Systems Architect Wanted

Looking through my notes I came across the attached. It was written by a friend of mine, Ian Page, some years ago. Some truths transcend.

• Should be well-informed about some vendors and products, but identified with none
• Should have been an expert at something, but have acquired an understanding of the limits of expertise
• Should be eager to improve things for the Company’s customers, but be resigned to never getting near a customer
• Should be undeterred by complexity, but seek to explain it to an intelligent 8 year old
• Should have the academic’’s facility for abstraction, but the politician’’s feel for the possible
• Should be at home in large organizations, but preserve the ownership perspective of the self-employed
• Should be effective in groups and teams, but willing to stand with an unpopular position
• Should have been an entrepreneur at one time, but have failed as well as succeeded
• Should be skeptical, but enthusiastic
• Should be industrious as a matter of practice, but lazy as a matter of principle
• Should sketch poetically, and write graphically
• Should be able to see forests, or trees, but never at the same time
• Should be willing to make a personal investment in an idea, but write it off if necessary
• Should be willing to express a reasoned opinion on anything, but even more willing to hear a better one
• Should be able to take outrageous ideas seriously, and treat serious issues outrageously
• Should be willing to see an ugly job through on principle, but should also be willing to resign on principle
• Should have an urge to teach, but a stronger urge to learn
• Should be able to spot the deja vu in the avant garde
• Should be able to find quick rewards in small tasks to compensate for the slowness of rewards in the large ones
• Should have a philosophy degree from a technical institute, or an engineering degree from a seminary