Survival of the fitting: An essay on Sensemaking Architecture

After all these years the core of DYA still stands. The DYA model depicting architecture services as a process that supports and guides, and is fed by the processes of strategic dialogue and development, is still valid. Granted, the distinction between working under architecture and working without architecture is not as sharp as depicted in the model, but the underlying thought that full compliance with the architecture is not always possible, or even desirable, still stands. 

DYA always considered not only the architectural deliverables, but also the architectural processes and the persons involved in these processes. Depending on the purpose of the architectural practice, we argued, organizations must identify and develop the necessary products, processes and persons. This simple model can also be recognized in this essay. We will be talking about how the goals for the architecture practice are changing. 

We will be talking about new deliverables that are needed, as well as new requirements on existing deliverables. We will be talking about persons, however, shifting our attention somewhat from the architect to the persons impacted by the architecture. We will talk about process, but again extending our discussion to the processes enabled by the architecture. And finally, we will talk about an agenda for the professional field to bring the architecture practice to a much-needed next level. 

In this essay we will repeatedly refer to the Sensemaking Architecture whitepaper series. In this series the following whitepapers appeared: 1. Architecture in this new world we live in 2. Value sensitive architecture 3. Design for Chaos 4. Situational Architecturing