People - who's that then?

You!

And you're brilliant.

In my opinion, you have to be, to be a good architect(*) - I believe the role of architect, be that specialised to IT, Business, Solution, Performance, Enterprise or whatever, is one of the hardest roles - if not the hardest in the industry.

(*) remember I am using "Architect to cover both "Architect" and "Solution Designer".

Of course I would say that wouldn't I... but think about it:

How different could our two sets of stakeholders be?!  Commercially driven Business execs to the left; deeply technical, technologically savvy detailed design specialists to the right - each expecting us to speak "their language" as we understand and help them solve their widely differing challenges - while we try to be effective and efficient between ourselves in our various roles endeavouring to communicate our architectures and designs clearly and unambiguously. 

How complex is our subject?  Could it be any more complex?!

• You need the technical skills to explain (formally or informally) some of the most challenging types of architecture and design I know: the challenge of IT systems is that so much is virtual and intangible - can you see software?  And we can only imagine data flows - the airflow through an aero-engine's compressor, combustion chamber and turbine is far more tangible.. seen and heard!
   
• How many dimensions do we need to get our heads around?  As far as I can tell, this blog is over 19,000 words long - and I'm not finished yet; and I'm only scratching the surface of...

• Enterprise and solution/system level thinking, for both architecture and design,
• The Architecture/Design of Business as much as IT (and their complex interlock),
• The cube's multiple thinking model viewpoints,
• The non-functional ("goodness") needs of a system, as well as its functional behaviour ("stuff done", whether done well or not).
   
• And to cap it all, the highest levels of inter-personal soft skills, which I suspect can often be more challenging for us - certainly on many occassions more important than our technical expertise!

In other words, you are amazing!  Which is why the qualifications available today as an IS architect are so "Professional", and why architects tend to be older... sorry, more experienced than some other roles within our industry.

But one critical thing is still missing - "you" is not singular - it's plural!!
 

Which means I have  three "People" topics to discuss...

• The role(s) of Architects
•  The context(s) of our work
• Working in Teams