But I don't agree with your further trick:
> the range of principles, by their very
> nature, are in conflict.
If there are any conflicting EA principles, then those need to be reviewed and/or eliminated. We don't need to dot every i and cross every t! IMHO, if we have reached a situation where we have too many principles and some of them conflict, it is probably because we are going into too much detail, or we haven't got the correct top-down approach, i.e. flowing from the EA through to TA, IA, DA, BA, etc. I might have completely misunderstood you, and if so would like some examples, if you could elaborate...
As there should be no conflicting principles, I see no point in principles being prioritised either. Though, I have no issue if they are.
AspiringEA, we have had a few excellent discussions on Architecture Principles in this group before. I can refer you to two I remember, titled: "EA value measures ? who cares?" and "Can the principles of enterprise architecture be inherited from a Saas solution?". You might find some more, if you look back through the archives in this group.
Kind regards,
Joseph
On Sep 13, 8:37 pm, Rheinlander Kirk
> "Don't forget, EA is not about making decisions, it’s about providing
> the business and executives with information so thEy can make better
> and more informed decisions."
> I'll second that, with the further caveat, that EA, done right, will
> NOT require the executives to make decisions from the input - the
> process will empower the business to make decisions in line with the
> executive intent, as these core decision values (principles) are
> defined. This is the key to making EA scaleable to the enterprise as a
> whole - make it SOP.
> The further trick is that the range of principles, by their very
> nature, are in conflict. A method of prioritizing these core decision
> values against some logical and consistent view of a breakdown of the
> enterprise, is essential.
> Without this prioritization, you end up with what I call the "Bible
> Approach" - pick chapter and verse to support whatever decision you
> want to make.
> --Kirk
> On Sep 13, 2009, at 3:37 AM, kevin wrote:
> > Hi again Mr Aspiring EA,
> > I just thought I would also let you know that having a set of
> > principles is the easy part....
> > What is more difficult is getting us and value from those principles.
> > Firstly, documenting and understanding the implications of each
> > principle is very important.
> > Secondly, you need to make sure that the principles you adopt identify
> > what tasks need to be done and what needs to be put in place in order
> > to adopt them.
> > Thirdly you need, for each principle, a set of metrics so that you can
> > measure whether the principles are having the intended effect or not.
> > Fourthly, you need to make sure that the process of how change
> > evaluated against the principles is defined and can be operated.
> > So make sure whatever principles you use, they address these issues.
> > Don't forget, EA is not about making decisions, it’s about providing
> > the business and executives with information so thEy can make better
> > and more informed decisions.
> > Of course, the ones in PeaF do.
> > Cheers,
> > Kevin.
