And a very special ‘good evening’ to all my friends in Northern Ireland
In the dying days of John Major’s government, there was a wonderful, satirical programme Spitting Image, which ruthlessly lampooned political and cultural figures. At the end of every show, a puppet of Major would pop up and “wish all of his friends in Northern Ireland a particularly good evening.”
Major’s government was in serious trouble and his ‘only’ viable survival option was to solicit support from the Ulster Unionists under Jim Molyneaux.
Major had many challenges:
- To get through any key legislation before the end of the Parliament
- To avoid the government falling due to a ‘lack of confidence motion’
- To ‘go to the public’ for re-election at a time of his choosing, rather than being driven by New Labour’s timetable
- To keep the Ulster Unionists on-side, at a time of secret (and not so secret) talks with Irish republicans
- To fight off internal division and attempted coups
Major’s position was not enviable, and to some extent many Enterprise Architects will recognise (metaphorical) similarities with the challenges they face on a day-to-day basis, for example:
- Coalitions, some of which are toxic and based on self-interest
- Lobbyists – I jokingly equate the ‘data architecture lobby’ (warehouse is king) as having all of the vigour, influence and tactical sophistication of the tobacco lobby
- Side deals – ‘agreed and minuted in one meeting’, changed in the corridor with no communications as to what, why, when, where and by whom
- ‘No confidence’ votes – I don’t like the decision, therefore I don’t like/trust the decision maker, therefore he/she must be removed
- Three line whip – in the dying days of a weak government, enforcing the whip is complex. If the writing is on the wall and the decision may affect single constituencies (or business domains), re-election will not be aided by siding with (perhaps laudable, yet) unpopular policy
- Defection and floating voters – as confidence evaporates, defection and ‘flip-flopping’ fuels confusion and stifles any potential for progress
- You may also see leadership challenges, and what I refer to as the “Two Degrees of Separation Anti Pattern”, where ‘next least senior person’ is the villain – i.e. blame it on the Junior Minister, or better still an expendable advisor.
What conclusions can be drawn from these observations?
- Enterprise Architecture functions should operate like strong, confident governments
- There should be an Enterprise Architecture manifesto
- Successful delivery of manifesto pledges should be communicated
- Failure to deliver manifesto pledges should be explained
- There should be a ‘programme for government’ – i.e. what will be delivered and when
- There should be regular surgeries with constituents (i.e.business stakeholders)
- You should not ‘go to war’ on the basis of a ‘dodgy dossier’ (the definitive Blairite Anti Pattern)
- You should have a thought through domestic policy (internal EA) and foreign policy (partners, suppliers etc.)
- You should recognise austerity challenges and work with others in innovative ways
The Anti Pattern Codified
Anti Pattern Name: [Weak government, weak governance.]
Type: [Management, Leadership.]
Forces: [Organisational politics, resistance to change, weak leadership, poor communications, toxic coalitions.]
Context: [Governance of architectural decisions, setting direction, ensuring subordinate functions apply policy appropriately.]
Resulting Context: [Factions, deferred decision making, unpopular policy ignored, individualism, defensiveness, coalitions built on “my enemy’s enemy is my friend”, take-over bids, ‘retreat to the bunker’ mentality from those under threat, nose diving communications and trust.]
Solutions: [Appoint the ‘right lead architect’, set-out clear policy statements, communicate regularly with constituents and opinion formers, publish simple and clear manifesto, highlight successes and explain why policies have not been delivered or are not delivering.]
