As an Enterprise Architect, it is often difficult to explain why large, complex organizations would need my role. Therefore, I’ll explain in a new way by considering my role and that of Solutions Architects and Architects writ large in a medical context. One reason for this reflection is that I had an accident about 10 weeks ago that resulted in a brain hemorrhage requiring a transfusion.

As I try to navigate the medical world to check my status, which is not bad, and ensure I’m getting the right treatments, etc., to plan next year, I saw a General Practitioner yesterday who countered most of my anecdotal reporting by saying, “That is not a Primary Care topic. You need to see a specialist.”

That’s easier said than done, but I’m trying to do just that because the General Practitioner/Enterprise Architect didn’t want to offer any advice other than to save my anecdotes for the right specialists, in particular, it seems, a neurologist. But that neurologist would need to make any recommendations based on what other specialists I’m seeing have treated me with various medicines and so on. So, let’s move on and put my medical situation in the context of the Architecture discipline, exemplified in most cases as Enterprise and Solutions Architectures.

The metaphor of Enterprise Architects (EAs) as General Practitioners and Solutions Architects (SAs) as Medical Specialists can be extended to frame Architecture as a holistic, adaptive, and purpose-driven discipline, similar to medicine but at an organizational and systemic level.

Defining the discipline of Architecture and the Architect’s role at a more abstract level requires focusing on their overarching purpose, principles, and key contributions across domains.

Abstracted Definition of Architecture as a Discipline

Architecture is the art and science of designing and guiding the evolution of complex systems, ensuring their coherence, resilience, and alignment with overarching goals and values. It involves creating and maintaining a shared vision, structure, and principles that allow diverse components to work harmoniously while adapting to change.

At its core, architecture transcends specific domains (e.g., IT, business, security) and serves as the connective tissue that:

• Aligns strategy with execution,
• Balances innovation with standardization,
• Harmonizes constraints with opportunities,
• Facilitates decision-making under complexity and ambiguity.

The Architect’s Role at a More Abstract Level

Architects, irrespective of their specific domain, are systemic thinkers and adaptive leaders who:

1. Bridge Vision and Execution: Translate high-level goals and values into actionable designs, ensuring that tactical initiatives contribute to strategic objectives.
2. Navigate Complexity: Simplify complex systems into comprehensible models and frameworks, enabling understanding, communication, and decision-making among diverse stakeholders.
3. Steward Change: Guide systems through evolutionary or transformative change while preserving their integrity, sustainability, and purpose.
4. Foster Collaboration: Serve as mediators between disparate domains, disciplines, and stakeholders, creating common ground and shared understanding.
5. Govern with Principles: Define and uphold architectural principles, ensuring that solutions align with long-term goals and are robust, scalable, and ethical.

Discipline Attributes at an Abstract Level

• Holistic Perspective: Focus on the “whole” rather than isolated parts.
• Cross-Domain Relevance: Applicable to diverse domains such as business, IT, operations, and more.
• Time Horizon Focus: Balances short-term agility with long-term sustainability.
• Value-Oriented: Prioritizes delivering value to stakeholders while minimizing risks.
• Governance and Adaptation: Embeds governance structures that allow dynamic evolution.

Comparison with Medicine

In this analogy:

• Architecture (the discipline) is akin to medicine: a combination of knowledge, methods, and practice to design systems for health, resilience, and performance.
• Enterprise Architects are like primary care physicians, maintaining a holistic view, diagnosing systemic issues, and referring specialized needs.
• Solutions Architects are like specialists, focusing on detailed solutions to address specific challenges within the broader ecosystem.
• Architecture Governance could parallel medical ethics and standards, ensuring consistency, compliance, and alignment with best practices.

Why Abstracting Matters

At a higher level of abstraction, architecture is not tied to IT or any single domain but serves as a universal discipline for managing complexity, achieving alignment, and enabling purpose-driven systems to thrive. This perspective ensures that architecture remains adaptable and relevant across evolving organizational landscapes, industries, and technologies.

By thinking this way, we elevate architecture from a technical or operational role to a discipline of purpose-driven design and systemic stewardship.

Therefore, I conclude that a collaborative approach among various Medical Architects is what I need to design to steward my own system going forward. In the meantime, as the Thanksgiving Holiday approaches, I’m extremely thankful for having had the incomparable honor and pleasure to have helped guide thousands of Architects and hundreds of organizations in their architecture journeys for nearly 25 years.

Authored by Dr. Steve Else, Chief Architect & Principal Instructor