Enterprise Architecture is often about tackling intricate problems. Unfortunately, many people get too excited about potential solutions and rush into implementation without fully understanding the problem itself.
The Peril of Premature Solutions: Before diving into solutions like “updating the ERP system,” “implementing blockchain,” or “creating a 360-degree customer view,” it’s crucial to ensure they truly address the underlying issue. For instance, is the out-of-stock problem really solved by a new ERP, or is the root cause a process or data issue that will persist in the new system?
A Structured Approach: The Problem Definition Worksheet
To avoid such pitfalls, we can employ a structured approach using a Problem Definition Worksheet. This tool helps us:
- Define the Basic Question:
What is the problem? Clearly articulate the specific issue.
Who is impacted? Identify the affected stakeholders.
What are the implications? Assess the potential costs and consequences. - Establish Criteria for Success:
Set SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) goals. - Identify Sources of Insights:
Leverage existing knowledge and avoid reinventing the wheel. - Determine Decision Makers and Key Stakeholders:
Identify those with decision-making authority and those who have a stake in the outcome. - Define Scope and Constraints:
Clearly outline the boundaries of the problem and solution space.
In practice this worksheet could look like this:
Common Pitfalls and Best Practices
This sounds very straight forward and simple. Let me share a few practical examples where defining the problem was key for a successful architecture project:
Technology as a Silver Bullet: Avoid assuming that technology alone can solve business or data problems.
I have seen several projects where the ERP landscape what heavily over-customized for decades and the hope was that by carrying over all these customization to a newer version of the ERP would solve all problems. In reality this just replicated all existing problems on a newer technology.
Limited Solution Space: Challenge constraints and explore a wider range of options.
It happens very often that a project starts with a too narrow solution space. Already the project title could be something as “ERP upgrade”. This might however not be the only and not the best solution. The correct title should maybe be “Complete business process redesign, ERP refactoring, partial upgrade and introduction of 3 new solutions”. To come to this conclusion you have to start with a broad solution space.
Unrealistic Goals: Set realistic and achievable targets based on reference class forecasting.
Goals should be SMART and the Achievable is often taken for granted. Bent Flyvbjerg from Oxford is a big advocator for reference class forecasting in IT. This basically means: In order to get a realistic estimate for your IT project take a few others and consider their average the best forecast you can get. If all other post mergers you have seen in your industry took 2 years and you are aiming to get it done in 9 months that has more to do with wishful thinking than with good project management.
Unclear Ownership: Assign clear ownership for each OKR to ensure accountability.
Quite often the project itself is not able to deliver the full impact as some part of the change (e.g., training, change management, etc.) has to be delivered by the line organization. Make sure they also sign the project definition sheet (preferably in blood).
Insufficient Stakeholder Involvement: Involve actual users and key stakeholders in the decision-making process.
Stakeholder management is often very focused on the responsible board member and not so much on the actual user of the solution. Genchi Genbutsu! Go there and see! A lot of next generation technology solutions have been developed to make the live of people in the warehouse easier — just to discover during rollout that there is no WiFi coverage in the warehouse and with gloves you can’t operate the fancy touchscreen.
By following a structured approach and addressing these common pitfalls, you can ensure that your solutions are truly effective and deliver real value to your organization. By using this worksheet and avoiding common mistakes, you can ensure that your enterprise architecture initiatives are focused on solving the right problems in the right way.