In a recent discussion with a colleague, the relevance and effectiveness of Business Architecture artifacts like capability maps, value streams and organizational maps were the topic of discussion. His belief was that these artifacts were just a way to do drawings that document what has been done. I might add that he is a disillusioned Enterprise Architect, as most of the projects he was assigned just needed him to document the project result in TOGAF or DoDAF.
That got me thinking about what a capability map or value stream map really means. Is it just a document? To some, maybe, but to me the maps are the culmination of a journey through the business. I know two of the terms every business architect is familiar with are the as-is state and the to-be state as if those are the only two points that mean anything. In my opinion, the artifacts and the as-is/to-be states are only stops along a continuum of discovery. The real work is in determining the business need, finding the path to improvement then working toward a positive outcome.
In the beginning, I look for the business needs. Don’t expect it to be easy to find, you must discover it. Why change something if everything if perfect? Does the organization have a problem that they just can’t solve the same way? After being submersed in the organization, it becomes difficult for leaders and resources alike to imagine a different way of doing business and a different look. I’ve seen countless cases where leaders believe a tweak here or there is all that is needed and everything will fall into place. Unfortunately, many just find marginal success.
The other issue that keeps cropping up is that the need most likely isn’t a technical problem to solve. It’s a people problem. Understanding people’s needs is not an exact science like the physics of printing 1000 sheets of paper versus 100. The most difficult part of this is communicating how a change will improve people’s situation and benefit the company. That’s the first place where Business Architecture artifacts come into play. They are a great tool for describing what’s happening and, more importantly, why. It should get people talking about how to make it better, not just be a piece of artwork.
The next part is the path forward. Ok, you found the need, but how do you solve it? Getting from point A to point B isn’t as simple as saying “This is how it’s going to be.” Do you throw more people at it? Make the process more efficient? You already know you are going to disrupt people’s jobs. Bringing them on this journey is one of the best ways to help them make the transition. Having a capability map or value stream map gives you a tool to discuss what’s happening. That dialog is what defines the path, not the artifact.
If your audience doesn’t understand what you present, the dialog will never happen and dissent begins to creep into your transformation. If someone doesn’t get it, you must take the time to explain it. If the diagram you created doesn’t make things clearer, set it aside and find something that does make sense to the viewer. Always remember you’re dealing with people, not drawing cute little boxes. Capability maps and value stream maps aren’t necessarily intuitive. If, after a quick introduction to business architecture diagrams you still get blank stares, unfortunately, you need to do something else. It doesn’t mean the diagrams don’t have value to you. It’s kind of like when playing Pictionary, if your teammate doesn’t understand what the wavy line you drew means, forcefully pointing to it and then drawing another wavy line just like it won’t get you any closer to them guessing “frequency.”
Finally, you need to have an agreed upon outcome. Without knowing what the outcome should be, how would you ever know you got there? And just as importantly, if the direction I choose wasn’t the right direction, I need to adjust. To-be diagrams are great, don’t get me wrong, but don’t lose sight of the fact that you will need to adapt your maps as you move from as-is to to-be. When you believe that the diagram IS the valuable asset, versus the change you are describing, you are headed for disaster.
As Eric Ries put it in his book “The Lean Startup”, the future state is an educated guess at the future and is full of assumptions. For any business architect to be successful at transforming the business, you have to understand the assumptions made in the process. Guess what? A lot of those assumptions will turn out to be wrong. My recommendation to aspiring business architects is to learn the artifacts of business architecture to use as a tool. However, the real work is in understanding the business and helping the business to change for the better.
To be effective and successful is not about creating the most comprehensive or best organized maps and diagrams, it’s about understanding the business needs, following a path to discovery and then driving toward a positive outcome.
