Banky For President

Learning is a necessary part of life. And it’s also something we all take for granted.

I mentioned prior that I’m going back to school. It’s a business professionals course with the Aji Network. I think, for me, it’s just another step in my quest for knowledge since my divorce. Thank the FSM that I was self-aware enough to know, back then, that I didn’t know anything. Originally, I quested for knowledge about myself, then I quested to know more about the universe, so business knowledge is an obvious next-path to walk.

My career has largely been a technical one. I’ve not been exposed much to marketing or what it takes to make offers to customers or clients. If I’m going to help lead a new business, that must change and the Aji Network comes highly recommended.

I never thought I would ever go back to school. My Very Significant Other, The Thunderbolt, is a teacher and was remarking to me just this evening about the amazing day she had at school. She had a great discussion in her class about a book, “Wringer,” that she is using to read to the kids. It’s not your typical 5th grade book and she is probably breaking some kind of rule by reading it to them. But she loves teaching and she loves pushing the envelope and, truth be told, the kids love it too. Her kids went home tonight knowing they learned something and when you learn, your universe grows. And as your universe grows, you feel a kinship with others that have knowledge too . . . almost like your part of some secret enlightened club. But learning because you HAVE to was almost like torture for me. Going to school for 12 years because I had to was something I COULDN’T WAIT to end. It’s not like that everywhere though.

For these kids, going to school is a way up and a way out. It allows them to participate and feel a part of a big beautiful world that needs people with knowledge to make a difference.

Banky’s note: I was exposed to this video via @lacajag with the CFCA (Christian Foudation for Children and Aging). This organization works individually with families in poverty to help the children go to school and put food on the table.

The most confusing role within an IT organization is the Architect. Most people aren’t really sure what they do. And there is a really good reason for that.

There are lots of really bad architects.

A good architect is part guardian, part ninja, part wizard, part consigliere and usually very very charming (okay maybe only in my case). They act on behalf of IT and the company to keep costs low but capability high. They are the strategy arm of IT and as such, they make recommendations that steer the company’s technical capabilities for the future and beyond.

I work in a fairly evolved IT organization. Part of being enlightened is knowing that you aren’t and, as an organization, we know enough to know our strengths and weaknesses. I recently visited with another IT organization that is a bit farther down the pyramid of Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs. They aren’t sure what their architects do. They invite the architects to meetings but they never show up. They visit the architects, ask them to make recommendations on moving forward and never hear back from them. As such, software gets built and there is no governance available to ensure code is re-used, or can be re-used in the future. And there is NO process for the architects to act as a checkpoint as software moves throughout its lifecycle.

So the architects sit around and wonder why won’t anyone listen to them. . .

The best architects don’t sit around and wait for people to come to them. They insert themselves into the process. They are in people’s faces wondering why they coded something one way when they were EXPLICITLY told to code it another. They remind the business to go focus on functionality and to let the architect worry about solutions. They act as counsel to the Account Managers of IT to educate them on what the horizontal solutions for the company are so that they can explain them to the business. The architects also recommend to the CIO where money can be saved and create plans for how that savings can occur for the next 2-5 years.

Remember, respect isn’t given, it’s earned. Just because you have the cool title, doesn’t mean people are going to fall down at your feet and ask for your opinion. If you want someone to hear your opinion, you might try giving it.

In short, Architects need to be the smartest people in the room. And good architects know they are.