The Enterprise Is The Story

The enterprise is the storyTom Graves, Tetradian Consulting

Australasian Enterprise Architecture ConferenceSydney, 19 October 2015

Hi. I’m Tom Graves.

(enterprise-architect, business-anarchist, confusionist, nuisance, that kind of stuff…)

“What’s the story?”Why enterprise-architecture?

What isenterprise-architecture?

(lots of arguments about this…)

…it’s the architectureof the enterprise.

What isenterprise-architecture?

(yeah, I know, kinda obvious, really…)

…why enterprise-architecture?

Perhaps more usefully…

(what’s the point? why bother?)

“Enterprise architecture is doneto build better enterprises,

not merely better IT systems.”

One useful suggestion…

(Pallab Saha: ePragati)[Andhra Pradesh State Enterprise Architecture]

…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:

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)


Yet to understand the IT-infrastructure(TOGAF versions 1-7)

we need to understand the applicationsand the data in those applications…

(TOGAF version 8)


…to understand the applications and data(TOGAF version 8)

we need to understand the business useand meaning of the data…

(TOGAF version 8.1)


…to understand the business use of data(TOGAF version 8.1)

we need to understand quite a bit moreabout the business itself…

(TOGAF version 9)


…and to understand the business(TOGAF version 9)

we need to understand the broader contextin which the business operates…

(TOGAF X, we hope?)


…because, in short,

everything in the enterprisedepends on everything else

(yes – even the IT)


…which gives us the real reasonfor enterprise-architecture:

things work betterwhen they work together,

on purpose.

(kinda straightforward, yes?)

…what isenterprise?

Yet to understandenterprise-architecture,

we also need to ask…

…enterprise is…

In classical economics…

…“a bold endeavour…the animal-spirits of

the entrepreneur”

CC-BY-ND archaeon via Flickr

…it’s about people,doing things, together…

CC-BY-SA Nationalmuseet via Flickr

…but where are the peoplein the usual EA story?


Hmm…

CC-BY-ND-SA ores2k via Flickr

Zachman has a ‘Who’ column…

CC-BY-NC-SA knnkanda via Flickr

…but it’s mainly about ‘users’…

…who somehow seem to look like this.

CC-BY justin pickard via Flickr

TOGAF does talk about…

Graphic: © The Open Group

…but again,people here are mostly described as ‘users’…

RequirementsManagement

G.Governance

and Compliance

E.Opportunities

andSolutions

C.Develop

Data / Apps Architecture

A.ArchitectureScope and Purpose

Preliminary:Framework,

Principles and Core Content

H.Architecture

Change Management

B.Develop

Business Architecture

D.Develop

TechnologyArchitecture

F.Migration Planning

‘Business Architecture’…

…who somehow seem to look like this.


In Business Model Canvas…

CC-BY Alex Osterwalder / Alan Smith et al

…we do have ‘Customer Segments’…

…who can even look like real people…

CC-BY Fretro via Flickr

…but inside the organisation…

CC-BY Alex Osterwalder / Alan Smith et al

…in ‘Key Activities’ and ‘Key Resources’…

…we’re back to ‘users’ again…


…at best, possibly-human…

CC-BY Vlima.com via Flickr

…or maybe not…

CC-BY aleutia via Flickr

In any case, a lot more like this…


…than like this.CC-BY andré luís via Flickr

So how come it’s so differentto outside

when they’re often the same people?

from inside

Hmm…

CC-BY-ND-SA ores2k via Flickr

…gonna hafta think about this…

CC-BY-ND alexsemenzato via Flickr

“What’s the story?”What’s the story?

(a favourite book)

“Two points of view on architecture”

•Architecture is an exercise in truthA proper building is responsible to universal knowledge and is wholly honest in the expression of its functions and materials

•Architecture is an exercise in narrativeArchitecture is a vehicle for the telling of stories, a canvas for relaying societal myths, a stage for thetheatre of everyday life

Chapter 84, in Matthew Frederick, 101 Things I Learned In Architecture School, MIT Press, 2007

•Architecture is an exercise in truthA proper building is responsible to universal knowledge and is wholly honest in the expression of its functions and materials

•Architecture is an exercise in narrativeArchitecture is a vehicle for the telling of stories, a canvas for relaying societal myths, a stage for thetheatre of everyday life

The TL;DR version...

- architecture is about structure

- architecture is about story

Current EA emphasises structure...

So, here’s a structure...

