Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Enterprise Architecture and Impression Management
For a successful corporation, managers need to "manage" the physical, sociological, spiritual, and perceptual. However, many managers spend nearly all of their time managing only the perceptual. Am I wrong in thinking that folks who read way too many modern management books are creating their own Enron's...
Firstly, it is rather difficult. Impressions are managed from the inside as well - telling the employees what they want to hear instead of what is actually happening. I suppose that it really comes down to determining whether somebody is lying to you or going out of their way to meet your expectations. Part of "piercing the veil" is having a healthy cynical attitude, listening for intentions, and avoiding being conned, manipulated, or exploited. This is easier to determine when you deal with somebody face-to-face, but is nigh near impossible when you are, for example, reading the annual report.
Managers typically focus on the following, in decreasing order of importance:
Enterprise Architects and Innovators typically focus on the following in decreasing order of importance:
Whenever I read articles on the challenges of Enterprise Architecture, I wonder if I am really reading about the disconnect between perception management and innovation?
| | View blog reactionsFirstly, it is rather difficult. Impressions are managed from the inside as well - telling the employees what they want to hear instead of what is actually happening. I suppose that it really comes down to determining whether somebody is lying to you or going out of their way to meet your expectations. Part of "piercing the veil" is having a healthy cynical attitude, listening for intentions, and avoiding being conned, manipulated, or exploited. This is easier to determine when you deal with somebody face-to-face, but is nigh near impossible when you are, for example, reading the annual report.
Managers typically focus on the following, in decreasing order of importance:
- how they appear to others
- how their department appears to others
- how their organization appears to others
Enterprise Architects and Innovators typically focus on the following in decreasing order of importance:
- making things
- making things that work
- making things that are useful
- Making things cost effective
- Making things sustainable
Whenever I read articles on the challenges of Enterprise Architecture, I wonder if I am really reading about the disconnect between perception management and innovation?
