Lately I've been building a lot of models. As many may know, my role at my company is a mix of Enterprise Architecture and Technology Strategist, with project work to keep me busy. I spend the majority of my days working out how improving various technology systems relate to real business goals. I like to think my work provides information that supports good business decisions.
Sure, there are many different frameworks one can apply, such as TOGAF or Zachmann. But in the real world, few organizations adopt the entire framework. They take a smattering of TOGAF and a little of ITIL, then build out projects based on Waterfall or Agile project management methodologies. Finally, they bundle all that up & call it their "process". In my many roles in this industry I have seen how well this works - or doesn't !
A friend of mine has challenged me to write about how I have been successful using an adapted model, and how to re-apply that model to other Enterprises. I sought his counsel on how to go about doing that and he introduced me to a very simple (hence very elegant) writing method: P.O.W.E.R.
P - Plan: what are you writing about ? Who would the target audience be ? What style of book should it be ?
O - Outline: build out an imaginary table of contents. What should be included ? In what order ?
W - Write: simply go about the business of collecting your ideas on your word-processing application.
E - Edit: word-smith. Play with sentence structure. Play with the order of your ideas. Hack & slash as needed.
R - Release: it'll never be "perfect", so when it is good enough, stop. Publish. Think about the next book !
It's a simple yet powerful (you see what I did there ?) way to begin the process.I think I'm going to take a stab at it, and see what happens. But don't expect to see my name on the NYT Best-Seller list - it'll be a technical/architectural manual, so it might only appeal to a limited audience.
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