Architects Are Pigs

Remember the story of the barnyard breakfast?


The chicken and the pig agree to co-host a barnyard breakfast for their friends. The chicken suggests they serve bacon and eggs. The pig quickly responds, "No way. For you, bacon and eggs is simply involvement. For me, it's total commitment!"


Leadership and accountability go hand-in-hand. As elaborated upon in The Architect is Accountable! and The Proactive Architect, the Architect is expected to lead by example. This sort of commitment means living in the trenches with the project teams, establishing goodwill, and earning respect.

Another way of saying this is the Architect must possess "personal authority." This is quite different from "position authority" (which may or may not be present as a result of the title and role of Architect). Personal authority is a principle enabler of leadership and is critical to the effectiveness of the Architect. Decades of research have shown that personal authority is rooted in several factors, including certain personal and social characteristics. However, the number one source is universally tied to performance-oriented attributes such as ability, knowledge, accomplishment, commitment, and responsibility.

As an Architect, one of your primary responsibilities is to influence. Your ability to provide influence is connected to the extent to which others view you as credible and acceptable - the extent to which you possess personal authority. And personal authority emerges from performance, visibility, and results - the kind of results that are only possible if you're in the game and personally invested.

Are you demonstrating "Pig Commitment"?