Strong Technical Leadership

Today's global economy demands strong technical leadership, the kind that can only be provided by enterprise architects. Many organizations have been led astray by the focus on putting project managers into leadership positions. It would be great if an organization could be successful simply by having a plan of action that is drilled into project managers through high-cost courseware and certifications. Sadly, this is not the reality. Project management is important, but strong technical leadership from enterprise architects is even more important.

Enterprise architecture overlaps many project management disciplines, but with a fundamental difference. Enterprise architects focus on teams and improve the way they interact, solve problems, and work effectively instead of worrying about project plans (e.g., comprehensive documentation). Leadership in the technology sector is a rare commodity.

Fundamentally, it is easier to lead others if they believe you have walked in their shoes before. The vast majority of enterprise architects retain working knowledge of the systems over which they have stewardship. The same cannot be said of the masses of project managers. Organizations would be well served by adjusting their HR processes to incorporate the hiring and promotion of strong technical leaders.

Architects have the sole responsibility for dealing with constructive disruptive technologies such as the Internet, wireless, and so on. In essence, they become the solutions architect for many business problems. Typically, management does not impose a solution because it fears losing developers or, even worse, does not care enough about the practice to enforce a solution. Only an enterprise architect can assume this role.

Technical leadership influences the responses of others in the enterprise to the demands of adaptive change. Leaders should be empowered and bear sole responsibility for people who are managing processes with well-defined techniques. An enterprise architect should be in charge of influencing people performing technical functions, whether for a single project or an ongoing operation.