Enterprise Architecture Aphorisms

Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.

Simple models of complex things do not make those things simple. – Len Fehskens

If your model of the world is almost as complex as the world itself, it may not be very useful

Unless you’re a genius of staggering magnitude, your success is going to be largely dependent on your ability to work with other people. – Len Fehskens

It is the architect’s responsibility to synthesize worthwhile contributions, wherever they come from, into an integrated whole. – Len Fehskens

Participation in debates over terminology, semantics or history is often an excuse for not taking action.

“Doing a wrong thing right, not nearly as good as doing the right thing wrong” Dr Russ Ackhoff (youtu.be/OqEeIG8aPPk )

Is the glass half empty, half full, or twice as large as it needs to be?

If you don’t know where you’re going, any train will get you there

None of us is as smart as all of us. – Japanese proverb

The measure of success is not whether you have a tough problem to deal with, but whether it’s the same problem you had last year. – John Foster Dulles

A gem is not polished without rubbing, nor a man perfected without trials

A pot of milk is ruined by a drop of poison

Don’t open a shop unless you like to smile

Education is a progressive discovering of our own ignorance

Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs.- Henry Ford

Millions saw the apple fall, but Newton was the one who asked why. – Bernard M Baruch

The teacher has not taught, until the student has learned

Use soft words and hard arguments

You can’t change the wind, but you can adjust your sails

Many attempts to communicate are nullified by saying too much. – Robert Greenleaf.

If your departments don’t communicate effectively with each other, you can be certain they aren’t communicating with your customers either.

Today’s typical customer wants only two things: 1. Good feelings 2. Solutions to problems – Michael LeBoeuf, Ph.D.

Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and it annoys the pig. – George Bernard Shaw

Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion. – Cyril Northcote Parkinson/Parkinson’s Law.

Make it idiot-proof and someone will make a better idiot.

Don’t worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good, you’ll have to ram them down people’s throats. – Howard Aiken

“To expect the unexpected shows a thoroughly modern intellect.” Oscar Wilde

Estimates are called estimates for the same reason that fishing isn’t called catching.

Never play leap-frog with a Unicorn

If someone ask you to close the door because it is cold outside, and you close the door, it is still cold outside.

This is not your practice life.

The best way to have a good idea is to have a lot of ideas

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