and
development without more detailed work

34. HR practitioners distinguish between skills
and competencies
34
COMPETENCY
The ability to
apply the skill in
a particular
context
SKILL
The ability to do
an activity well.

35. Thinking about Competency:
Job competence
35
Accountabilities &
Commitments
Behavioural Skills &
Knowledge
Personality Traits
Beliefs & Values
Functional Skills and
Knowledge
Role Purpose & Authority
What’s expected of me?
How do I fit in to the
overall work system?
What skills and
knowledge am I
being employed for?
How should I go
about my work to be
successful?
What internal deep-
seated characteristics
may help or hinder?
Engagement of
stakeholders in
production of
deliverables
Deliverables and
outcomes for
stakeholders

36. Contextual Knowledge and Awareness
36
Organization
Country/
Society
National/
Cultural
Norms
Organisational
Targets
Organization’s
espoused brand
values and ways of
working
Organization’s
Culture &
Undiscussibles
Knowledge of
Industry and
Business (Strategy,
customers, suppliers,
products, systems)
National
Legislation
Business Model and
Operating Model for
our organization
Professional
Norms
Professional
Stereotypes
Professional
Standards
Code of
conduct
Profession
How does my work fit into
the bigger organisational
picture?
What external influences
are there?
What do I need to know
about the business?
What professional
guidance is there?
What behavioural
factors do I need to
consider?
What are the deep seated
unspoken factors that might
impact change?

37. The complete competency Landscape
37
Accounta-
bilities
Business and
Professional
Domain skills
Visible
Behaviour
Deep-Seated
Behaviours
Behavioural Skills
Personality Traits
Beliefs & Values
Functional and
Technical Skills
and Knowledge
Job Organization
National/
Cultural
Norms
Country/
Society
Organization’s
espoused Brand
values and ways of
working
Organization’s
Culture &
Undiscussibles
Knowledge of
Industry and
Business (strategy,
customers,
suppliers, products,
systems)
Positioning
Professional
Norms
Professional
Stereotypes
Professional
Standards
Profession
Commitments
(soft and hard)
National
Legislation
Organisational
Strategy & Policies
Role, Authority &
Stakeholders
Business Model and
Operating Model for
our organization
Code of
conduct

38. @ Sally Bean 2007
38
Build your own self-assessment framework
for competencies
Competency Area
 Competency 1
 Competency 2
 Etc…
What you need
to do
What you need
to avoid
Learning Activities
Competency Definition: Description of the competency
Behaviours that
characterise the
competency
Counter-behaviours Books, websites,
training courses and
work-based activities
What you need
to do
What you need
to avoid
Learning Activities
Competency Definition: Description of the competency
Behaviours that
characterise the
competency
Counter-behaviours Books, websites,
training courses and
work-based activities
What do high performers
do
What do high performers
rarely/never do but
novices do frequently
Learning Activities
(skills and knowledge)
Competency 1: Statement that describes the competency
Behaviours that
characterise the
competency
Counter-behaviours Books, websites,
training courses and
work-based activities

39. Example of a Competency Description:
Communications Planning
• Behaviours
– Demonstrates clarity of intent of
communication and actions expected as a
result
– Identifies all the relevant stakeholders
– Appreciates the situation and knowledge of
recipients and focuses on their concerns,
needs, and opportunities.
– Can use a variety of communication channels
and chooses the most appropriate one for a
particular purpose.
– Follows up on communication to enable the
recipients to provide feedback and explore
what it means for them.
– Applies metaphors intelligently to get new
ideas across
– Constructs interesting ‘stories’ to take
stakeholder groups through complex issues
• Anti-Behaviours
– Assuming the wrong level of knowledge
and either patronising or baffling the
recipients as a result
– Unfocused broadcasting of information
– Providing insufficient context or assuming
too much prior knowledge
– Failing to motivate recipients sufficiently to
participate in communication, or to act
upon it
– Mistiming communication so that
recipients won’t be receptive.
– Treating communication as a one-off
activity
Description: Can structure and target communication with different stakeholder
groups, identifying key messages, using appropriate channels and aiming at
specific outcomes

40. To Develop Competence,
Adopt a ‘Blended Learning’ Approach
• Team Workshops
• Bespoke consultancy support
• Training Courses
• Individual Work-based learning
activities
• Reading Groups
• Coaching & Mentoring
• Communities of Practice
• Action Learning Sets 40
Use these ideas to design a picture of competence and a
behavioural toolkit for self-assessment and development in
your context.
Encourage individuals and groups to develop their own
blended learning strategies.

