Architecting for Good: Making a Social Impact
September 16, 2021
Hosted by William Ulrich
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Episode Description
Architecture disciplines in general, and business architecture in particular, tend to be viewed as only applying to large, private and public sector institutions as opposed to non-profits, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), social entrepreneurs, and other organizations seeking to make a social impact. While approaches vary based on the organization involved and its corresponding mission, architecture delivers value to organizations seeking to directly or indirectly contribute to the social good. Non-profits, NGOs, and other organizations seeking to improve people’s lives and the environment in which they live face many of the challenges shared by the private sector and government. While mission-driven versus profit-driven, organizations seeking to make a difference in the world nevertheless face a wide variety of opportunities and challenges that must be addressed. Join William Ulrich and his guest Whynde Kuehn as they discuss ways in which formal business disciplines can be applied to maximize the ability of mission-driven organizations to contribute more effectively to the global good. The discussion will focus on the need for architecture in mission-driven organizations, how approaches differ for mission-driven versus profit-driven organizations, examples of architecting for good in practice, and how qualified and inclined individuals can contribute in positive ways to architecting for good.
The North Star
Archives Available on VoiceAmerica Business Channel
The North Star takes a deep dive into the topic of strategy execution, often challenging conventional wisdom for achieving an organization’s strategic vision. The host and thought leaders from multiple fields explore concepts that include rethinking innovation, increasing enterprise agility, transitioning to the circular economy, managing enterprise risk and becoming a cognitive enterprise. Setting sights on one’s “north star” is only half the story. Decades of experience point to the headwinds organizations have faced in pursuit of their strategic vision. To that end, the North Star examines how organizations can more effectively deliver on critical business strategies in these uncertain times. The show tackles intractable challenges that many organizations have historically sidestepped, such as optimizing major program investments and untangling high risk technology deployments. While the show often points toward the road less traveled, that road that can make all the difference.
William Ulrich
William Ulrich is President of Tactical Strategy Group, Inc., Cofounder of Business Architecture Associates, President and Cofounder of the Business Architecture Guild and Cutter Consortium Fellow. As a management consultant for more than 40 years, Mr. Ulrich continues to serve as advisor, mentor and workshop leader to corporations and governments worldwide. He is a thought leader in strategy execution, business transformation, business architecture and transformation oversight. Mr. Ulrich has the unique ability to engage executives and practitioners across business and IT boundaries to facilitate and streamline ecosystem-wide transformation. His transformation workshops and lectures have been widely attended by organizations worldwide. Mr. Ulrich blends his IT transformation expertise with his extensive business architecture and business transformation experience to deliver end-to-end solutions that are fully aligned to business strategy. He has authored or coauthored multiple books and transformation methodologies and was an originating contributor to “A Guide to the Business Architecture Body of Knowledge.” Prior to founding Tactical Strategy Group in 1990, Mr. Ulrich served as management consultant, spending the bulk of the 1980s with KPMG where he helped mature its software reengineering practice. His latest writings focus on the cognitive enterprise, transitioning to the circular economy and business-driven IT architecture transformation.
