The document discusses viewing enterprise architecture through a "people-oriented" lens that focuses on stories and narratives. It argues that the enterprise itself can be viewed as an overarching story comprised of smaller stories or processes. These stories take place on a "stage" defined by the technology infrastructure and context. Viewing enterprise architecture through this narrative or story-based framework helps highlight the role of people as actors within the enterprise.

1. Staging the story
a people-oriented view of EA
Tom Graves, Tetradian Consulting
Unicom EA Conference, London, September 2013
the futures of business

2. Hi.
I’m Tom.
(That’s all of the PR stuff out of the way...)

3. Yes, this is EA…
(well, part of it, anyway…)
CC-BY-SA MysteryBee via Flickr

4. …but where are the people
in this story?
(…because ‘enterprise’ is people…)
CC-BY-SA MysteryBee via Flickr

5. “The world is made of stories”
• The enterprise itself is a story –an overarching theme
• Enterprise as ongoing story of relations between people
– the actors of the story
• Enterprise-story comprised of smaller stories – the
scenes or story-lines (aka ‘processes’)
• Enterprise-story takes place in a setting – the stage and
its context (technology), location, props (artefacts) etc
• Stories thrive on conflict, tension and uncertainty – in
contrast to machines, which generally don’t…

6. Technology
CC-BY-SA xdxd_vs_xdxd via Flickr
Process
People

7. Stage
CC-BY-SA xdxd_vs_xdxd via Flickr
Scene
Actor
ActorStage
Stage
Stage
Stage
Stage
Scene
Scene

8. “Process is the use of structure
(the organisation view)
Plot is the unfolding of story
(the enterprise view)”
Tom Graves, The Enterprise As Story, Tetradian, 2012
Plot and process

9. “An organisation is bounded by
rules, roles and responsibilities;
an enterprise is bounded by
vision, values and commitments.”
Tom Graves, Mapping the Enterprise, Tetradian, 2010
Whose story?
Organisation aligns with structure, enterprise with story.
We need a balance of both for the architecture to work.

10. A useful guideline:
“The enterprise in scope
should be three steps larger
than the organisation in scope.”
Tom Graves, Mapping the Enterprise, Tetradian, 2010
Whose story?

11. Whose story?
If the organisation says it ‘is’ the enterprise,
there’s no shared-story - and often, no story at all.

12. Whose story?
The minimum real enterprise is the supply-chain
- a story of shared transactions.

13. Whose story?
The organisation and enterprise of the supply-chain take
place within a broader organisation of the market.

14. Whose story?
The market itself exists within a context of ‘intangible’
interactions with the broader shared-enterprise story.

15. A stakeholder
in the story
is anyone
who can wield
a sharp-pointed
stake
in your direction…
CC-BY-NC-SA evilpeacock via Flickr
Whose story?
(Hint: there are a lot
more of them than you
might at first think…)

16. Perspectives on the story
• Outside-out: Big-picture ‘world’, beyond even the market
• Outside-in: View from ‘outside’ into organisation
• Journey: Touchpoints between ‘outsider’ and organisation
• Inside-out: View from the organisation’s perspective
• Inside-in: View of the organisation to inside itself

17. Inside-in…
CC-BY Myrmi via Flickr
always
at risk of
drowning in
the detail…

18. Inside-out…
CC-BY – Paul – via Flickr
We create an architecture
for an organisation,
but about a broader enterprise.

19. Outside-in…
CC-BY Fretro via Flickr
“Customers
do not appear
in our processes,
we appear in
their experiences.”
Chris Potts, recrEAtion, Technics, 2010

20. CC-BY Matt Brown via Flickr
Outside-out…
There’s always a larger scope…

21. Inside-out? or outside-in?

22. “What’s the story?”
“A cast of thousands!”

23. Who are the actors?
CC-BY Mike Babcock via Flickr

24. Actors – the IT-view?
CC-BY jurvetson via Flickr

25. “Computer stole my face…”
CC-BY justin pickard via Flickr

26. A human view
CC-BY andré luís via Flickr

27. Actors – the human view?
CC-BY-SA izzard via Flickr

28. How we really think…
CC-BY Brett Jordan via Flickr

29. “What’s the story?”
“What’s the story?”

30. The structure of the story
CC-BY-SA Neil Cumming via Flickr

31. What kind of story?
SCRIPTED
(simple rules and checklists)
CC-BY The-Vikkodamus via Flickr CC-BY-SA seeminglee via Flickr
IMPROVISED
(guidelines and principles)
ANALYSED
(complicated algorithms)
ADAPTED
(complex patterns)

32. “Each traverse through
a business-process
is a self-contained story
with its own actors, actions
and events”
Tom Graves, The Enterprise As Story, Tetradian, 2012
Process as story

33. Scenes in the story
Split story into identifiable scenes, with begin, middle, end
CC-BY TheArches via Flickr

34. Scenes in the story
Process-story as identifiable scenes, with begin, middle, end

35. Show, don’t tell
Each line of action drives the story forward
CC-BY TheArches via Flickr

36. Show, don’t tell
Each line of action drives the story forward
CC-BY-ND Kecko via Flickr

37. The role of props
Each item has its place, and drives the story onward
CC-BY TheArches via Flickr

38. Each item has its place, and drives the story onward
CC-BY-ND Kecko via Flickr
The role of props

39. “What’s the stage
for the story?”