CC-BY Avodrocc via Flickr

It’s called the Sambadromo...


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...

CC-BY Boban021 via Flickr

...here, the story of Carnaval.

CC-BY sfmission via Flickr

For this city, a huge shared-story...


Full of colour, sound, spectacle...


...and occasional extremes...


But it’s more aboutexuberance, and pride...


The young(er)...


The old(er)...


The whole community...


Yet when the party’s over,and it’s time to head home…

CC-BY otubo via Flickr

Someone must be there to clean up...- because that’s part of the story too.

CC-BY jorgeBRAZIL via Flickr

Process, assets, data, locations....- all the usual structure-stuff......all those necessary details of organisation.


Organisation focusses on structure


yet the enterprise is the story.

The structure happens because of the story.

Structures may be re-used for other stories,

but the structure itself is not the story.

CC-BY SheilaTostes via Flickr

A key task of enterprise-architectureis to rememberand design for that fact,

Architecture is about structure.Architecture is also about story.We need both, to make it all happen.

maintaining the balancebetween structure and story.

“What’s the story?”Who’s in the story?

Whose architecture?

Some of the ‘cast’ - stakeholders - in the Carnaval story.

“An architecturedescribes 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

“We create an architecturefor an organisation,

but about an enterprise.”Tom Graves, Mapping the Enterprise, Tetradian, 2010

Whose architecture?


“An organisation is bounded byrules, roles and responsibilities;

an enterprise is bounded byvision, values and commitments.”

Tom Graves, Mapping the Enterprise, Tetradian, 2010

Whose architecture?


A useful guideline: “The enterprise in scope

should be three steps largerthan the organisation in scope.”

Tom Graves, Mapping the Enterprise, Tetradian, 2010

Whose architecture?

Whose story?

If the organisation says it ‘is’ the enterprise,there’s no shared-story - and often, no story at all.

Whose story?

The minimum real enterprise is the supply-chain - a story of shared transactions.

Whose story?

The organisation and enterprise of the supply-chaintake place within a broader organisation of the market.

Whose story?

The market itself exists within a context of ‘intangible’ interactions with the broader shared-enterprise story.

A stakeholder in the storyis anyonewho can wielda sharp-pointed stakein 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…)

“Customers do not appearin 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.

“What’s the story?”A vision for the story

…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’)

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”

Concern: the focus of interest to everyone in the shared-enterprise

“Ideas worth spreading”

CC-BY UK DFID via Flickr


Action: what is being done to

or with or aboutthe concern

CC-BY US Army Africa via Flickr


Qualifier:the emotive

driver for actionon the concern

CC-BY HDTPCAR via Flickr

concern – action – qualifier?

So, what isthe vision for Carnaval?

To be honest,I don’t know…


but I can seeit’s about joy,exuberance, and pride...


for the young(er)...


for the old(er)...


for the whole community...


that it involves the whole city...


…with some limits to its extremes…


as a partyfor everyone…


And that those who clean up afterward(because that’s also part of the story)…


would have been in the party too.

Supporting it all, there’s structure…

CC-BY otubo via Flickr

and anything else it may need…


The vision enacted as story.

…the enterprise as the story.

The visionguides the enterprise…

…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:

“What’s the story?”Whose enterpriseis it, anyway?


Who owns Carnaval?

Whose enterprise?

All of these are stakeholders in the enterprise of Carnaval.

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)

Whose enterprise?

Stakeholders and their respective business-drivers.

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)

“What’s the story?”Tracing the storyline

“Process is the use of structure (the organisation view)

Plot is the unfolding of story(the enterprise view)”


Process and plot

“Each traverse througha business-process

is a self-contained storywith its own actors, actions

and events”


Process as story

The story-cycle

(adapted from classic Group Dynamics project-lifecycle and VPEC-T framework)

(Start here)

Where’s the story?


“Story is everywherein enterprise-architecture

(once you know where to look)”

CC-BY AllBrazilian via Wikimedia

process-volume...

(look! – technology in use!)

capability-development...


business-scenario...

CC-BY ~ggvic~ via Flickr

use-case...

CC-BY fairfaxcounty via Flickr

resource-management...

CC-BY Jack Zalium via Flickr

transaction...

CC-BY quaziefoto via Flickr

exchange-protocol...

CC-BY Alicia Nijdam via Flickr

governance...

CC-BY-SA adriagarcia via Flickr

system-overload...

CC-BY rodrigofranca via Flickr

standards...

and risks...


customer-experience...

