Sociotechnical systems (STS) theory warns about optimizing the technical dimension of systems without considering the social dimension. Moreover, optimizing both dimensions of a system independently of each other often causes the system to be sub-optimal as a whole. Personally, I see the traditional approach to enterprise architecture as only addressing the technical (technical in this context must be understood from the perspective of STS and not IT) dimension of systems (organizations). I believe that enterprise architecture should be considered equivalent to STS design, hence we must incorporate the human dimension if we want enterprise architecture to be effective.
If my reasoning is correct, the next questions I would ask are :
- Could STS theory be a good framework for evaluating the potential effectiveness of EA frameworks/methodologies?
- How effective would current EA frameworks/methodologies be with regards to an STS perspective?
I find that many enterprise architecture groups base their visions and roadmaps on “technical” best practices without taking into account the human dimension impact of their choices. For me, this is an example of "optimizing the technical dimension of systems without considering the social dimension".
I think that many people underestimate the impact that an organization’s culture will have on the implementation of “technical” best practices. I believe that this is symptomatic of that fact that many IT people use an empirical-rational strategy when managing the impact that enterprise architecture has on organizations. This strategy is based on the assumptions that : people are rational beings and will follow their self-interest – once it is revealed to them – and that successful change is based on the communication of information and the proffering of incentives. Often, these assumptions are not totally accurate; hence compromising the “technical” dimension of a vision (not using best practices) in favor of the “social” dimension could lead to a better overall solution.
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