Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Why most Enterprise Architects are afraid to blog...
Figured I would share my thoughts on why enterprise architects in corporate America aren't blogging...
Some folks will say it is because their employer won't let them but the real reason is more personal. Of course, Easy external conversations have an effect on internal conversations but this too really doesn't matter in the big picture.
Reality says that many enterprise architects don't really know enough about any particular topic to talk about it for a sustained period of time. Consider many folks can survive by coming up with one and only one idea periodically and amplifying it throughout their enterprise for years. If they were to blog, their vulnerabilities would show.
Blogging at some level provides a measure of one's intelligence, knowledge and a peek into the thought processes of one's mind. Some folks if you were to get this view, it would be frightening. Others are interested in putting themselves up on a pedestal where they portray themselves as authoratative, knowledgable and certain on a variety of topics and by blogging, it may allow others to knock them off.
One of the more humbling experiences is in being published. You put your heart and soul into writing a book where you deny access to your friends and family for months, all in the name of waiting for the very first review on Amazon. Someone has called your baby ugly in public is humbling and too drastic for many to bear but of course they have done it to others.
Blogging requires individuals to embrace the notion that critics are your best friend. For me, folks such as James Robertson, Robert McIlree, Chris Petrilli and others would be on the top of my friends list. Sharing of ideas in the blogosphere helps folks develop respect for each other. These individuals have taken somewhat ill-formed ideas and instead of attempting to beat the crap out of them, instead used that idea to create a better one. In my book, offered something more. In order to earn the right to criticize, you have to show what the alternative is; you have to construct an alternative which is better known as constructive critisism.
Many times in blogging, the problem isn't usually with the solution; it's usually with the understanding of the problem. If you say that it sucks and tell why it sucks, you are helping with the understanding of the problem. Or are you? Therein lies the difference between destructive criticism and constructive criticism. Enterprise architects simply aren't used to constructive critisism...
| | View blog reactionsSome folks will say it is because their employer won't let them but the real reason is more personal. Of course, Easy external conversations have an effect on internal conversations but this too really doesn't matter in the big picture.
Reality says that many enterprise architects don't really know enough about any particular topic to talk about it for a sustained period of time. Consider many folks can survive by coming up with one and only one idea periodically and amplifying it throughout their enterprise for years. If they were to blog, their vulnerabilities would show.
Blogging at some level provides a measure of one's intelligence, knowledge and a peek into the thought processes of one's mind. Some folks if you were to get this view, it would be frightening. Others are interested in putting themselves up on a pedestal where they portray themselves as authoratative, knowledgable and certain on a variety of topics and by blogging, it may allow others to knock them off.
One of the more humbling experiences is in being published. You put your heart and soul into writing a book where you deny access to your friends and family for months, all in the name of waiting for the very first review on Amazon. Someone has called your baby ugly in public is humbling and too drastic for many to bear but of course they have done it to others.
Blogging requires individuals to embrace the notion that critics are your best friend. For me, folks such as James Robertson, Robert McIlree, Chris Petrilli and others would be on the top of my friends list. Sharing of ideas in the blogosphere helps folks develop respect for each other. These individuals have taken somewhat ill-formed ideas and instead of attempting to beat the crap out of them, instead used that idea to create a better one. In my book, offered something more. In order to earn the right to criticize, you have to show what the alternative is; you have to construct an alternative which is better known as constructive critisism.
Many times in blogging, the problem isn't usually with the solution; it's usually with the understanding of the problem. If you say that it sucks and tell why it sucks, you are helping with the understanding of the problem. Or are you? Therein lies the difference between destructive criticism and constructive criticism. Enterprise architects simply aren't used to constructive critisism...
