I realize that I promised that I'd next be posting on treating complexity as a calculation similar to friction (i.e., the coefficient of complexity) - but I've shared my initial thoughts with greater minds than mine (Roger Sessions & Miha) and need more thought on the idea before I take it to pen.

In the meantime, a trusted colleague and friend, Peg McNicol, shared a book with me that while intended for the coffee table, really hit home for insightful thoughts around IT architecture.

The book, titled, "101 Things I Learned in Arcitecure School" by Matthew Frederick is solely intended to recap those things he learned while becoming a building architect - yet there are some many parallels to IT architecture. I'm compelled to share several of those thoughts here:

#14 Architecture begins with an idea. Good design solutions are not merely physically interesting but are driven by underlying ideas. An idea is a specific mental structure by which we organize, understand and give meaning to external experiences and information...

#21 An architect knows something about everything. An engineer knows everything about one thing. An architect is a generalist, not a specialist...

#28 A good designer isn't afraid to throw away a good idea. Just because an interesting idea occurs to you doesn't mean it belongs in the building you are designing. Subject every idea, brainstorm, random musing, and helpful suggestion to careful, critical consideration. Your goal as a designer should be to create an integrated whole, not to incorporate all the best features in your building whether or not they work together.

#29  Being process-oriented, not product-driven, is the most important and difficult skill for a designer to develop. [nuff-said there!]

#48 If you can't explain your ideas to your grandmother in terms she understands, you don't know your subject well enough. Some architects... use overly complex (and often meaningless!) language in an attempt to gain recognition and respect...

#81 Properly gaining control of the design process tends to feel like one is losing control of the design process. ...Being genuinely creative means that you don't know where you are going, even though you are responsible for shepherding the process. This requires something different from conventional, authoritarian control; a loose velvet tether is more likely to help. Engate the design process with patience... Don't try to solve a complex building in one week. Accept uncertainty... Don't seek to relieve your anxiety by marrying yourself prematurely to a design solution...

#86 Manage your ego. ...forget about what you want the building to be; instead ask, "What does the building want to be?"...

#92 "Always design a thing by considering it in its next larger context - a chair in a room, a room in a house, a house in an environment, an environment in a city plan." -- Eliel Saarinen

#97 Limitations encourage creativity.

#98 The Chinese symbol for crisis is comprised of two characters: one indicating "danger," the other, "opportunity." A design problem is not something to be overcome, but an opportunity to be embraced...

#101 Architects are late bloomers. Most architects do not hit their professional stride until around age 50! ...

Simply profound!

Thanks for sharing, Peg!