Thinking - System Architecture

Along with some very difficult challenges (which I won't go into) there are threads of joy in my new job.

One thing I love about my job as a Solutions Delivery Product Manager is hanging out with other System Architects - when we speak together, imagining and extrapolating about what doing this set of things vs that set of things we can jump into the future and understand what "that" and "things" means - it is so cool that we finish each other's sentences, or enumerate logical parameters to the next state without much explaining.

Man o man that is fun, for me it is the real juice - I just love doing abstract visualizations - just a fantastic stream of energy! Visualizing complex computer software systems is highly thought provoking and exploratory. One System Architect I work with just so gets me and I so get him. We were talking about the future of product activation and digital streams and speaking about digital watermarks and the value of credentials - and had discussed several options over an hour and 1/2 just like it was 5 minutes. From that thread my ideas around the IOS (Internet Operating System) have grown and become enriched. It's funny to think I am a fine artist by nature but the skills needed for visualizing systems are quite similar.

I have real confidence about the peace enhancing properties of the World Wide Web through ecommerce, so such conversations which may lead to that kind of worldwide success are engaging to me on a personal and professional level. I feel we have an effect in the world like a sonic wave of protection through productivity influencing more and more people, moving farther away from war and conflict.

Recently we were meeting about the tax and system implications of tax advantaged locations with our tax finance manager, when my System Architect friend said, "well Linda I don't think those business rules should be part of that software application no matter if the tax advantaged location will be in play a long time."

So the tax guy immediately launched into giving us some explanations and examples of various forms that the business rules were taking in other applications he has advised on - including more than 40 applications in 6 months. That's what we were there for, the expertise that well-thought-out even long conversations among subject matter experts bring to the table.

As I listened to our tax expert speak about the various requirements I visualized what this meant from a system wide point of view, and the future, I reasoned what the system implications were and how flexible they needed to be, how loosely coupled makes sense - as our tax man finished his sentence I leaned into the phone and said - "Sold!" - I swear I could hear my System Architect friend's smile break out.

Later as we wrapped up that same meeting the System Architect said, "so our advice will be to include the business rules within the applications not inside the key selling structure, if there are any objections - speak now or forever hold your peace - going once, going twice, sold!" echoing my sold! statement.

I feel such glee when I get to use that totally abstract part of my brain’s reasoning capacity in such a practical application, even if we will only see one application do this in the next few months (if I still have my job) for a worldwide ecommerce solution. Better yet is being recognized for that ability since so few people understand it.

The other folks in the room know that we are figuring something out, and occasionally, but thank heavens more rarely, someone will become jealous. There is a camaraderie among the System Architects because you have to possess an incredibly developed ability to visualize and extrapolate several functions and their implications, with the solution in mind all at once, finely tuned to what the actual results need to be, and what the capability, capacity, and through-put are. It actually feels electric.

In the past when designing an application as I completed the work, the other system designer /aka product manager I was working with came back with the business and functional requirements and asked me to glance through them gratis. So of course I could not resist and immediately found two logical conundrums with the UI, if you choose this, you will get to this location and that choice is not what you have documented. 'This here? see this is the wrong option here...' and so forth. All of this in my mind, not on paper, not in the flows, not in the writing. It's so fun.

System Architects tend to be sort of giddy when they speak they get so excited - their personalities tend to be somehow on both the sunny and sour side. Maybe there is a little tendency to be know it all but the best among us are very relaxed about this kind of knowledge and skillset.

Dealing with the opposite kind of person, with no visualization ability, and no big picture view whose mad-as-a-hatter level of attention to detail borders on comical and insane - those folks are a real headache and heartache; much harder to deal with because they are so literal and only see what is placed directly in front of them - they mean well but just cannot recognize the value of those with big picture world views. When a micromanager is standing on your dress, it feels exactly as if they are afraid of space, of something which is not in a box - of anything with wings of thought or ideas. Ideas are very scary for some people. It's a quality of change. Change is what brings those flighty ideas into reality.

I read some place this story - haven't been able to find the reference - Bill Gates was young, maybe high school or so, and from another room his mom asked him "what are you doing?", and he replied "thinking", so she asked him again, "but what are you doing?" and he said, "I told you I was thinking -- have you ever tried it?" or some similar statement, "you really should try it sometime".

I empathize with Bill. It's why I consider his use of the term "stuff" to be a technical term.