41. The idea of the ‘T-shaped’ designer has
been around for a while, promoted by IDEO
41
DISPOSITION FOR COLLABORATION ACROSS DISCIPLINES
DEPTHOFCORESKILL
http://chiefexecutive.net/ideo-ceo-tim-brown-t-shaped-stars-the-backbone-of-ideoae%E2%84%A2s-collaborative-culture/

42. For Architects, we can contrast T-shaped
with I-Shaped or Crossbar-shaped profiles
42
The ‘Broken comb’-shaped person
The ‘Crossbar’-shaped person
The I-shaped person
The Pi-shaped person

43. 43
Summary: developing a competency model
for a job family in an organisation
Understand Context
• Architecture
purpose, products
& process
• Practical Issues
and needs
• Working Group
Define Roles
Define Competencies
Engage Stakeholders
Identify Learning Activities
Plan implementation
•Role Type descriptions
•Job Templates
•Competency model
(Knowledge, skills,
behaviours)
•Blended learning
programme
External Best
Practice
Internal Competency
Framework
Internal Training
Support

44. ‘Soft’ Skills
44

45. 5 Areas of Behavioural Competency for Enterprise Architects
45
Establishes
changes needed
and energises and
influences others
towards achieving
them without having
the authority to do
so.
Takes on new ideas
and knowledge. Helps
others to develop
architectural capability
Thinks conceptually
and practically, with a
repertoire of
approaches for
assessing and
improving situations
Works well with
range of people
across
organizational
boundaries.
Facilitates groups
to resolve issues
and co-create
results.
COMMUNICATION
CHANGE
LEADERSHIP
LEARNING
FLEXIBLE
THINKING
COLLABORATION
Interacts effectively with different
types of people, listening with an
open mind and putting across own
thoughts, ideas and points of view
clearly and convincingly

46. Specific Behavioural Competencies within the 5 Areas
46
COMMUNICATION
CHANGE
LEADERSHIP
LEARNINGFLEXIBLE
THINKING
•Information Seeking
•Dialogue
•Communications
Planning
•Presentation
•Content Creation
•Credibility &
Influence
•Direction-Setting
•Action-
Orientation
•Change Planning
•Self-Development
•Knowledge-Sharing
•Community
Leadership
•Coaching/Mentoring
•Sense-Making
•Inquiry Design
•Synthesis
•Decision-Making
•Creativity &
Innovation
•Relationship
Building
•Team Working
•Facilitation
•Conflict
Resolution
COMMUNICATION
CHANGE
LEADERSHIP
LEARNING
FLEXIBLE
THINKING
COLLABORATION

47. Challenge: Architects may not be ‘wired’
for soft skills
47
• ‘Systematizing’ is the drive to
analyse, explore and construct a
system
• ‘Empathizing’ is the drive to
identify another person’s emotions
and thoughts and respond
appropriately
• The male brain is predominantly
hard-wired for understanding &
building systems
• The female brain is predominantly
hard-wired for empathy
• In some individuals, systematizing
and empathizing are equally
strong (Balanced Brain)
Simon Baron-Cohen
Author of “The Essential Difference”

48. Personality Profiling helps develop
Behavioural Competencies
48
Behavioural Competencies
Personality Traits
Effects of personality on behaviour :
• How you respond to people
• How you process information
• How you make decisions
• How you react to conflict
• How you deal with stressful situations
Personality:
• A set of observable factors
• Moderately stable in an individual
over time (though can be adapted to
context)
• Differentiates between individuals

49. Benefits of Personality Profiling
• Provides a language to discuss behaviour
• Helps us understand ourselves and other
people better
• Helps us build rapport and influence
• Helps us recognise the value of diversity
• Helps us manage conflict
• Helps us work collaboratively and co-
create results
49

50. How Personality Profiling can contribute to
competency development
50
Designing
Communications
Stakeholder
Analysis
Motivating people
to change
Increasing Self-
Awareness
Coaching &
Feedback
Applying
different
styles of
thinking
Creativity &
Innovation
Resolving
Conflict
Designing
Workshops
Putting Teams
together
COMMUNICATION
CHANGE
LEADERSHIP
LEARNING
FLEXIBLE
THINKING
COLLABORATION

51. Criticisms of personality profiling
• Seen as labels or pigeonholes
• Seen as pseudo-scientific
• Not rich enough to capture variety
• May be used to excuse or mis-
diagnose issues or patterns of
behaviour
51

52. The ‘Jungian’ Model of Personality
52
INFJ INFP ISTJ ISFJ
ENFJ ENFJ ESTJ ESFJ
INTJ INTP ISTP ISFP
ENTJ ENTP ESTP ESFP
Myers-Briggs test attempts
to measure these, but it is not
scientifically rigorous
Introversion Extroversion
iNtuition Sensing
Feeling Thinking
Judging Perceiving

53. ‘Big 5’ Personality Traits (OCEAN)
53
Openness
- +
Conscientiousness
- +
Extraversion
- +
Agreeableness
- +
Neuroticism
- +

