The Architect's Role

I came by a presentation (via Shahid Sah's blog) by Ron Jacobs on the Software Architect's Role. In this presentation, entitled Architects and the Architecture of Software, Ron compares the architect's role to that of an explorer, advocate, and designer.

While I can go for the designer bit, I don't like the heavy analogy to building architects (I know, I know I have that as well in my software architecture presentation -- but it is no longer there in the next version).

However, I would personally replace "advocate" with "mentor", and "explorer" with a "polymath" or "Renaissance" man. I'd also add a leader and visionary (although Ron mentiones that as part of the discussion on explorer).

An advocate is someone who observes, listens, and gives advice. On the other hand, a mentor is someone who helps others reach the right decisions and help them learn and evolve. I think that has much more value. I want a Socrates, not an Alan Dershowitz, on my team

An explorer looks for new grounds and is a bit of a visionary. However, a Renaissance man is both knowledgable and inventive. As a development manager, I rather have someone who knows what he is doing, understand the wider perspective, and find solutions to my problems -- not someone who would take me on a road to uncharted territories. I'd take Leonardo Da Vinchi over Columbus ( who accidently gave the competitive edge to Spain and didn't even know it) any day.

A visionary and leader is also important. You want someone who is able to look far and that can help your team get there. I guess that is somewhat akin to an explorer (in the sense Ron mentions) but again I'd rather have a Martin Luther King than a Columbus (though being lucky wouldn't hurt either).

But hey, that's just my opinion :-)

Posted by Arnon Rotem-Gal-Oz at 03:41 PM  Permalink