Role of Architect in Agile – Webinar

The role of “Architect” is sometimes frowned upon in the Agile community; this role is often perceived as a central command-and-control authority who performs large up-front design, generates excessive documentation and bottlenecks decisions. We struggled with the question: is there truly a place for an Architect in an Agile organization? This webinar chronicles one organization’s trial-and-error approach in discovering how to achieve technical alignment across multiple teams while preserving team empowerment.

About the Presenter:

Chris Edwards, P.Eng. Chris is a software manager with IHS Inc. IHS is a global company with over 8000 employees that provides information and analytics to multiple industries,including energy, automotive, electronics, aerospace and chemicals. Chris has had a variety of roles including developer, manager, Scrum Master and architect. He has a passion for how both technical excellence and transformational leadership can help drive agility. Chris recently co-authored an experience report and presented on it at the Agile 2015 conference in Washington, DC.

Additional references suggested by Chris:

• Martin Fowler has a great paper on the role of an architect which parallels some of my presentation: http://martinfowler.com/ieeeSoftware/whoNeedsArchitect.pdf
• Here is an article Fowler wrote in May 2004 about design. There is a section in it about the role of an Architect and talks about the need for an architect to be a coach.
  http://martinfowler.com/articles/designDead.html
• David Marquet “Greatness” – This was my first introduction to “intent based leadership” and Marquet
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqmdLcyES_Q
• David Marquet’s book “Turn the Ship Around”
  http://www.amazon.ca/Turn-Ship-Around-Turning-Followers/dp/1591846404
• “Getting to Yes” – Relating to focusing on interests over positions and skills of negotiation
  http://www.amazon.ca/Getting-Yes-Negotiate-Agreement-Without/dp/0743526937