Appendix B. Practical Considerations

I have three precious things which I hold fast and prize. The first is gentleness; the second is frugality; the third is humility, which keeps me from putting myself before others. Be gentle and you can be bold; be frugal and you can be liberal; avoid putting yourself before others and you can become a leader among men.

Lao-Tzu (604 531 B.C.), Chinese philosopher and founder of Taoism

Many books that present architecture-related topics always have some mention of best practices. This book is no different. One thing missing from many of the other books is guidance on how best practices should be propagated throughout an organization.

We found an old copy of the "Systems Thinker," newsletter from 1997 that discussed putting best practices into practice. Back then, the notion of being agile was not even a thought in the minds of the founding fathers of the movement. Borrowing some of the concepts presented in this newsletter, we have adjusted for today's enterprise architecture. Following are several methods in which learning organizations can start the process of sharing best practices in an agile manner:

1. Publish the business case. Evangelists of best practices should be able to clearly articulate answers to questions such as "What problem or opportunity does this initiative address in terms of the organization's larger goals?

2. Adapt the practice to fit local conditions. What was successful in one situation may result in a total failure in another. It is vital to refine the essence of the best practice by defining a complete description that details the level of abstraction. This should point out whether it is the process or the product that is at the root of the practice. Of course, in the spirit of remaining agile, this should not turn into a large documentation exercise.

3. Understand how your practice really works. Many practices contain hidden individual and team knowledge associated with it. Sometimes, the creation and success of a practice are tied directly to specific team dynamics and those highly motivated individuals who promote the success of the practice. In many situations, the best practice may turn out to prefer individuals and interactions to processes and tools.

4. Collaboration must be part of the organizational culture. The vast majority of large enterprises prevent the development and adoption of best practices based on their reward systems. Individuals will not be successful in making global changes in an organization's structure, but individuals can gain support for acceptance of changes by attaching a new practice to an ongoing activity. Ideally, the IT senior leadership team will adopt an IT governance approach to solving this problem.

5. Don't allow the jewels to get lost in the computer. Many organizations think about best practices occurring in the form of repositories, which results in massive documentation. This approach reduces access to best practices. The focus should be on collaboration between matchmaker and information broker, which is the only action that will result in valuable best practice riches.