My title includes the word architect, and has at several enterprises (in Utilities, finance, and COTS software). For the last month or so, I have been pondering how funny that is. Today I share the top reasons my title (and possibly yours) makes me laugh…

Reason #1: Architects specify materials and get them.

Reason #2: Architects get a dedicated team for each bit of a project until that part is done, not 10% of four people’s time over six months, assuming there is no emergency.

Reason #3: When things go wrong in implementation, if they’re not blue-print problems, the architect isn’t involved in resolving them.

Reason #4: An architect builds for 30 years or more, and gets a budget that reflects this fact.

Reason #5: An architect starts with a blank sheet of paper and creates.

Reason #6: Once a customer signs off on a blueprint, any changes they request during implementation they must pay for.

Reason #7: When an architect says “2x6 boards spaced 16 inches apart”, any deviation from this specification is not allowed.

Reason #8: When re-working someone else’s original, the architect is empowered to rip out the old and start fresh.

Reason #9: An architect can reasonably expect to sleep through every night of the year without a call from work.

Reason #10: By the time an architect’s work is obsolete, he’s likely retired, and more likely not to be involved in replacing it.

There’s a comment section below, feel free to add yours. The tricks: try very hard to be generic – all IT architects, not just your flavor; and try not to mention the IT alternative. If you have to spell it out, it’s probably not funny. Note that #2 is the only one I mention the IT version.

Until next time!

Don.