The role of “Architect” is sometimes frowned upon in the Agile community as a central command-and-control authority who bottlenecks decisions and limits team empowerment. Or at least, that is what we thought. Follow the real-life journey of our teams as we discovered how the role of an architect is compatible with Agile principles. We will explore our failures, and how we learned that an Architect can bring immense value to the organization through a focus on transformational leadership. In this presentation you can see how an Architect as Leader can help a project scale and can help create a truly self-sustaining organization.

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what is the role of an
architect in an agile
organization?
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The Agile Architect / October 2015

2. Information | Analytics | Expertise
© 2015 IHS @AGILECHRISYYC
Chris Edwards P.Eng., Senior Manager
Chris.Edwards@ihs.com
@AgileChrisYYC
THE AGILE ARCHITECT
Our Experience in Discovering a Successful Pattern
OCTOBER 2015

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Architecture
Approach 1:
Laissez Faire
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empowerment is more
than just taking your
hands off the wheel
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how do we incorporate
an architect…
without
sacrificing agile values?
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Wanted to avoid this:
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The Agile Architect / October 2015
Requirements
Design
Code
Test
Deploy

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And this:
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The Agile Architect / October 2015
cliparthut.com

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Architecture
Approach 2:
The Architecture
Scout
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The Agile Architect / October 2015
Architecture by Example
”“

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The Agile Architect / October 2015

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what if the
architect is
WRONG?
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The Agile Architect / October 2015

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how do you know
if the architect
is WRONG?
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The Agile Architect / October 2015
I thought you knew
something I didn’t
”
“

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The Agile Architect / October 2015
xkcd.com

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architect is a
leadership role
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The Agile Architect / October 2015
Image Source: worklifematters.netSpotify Engineering Videos

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how do I serve the
teams without telling
them what to do?
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The Agile Architect / October 2015

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Intent Based
Leadership
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Rob van Hilten, Flickr

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The Agile Architect / October 2015
Don’t move information to authority,
move authority to the information
”
“ David Marquet

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The Agile Architect / October 2015
These are the two pillars that need to be in place:
the technical competence …. and organization clarity.
And you put those things in place
and then you can give control.
”
“
David Marquet

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i intend to…
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The Agile Architect / October 2015

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The Agile Architect / October 2015
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Architecture
Approach 3:
The Architecture
Coach
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The Agile Architect / October 2015
Rob van Hilten, Flickr

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Daily Design Meeting • 30 minutes
• Technical lead from each team
• Discuss challenges that being encountered
• Exercise is repeated on the team that brought
the challenge
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questions
communicate
values
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Resist the urge to provide solutions.
”
“ David Marquet

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letting go is hard
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The Agile Architect / October 2015
organizations which design systems ... are constrained to
produce designs which are copies of the communication
structures of these organizations
”
“
M. Conway

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The Agile Architect / October 2015
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Architecture
Approach 3:
The Architecture
Coach
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The Agile Architect / October 2015
Rob van Hilten, FlickrCoaching Agile Teams, Lyssa Adkins

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Focus on Interests
Rather than Positions
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The Agile Architect / October 2015
Rob van Hilten, Flickr

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Design Steps • What is the problem you’re trying to solve?
• What solutions should we consider?
• What are the pros/cons of each solution?
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create a common framework
for resolving conflict
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disagreement is a
mechanism for
organizational clarity
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the end?
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something interesting
happened
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?

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do we still need an
architect?
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Final Architecture
Approach:
Architecting as a
Team
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Steve Jurvetson, Flickr

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Image Source: worklifematters.netSpotify Engineering Videos

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Summary • Empowerment is more than standing back
• Lead through intent
• Resist the urge to provide solutions
• Build relationships between teams
• Create a framework for disagreement
• Disagreement is a mechanism for
organizational clarity
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leadership skills are
vital to an architect’s
success
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Questions? Chris Edwards
Chris.Edwards@ihs.com
@AgileChrisYYC
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