Give me a place to stand and a lever long enough..

and I will move the world. So said Archimedes, apparently.

When we train you as an architect, particularly a business architect, we are giving you a long lever (= much power). We also hope to give you some solid principles and moral grounding as a place to stand. Architects are change agents.

Be a force for good.

For each change that you propose, ask:

Which stakeholders will this impact positively? How? To what extent?
Which stakeholders (and potentially other parties) will this impact negatively? How? To what extent?
Then try to maximise the good and minimise the harm
Apply systems thinking to anticipate consequences
Ensure we are thinking long term and that proposed approach is sustainable
Try on a small scale (think MVP, prototype, etc. ) to prove concept, benefits, identify negative impacts
Iterate and improve or pivot before scaling up. Scale when benefits are being realised
Design and adjust metrics to get desired behaviour
Involve everyone affected (or at least their representatives) in the design of the future. Those closest often have knowledge that we don’t. They have history of what has been tried. They have ideas to contribute. They need to be on board to help make the change. If roles are affected or eliminated, people need better and significant roles to play going forward.