54. The Lumina Spark portrait provides a much
richer model and language to understand
behaviour
• Based on solid
research
• 3 Levels (Colours,
Aspects, Qualities)
• Measures 24
qualities
independently
• Uses meaningful,
neutral language
• 3 different ‘personas’
• Avoids labelling
people
54www.luminalearning.com

55. spontaneous
imaginative
sociable
adaptable
collaborative
intimate
takes charge
competitive
purposeful
observing
evidence-based
reliable
YellowGreen
RedBlue
The top level of Lumina Spark: A simple 4-colour model

56. The 4 Colours– Under Pressure
YellowGreen
RedBlue
Impulsive
Disorganised
Excitable
Reliant
Unassertive
Passive
Driven
Aggressive
Controlling
Suspicious
Indecisive
Bureaucratic

57. 8 Aspects and 24 Qualities provide richer detail
Qualities,
or traits
Aspects

58. Inspiration
Driven
Adaptable
Flexible
Spontaneous
Discipline
Driven
Purposeful
Structured
Reliable
Extraverted
Sociable
Demonstrative
Takes Charge
Introverted
Observing
Measured
Intimate
Big Picture
Thinking
Conceptual
Imaginative
Radical
Down to
Earth
Practical
Evidence-Based
Cautious
People
Focused
Accommodating
Collaborative
Empathetic
Tough
Competitive
Logical
Outcome
Focused
Aspects/Qualities are measured independently

59. EXAMPLE: Increasing Self-Awareness.
Qualities expressed as word cloud
59

60. EXAMPLE: Communicating a new initiative,
covering all the colours
Practicalities
• What will it actually
look like?
• How do we know that
it will work?
• What are the risks?
• Does it fit with what’s
going on elsewhere?
Action
• What are the business
benefits?
• What do we need to do to
make change happen?
• When will it happen?
People
• Who is the Sponsor?
• Who are the stakeholders?
• What will be the impact
on each stakeholder
group?
Vision
• What are the key ideas
and concepts?
• Will this be innovative and
exciting?
• Will it be good for me?

61. Early Impressions - average scores for a
small sample of architects
61
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Intimate
Accommodating
Collaborative
Empathetic
Adaptable
Flexible
Spontaneous
Conceptual
Imaginative
Radical
Sociable
Demonstrative
Takes Charge
Tough
Competitive
Logical
Purposeful
Structured
Reliable
Practical
Evidence-based
Cautious
Observing
Measured
Ave

62. Numbers in top/bottom 20% of population
62
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
High
Low

63. Team Effectiveness
63

64. Elements of Team effectiveness
64
Group Commitments
Team Methods
Local Team Dynamics
& Knowledge-Sharing
Team Values and
Norms
Responsibilities and
Engagement model
What’s expected
of us?
What specific
ways of working
do we adopt?
What is our role within
the organization and
who do we connect
with?
How do we support
and challenge each
other?
How do we fit in with
each other?
How are we percieved?
Practice Teams
Task Teams

65. Key Factors to consider when putting an
Architecture team together
• Leadership
– Self-managed?
• Team Composition
– Coverage of competencies
– Representation of interests
– Personality types
– Role preferences (Belbin)
– Full-time/Part-time
• Task/Role distribution
– Balance of individual/collective tasks
– Rhythm & Tempo of activity
• Designing Collaboration Processes
– Adapting known approaches
• External relationships
• Technology support for Collaboration
65

66. How Personality Profiles can help Team
Effectiveness





Do we have
a gap?
Opposites:
complementary or
annoying? A
language for talking
about behaviour in
a non-judgemental
way.
Are people doing
tasks to which
they are best
suited?
Awareness of each
other’s
communication
preferences.

67. Participatory Design – creating a shared
space….
• …where all
stakeholders can
visualise the future
• …in a common
language that
everyone
understands
67

68. Increasingly, each architecture project is
unique and often feels more like a voyage
of discovery
“A fuzzy goal is one that motivates the general direction of the work, without
blinding the team to opportunities along the journey. …… Balance focus and
serendipity, and coordinate team and individual goals”
(Source: Gamestorming [1])

69. Books to help you with Participatory
Design
69
The best solutions are when the people with
the problem become the people with the
solution
(The heretic’s guide to Best Practices p,131)

70. The Role of the
Architecture Leader
• Ensures compelling vision for Architecture exists
and sets clear priorities
• Gets sponsors and funding for Architecture
• Good networker - provides company intelligence
to teams
• Stops teams getting bogged down in detail -
produce 80/20 results rather than strive for
perfection
• Publicises team successes intelligently
• Doesn’t need to be a great architect
• Needs to be technically literate, but not technically
skilled
70

71. Finally……don’t forget!
• Anthropology
comes before
Architecture
• Balance working
IN your practice
with working ON
your practice
• Have Fun!
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