"The Architect Elevator is a metaphor-in reality, the company leadership may be sitting on the same building floor as you; my car metaphors could fill an entire book; and " Architecture is Selling Options " has become the anchor of many architecture keynotes. So, at least my world of architecture is full of metaphors."
"Architects riding the Elevator translate technical concepts across the layers of the organization. The goal isn't to make things simple (they generally aren't), but to help decision makers understand-and agree to- decisions and trade-offs made in the IT engine room. Establishing this link is more important than ever because technical decisions directly impact the business' ability to innovate and maneuver."
"But engineers in the engine room and decision makers in the board room live in different worlds and speak different languages. That's why you often see presentations with "all green" options, which are purported to be superior in all aspects-usually positioned against contrived "all red" alternatives. Such attempts at showing that "everything will be fine" provide only a weak form of buy-in: Real buy-in means accepting trade-offs and constraints, not just liking a wish list."
Metaphors enable architects to convert complex technical concepts into terms that stakeholders across organizational layers can grasp. Architects use metaphors such as the Architect Elevator and vehicle analogies to bridge language gaps between engineers and business leaders. Effective communication emphasizes trade-offs, constraints, required skills, and middleware rather than presenting flawless, all-positive solutions. Genuine stakeholder buy-in requires understanding and accepting trade-offs, not endorsing wish lists. Skilled architects illuminate domain realities, dependencies, and risks to allow decision makers to reason about choices, spot blind spots, and align technical direction with business agility.
Read at The Architect Elevator
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