CC-BY elbragon via Flickr

...customer-journey?

“Customers do not appearin 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.

“What’s the story?”What kind of story?

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.)

The strategy-cycle

(overall cycle and relationships need to be kept in balance)

The market-cycle

(transactions depend on (reaffirmed) reputation and trust)

The story-cycle

(Start here)

The market-cycle

(transactions depend on (reaffirmed) reputation and trust)

boundary of ‘market’in conventional

business-models

??

??

??

??

‘Quick-money’ failure-cycle

(incomplete short-cutafter transaction-profit

slowly erodes trust / respect,breaks continuity of market-cycle)

“What’s the story?”Staging the story

Technology

CC-BY-SA xdxd_vs_xdxd via Flickr

Process

People

Stage

CC-BY-SA xdxd_vs_xdxd via Flickr

Scene

Actor

ActorStage

Stage

Stage

StageStage

Scene

Scene

“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…

Scenes in the story

Split story into identifiable scenes, with begin, middle, end

CC-BY TheArches via Flickr

Scenes in the story

Process-story as identifiable scenes, with begin, middle, end

Show, don’t tell

Each line of action drives the story forwardCC-BY TheArches via Flickr

Show, don’t tell

Each line of action drives the story forwardCC-BY-ND Kecko via Flickr

The role of props

Each item has its place, and drives the story onward

CC-BY TheArches via Flickr

Each item has its place, and drives the story onward

CC-BY-ND Kecko via Flickr

The role of props

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

Stories of change

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

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…

A real exampleMajor business-transformation project (c.5 years, US$100mil)

Model developed by and provided courtesy of Ondrej Gálik

The ‘burning land’…

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’

Out to sea…

Arriving in the new land…

“What’s the story?”Describing the story


Most current EA toolsetsare for design of static structures...


...yet we also need our tools to support the story.

“A challenge to vendors ofEA toolsets: we need

stronger support for story within our EA tools:

images, audio, video and more.”


Supporting the story

From structure to story

(Published variants of Business Model Canvas)Alex Osterwalder / Alan Smith and others (cc) 2012






“Business Model Canvas In 2 Minutes” (YouTube: http://youtu.be/QoAOzMTLP5s )Alex Osterwalder / Alan Smith / businessmodeltv and others (cc) 2012

http://youtu.be/QoAOzMTLP5s

Often excellent on structure...

Solution-architect’s toolset

...but where’s the story?

– pen and paper

…which might explain whythe most-used EA tools are:

– whiteboard– just plain talking with people,

sharing stories

CC-BY-SA MattHurst via Flickr

Enterprise-architect’s toolset

we needbetter toolsets

As enterprise-architects,

forbetter stories!

“What’s the story?”A coda to this story…

CC-BY Amanda M Hatfield via Flickr

A gentle warning…

CC-BY-NC-ND Chris Blakely via Flickr

literally, ‘the godout of the machine’…

CC-BY-NC-ND datmater via Flickr

…do you seethe person first,or the machine?

CC-BY-NC Drew Shannon via Flickr

…do you seethe person first,or the machine?

“it’s not not about the technology”– Andrew McAfee

Sure, the technologyis an important ‘enabler’…

it’s about the enterprise

Yet it should never be about technology itself…

– about people andtheir enterprise

“Enterprise architecture is doneto build better enterprises,

not merely better IT systems.”

Remember that earlier suggestion…

(Pallab Saha: ePragati)[Andhra Pradesh State Enterprise Architecture]

Guard againstthat tendency to worship the machine…

CC-BY burnaway via Flickr

…lest we ourselves become machines…CC-BY-ND tburns via Flickr

Our ‘users’ aren’t mere extensionsof the machine…


…they’re people…CC-BY-SA Nationalmuseet via Flickr

…people like us.CC-BY andré luís via Flickr

Stage.

Actors.

The architecture of the enterprise.

Scenes.

…people are the story.

People are the enterprise…

The enterprise as story.

What’s the story?So wherever we are in architecture,

we also need to be able to describe...wherever we see structure,


“What’s the story?” “What’s the story?”“What’s the storyfor your enterprise?”

What’s the story?Enterprise architecture…


enterprise as story…

Contact: Tom Graves

Company: Tetradian Consulting

Email: [email protected]

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:

mailto:[email protected]

http://twitter.com/tetradian

http://weblog.tetradian.com/

http://www.slideshare.net/tetradian

http://tetradianbooks.com/