by Richard Lynch, on Nov 10, 2016 8:00:00 AM
I was asked recently “what does it take to be successful Business Architect?” As an early contributor to the profession (The Capable Company: Building Capabilities that Make Strategy Work) here’s some observations on consultant and client teams.
The people that I want to work with and that inspire me have special traits. These traits are similar to the attributes of entrepreneurs or “intra-preneuers” as articulated by colleague Don Laurie, author of the HBR classic, "Creating New Growth Platforms."
Here are the six traits:
Curious:
Love new challenges. They find needs, enabling factors and capabilities in unlikely places, often accidentally explored.
Fast & Adaptive Thinkers
The purpose of their work is to problem solve quickly. They work to find substantial, workable solutions as quickly and efficiently as possible.Experimenters:
In both the intellectual/imaginative world and the real/practical environment; they believe trial and error is essential to new learning.
Constructive Dissatisfied:
Someone who takes an open, professional critique of an organization’s processes, staffing, solutions, goals and strategies and seeks alternative, better results. They have a spirit and approach more than a skill.Honest & Candid:
Their assessments are based on facts – not political affiliation. They do the right thing.
Opportunistic:
A win is a win. They take advantage of any available; a practical solution is essential to them and the client.When I interview people at all levels, I look for these traits whether I’m building a client business architecture team or hiring a new consultant.
For information on New Growth Platforms download "Aligning HR to the
CEO Growth Agenda", an article written by Rich Lynch and Don Laurie: