The short answer is; someone who has no idea of how great the odds of any chance of success. This may seem a little facetious at first but it’s really pretty accurate. The two most common attributes of an Enterprise Architect are enthusiasm and passion so most good EA’s never stop to consider failure.
As I mentioned a good EA is a very enthusiastic individual with a great deal of passion, dedication and commitment. They are credible and have a strong belief that it can be done and that they can do it.
The EA sees the entire initiative from a very broad perspective that is based on the business plans, models and direction. Many schools of thought usually say a good EA is technologically agnostic. I disagree with this because the process, when executed correctly, will bring the organization to the correct outcome. It’s very much like Hoshin planning in that it’s the process that is important and when followed will ensure arrival at the right destination.
A good EA is articulate and patient, they will spend a great deal of time training, communicating and educating in general. This is very important because they have to communicate well at the executive level but, at the same time, be able to mentor junior architects. They are always a change agent so they are often an empathetic and approachable person.
EA’s have the ability to make rapid mental transitions. They can participate in a high level strategic planning session with C level executives and moments later have a detailed technical discussion about project specific items such as technology standards.
Good Enterprise Architects don’t have a personal agenda, they are committed to the success of the process and the organization. They are usually very practical, pragmatic and tolerant and work well at abstract levels.
Facilitation is another characteristic of an Enterprise Architect. When it comes to any aspect of technology planning and implementation there are always strong feelings involved and good facilitation skills are a fundamental requirement of success.
Enterprise Architects obviously are good teachers but they are also good students. I’ve never know a successful EA that ever wanted to stop learning, even outside the technical arena.
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