By Rajen Patel, Enterprise Architect, SAP
“See the essence under the dust of complexity.”
One might not instantly connect the realms of abstract art and Enterprise Architecture, but Picasso’s approach to abstraction presents a powerful model for simplifying and focusing on complex business structures.
Inspired by the Bull, an illustrious series of 11 lithographs by the Spanish painter Pablo Picasso, comes a profound insight into how abstraction can aid in understanding and navigating the complexities of Enterprise Architecture. Just as Picasso abstracted the spirit of “the bull”, breaking it down into its essential elements, enterprise architects can benefit greatly from applying similar methods of abstraction to their work.
Figure 1 – Picasso Painting ‘The Bull’ on glass.
What is Abstraction in Enterprise Architecture?
Taking inspiration from Picasso’s bull series, enterprise architects can learn how to simplify and abstract complex structures to compose an organized, efficient, and comprehensible enterprise architecture.
In Picasso’s “The Bull,” the artist illustrated a series of lithographs depicting a bull. The initial lithographs vividly capture the detailed representation of the bull with granular elements. He progressively removes layers and details, and the artist reaches an abstract, succinct version, distilling the bull to its ‘essential’ form. Picasso painted the bull with all vitality without losing any essence in just 27 seconds (most likely after hours of practice).
In the context of enterprise architecture abstraction involves plotting business capabilities, processes, IT systems, and technology infrastructure at varying degrees of granularity or specificity. It is about seeing beyond the surface level to recognize patterns, relationships, and dependencies that may not be immediately apparent. It’s a progressive approach. As understanding of the architecture improves the ability to depict complexity through abstraction improves as well.
Break down the walls of complex enterprise architecture and step into the world of abstraction through a Picasso-inspired lens through these four axioms.
Figure 2 – 11 Lithographs – Pablo Picasso, The Bull, 1945 (See – Reference 2)
Simplicity and Minimalism
Simplicity and minimalism should guide the design process, helping architects strip layers (Business, Data, Technology) to their most elemental level. The goal is not to discard relevant details entirely but to uncover the elemental nature of the structure.
Enterprise architects grapple with complex systems that are often knotted with intricate processes and dependencies (Business Strategy, IT landscape, Investment ($), Time constraints and personalities). By learning from Picasso’s process of abstraction, EA can simplify these elements, refine the basic framework, and retain only what’s essential.
The resulting model will be a clean, uncluttered result that still carries critical information to make transformative decisions.
As Albert Einstein once quoted “Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex. It takes a touch of genius – and a lot of courage – to move in the opposite direction.”
Abstraction & the Essence
Beyond simplifying complexity, abstraction in the context of Enterprise Architecture allows for a higher vantage point – a bird’s eye view that brings clarity and sharper focus.
It allows an architect to see beyond the details, grasp the larger picture, and understand more deeply the essence of the organization’s business, technology footprint and the scope of the change.
As Picasso said, “The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls”, abstraction frees the mind to see the essence under the dust of complexity.
Embracing Sketches
Enterprise architects should not shy away from sketches, diagrams, or models, however rough they might initially be. Starting with a literal depiction of their environment, they can distill it down to simple lines and shapes.
Creating a visual map will bridge the gap between abstract concepts and practical implementation. This helps bring out critical structures and relationships in the architecture that might get buried in detail otherwise. Sketches improve transparency and understanding which results in better decision making.
Dynamic Adaptability
Enterprise architects should be able to adapt and evolve their architecture and its various dimensions according to the focus of a given discussion on the changing business needs and demands (e.g. business, data, application, technology, people).
Architects with the mastery of abstract layers will provide agility and scalability to adapt to the changing headwinds or tailwinds.
Conclusion
The example of Picasso’s “The Bull” illustrates a template for understanding the concept of abstraction in enterprise architecture. An architect’s role can radically simplify and expose the essence of a complex system, helping stakeholders to make better decisions.
Applying the principle of abstraction, enterprise architects can better comprehend their organization’s system, separate the essential from the non-essential, and elegantly plan and communicate their architecture. Abstraction, when done right, retains the meaningful essence while shedding off unnecessary complexity.
References:
- TOGAF | www.opengroup.org
- The Bull by Pablo Picasso – A Lesson in Abstraction – Draw Paint Academy
- Screen grab from Picasso Painting – YouTube
- Apple’s “Think Different” advertisement, Narrated by Steve Jobs (1997) – starts at 49 second
Rajen Patel is an Enterprise Architect working at SAP. He has over 20 years of SAP implementation experience in various industries, including Federal Government, Municipal government, Pharmaceutical, Steel, Construction, High-tech, and Food processing. He is TOGAF Business Architecture certified and an evangelist in adopting TOGAF in practice.
He holds a Master of Engineering from the University of Toronto and is also a certified Project Management Professional. His focus work area is helping clients on their digital transformation journey by implementing foundational Enterprise Architecture practices. He lives in Ottawa, Ontario where he follows his hobbies of reading, hiking and (slow) long distance running.
LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/rajenp
Other blogs: https://community.sap.com/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/5988