40. Staging the story
CC-BY-SA passer-by via Flickr
Infrastructure and systems etc as the stage

41. Staging the story
Infrastructure and systems etc as the stage
CC-BY-ND Costa Rica’s Call Center via Flickr

42. Visible and invisible
What needs to be behind the curtain? What in front?
CC-BY Mickey Thurman via Flickr

43. Visible and invisible
What state is that infrastructure in, behind the curtain?
CC-BY Princess Theatre via Flickr

44. Visible and invisible
What state is that infrastructure in, behind the curtain?
CC-BY-SA LanSmash via Flickr

45. Where is the story?
How does the stage describe the location of each scene?
CC-BY-SA Tim Evanson via Flickr

46. Where is the story?
How does the stage describe the location of each scene?
CC-BY-SA Intel Free Press via Flickr

47. Where is the story?
How does the stage describe the location of each scene?
CC-BY-SA Tomas Caspers via Flickr

48. Where is the story?
How does the stage describe the location of each scene?
CC-BY-SA conskeptical via Flickr

49. Setting the mood
How does the stage-set itself drive the story forward?
CC-BY-SA Eva Rinaldi via Flickr

50. Setting the mood
How does the stage-set itself drive the story forward?
CC-BY State Farm via Flickr

51. Maintain the mood
Computers may not have feelings, but people do:
how does the stage-set support the mood we need?
CC-BY-ND alanclarkdesign via Flickr

52. Maintain the mood
Computers may not have feelings, but people do:
how does the stage-set support the mood we need?
CC-BY-ND alanclarkdesign via Flickr

53. Framing the picture
In what ways does the frame itself constrain the action?
CC-BY aleutia via Flickr

54. Framing the picture
CC-BY Vlima.com via Flickr
In what ways does the frame itself constrain the action?

55. Transmedia stories
Different scenes and sub-stories can take place on
different media – but it’s the same overall story
CC-BY-SA tStoryteller via Flickr

56. Transmedia stories
Different scenes and sub-stories can take place on
different media – but it’s the same overall story
CC-BY-ND Christoph Mueller-Girod via Flickr

57. Transmedia stories
Different scenes and sub-stories can take place on
different media – but it’s the same overall story
CC-BY-ND Christoph Mueller-Girod via Flickr

58. Transmedia stories
Different scenes and sub-stories can take place on
different media – but it’s the same overall story
CC-BY-ND Christoph Mueller-Girod via Flickr

59. Transmedia stories
Different scenes and sub-stories can take place on
different media – but it’s the same overall story
CC-BY-ND Christoph Mueller-Girod via Flickr

60. Transmedia stories
Different scenes and sub-stories can take place on
different media – but it’s the same overall story
CC-BY-ND Christoph Mueller-Girod via Flickr

61. Transmedia stories
Different scenes can take place on different media:
still the same overall story – if maybe with a new twist…
CC-BY Gulltaggen via Flickr

62. A challenge of continuity
How is continuity maintained across all those different media?
CC-BY OpenPlaques via Flickr

63. A challenge of continuity
Who has the choices to switch between media?
CC-BY-SA tStoryteller via Flickr

64. It’s all about the experience
A well-executed story creates delight in the audience –
especially when there’s an unexpected good ending!

65. “The world is made of stories”
• The enterprise itself is a story –an overarching theme
• Enterprise as ongoing story of relations between people
– the actors of the story
• Enterprise-story comprised of smaller stories – the
scenes or story-lines (aka ‘processes’)
• Enterprise-story takes place in a setting – the stage and
its context (technology), location, props (artefacts) etc
• Stories thrive on conflict, tension and uncertainty – in
contrast to machines, which generally don’t…

66. A final word…
It’s the ‘small stories’ that often help us
to highlight hidden assumptions
and expectations…
…the kind of assumptions and expectations
that can bring a system to a grinding halt…

67. Wise advice…
CC-BY-SA Tim Samoff via Flickr

68. “What’s the story?”“What’s the story?”“What’s the story
for your enterprise?”

69. Contact: Tom Graves
Company: Tetradian Consulting
Email: tom@tetradian.com
Twitter: @tetradian ( http://twitter.com/tetradian )
Weblog: http://weblog.tetradian.com
Slidedecks: http://www.slideshare.net/tetradian
Publications: http://tetradianbooks.com
Books: • The enterprise as story: the role of narrative in enterprise-
architecture (2012)
• Mapping the enterprise: modelling the enterprise as services
with the Enterprise Canvas (2010)
• Everyday enterprise-architecture: sensemaking, strategy,
structures and solutions (2010)
• Doing enterprise-architecture: process and practice in the
real enterprise (2009)
Further information: