You're smart. You deliver. What more could your company want from you? Why don’t they come to you for the big technical decisions? Why won’t they listen to your proposals? It seems like everyone has an agenda and they’re doing everything they can to kill your great ideas. We focus on the soft skills that architects need to master. Learning these skills will boost your emotional intelligence and help you become a more professional, well rounded contributor. You’ll gain insight into the architect’s role as leader, influencer, and business professional and learn how to leverage your position to become a positive force within your organization. Session 1: Mastering the Soft Skills In this session, we’ll discuss key interpersonal skills and how they can affect your projects and career. We cover how to positively connect with humans, how to participate in and influence the business processes you support, and how to transcend your technical role and maximize your connections with all members of your organization. Session 2: Organizational Dynamics This session examines the dynamic nature of large organizations – their structures, decision making processes, and political landscapes. We’ll discuss the goals of key business and technical decision makers and their influence on architects and software projects. We’ll conclude with some strategies for maximizing the soft skills from Session 1 to ensure successful outcomes for your projects and career.

1. Professional Patterns on the Job ArcReady

2. Agenda Session 1: Mastering the Soft Skills Break Session 2: Organizational Dynamics Drawing for prizes

3. Session 1: Mastering the Soft Skills

4. Part 1: Managing Your Career

6. At times, my career has been like this…

7. George Jetson

8. His ‘button pushing finger’

10. Learning… Problem Solving… Passion…

12. Manage your own career, iteratively Set Goals Be Introspective Set a Plan Execute Execute Iterate

14. Avoid Companies that focus on SAT interviews. Find a Company that tries to get to know YOU !

16. Change creates opportunities

17. Part 2: Let’s Talk About the Humans

18. It’s all about people!

19. 0 : Starting lists with zero is geek-cool. It confuses humans though.

20. Humans don’t care about technology.

21. Communicate Like A Human This Takes Practice!

22. Perception is reality.

23. What’s in it for me?

24. Part 3: Skills for Success

25. No agenda, no attenda

26. If you’re not early… … you’re late!

27. Be prepared

28. Scrounging skills It!

29. Always be the dumbest person in the room

30. Say ‘I don’t know’

31. Body Language Matters

33. Listen with two ears, talk with one mouth.

34. Take Notes

35. Use metaphors

36. … but never use bad language.

37. Learn how to read a room

38. Follow through!

39. Over communicate until they bleed!

42. Build trust, and focus on the relationship.

44. Creativity You need to practice to strengthen it.

45. Creativity Keep a record of your ideas.

46. Creativity Design a system you thought of, even though it won’t get built. Throw that out. And do it two more time.

47. Creativity Mix It up, read a book you normally wouldn’t.

49. Always hold the door

50. Learn the art of small talk

51. Learn the art of public speaking

52. Every technology you know today will be worthless within five years.

53. Eat like a bird, and poop like an elephant.

54. Learn quickly, unlearn quicker

56. Sex

57. Religion

58. Politics

59. Thoughts? Questions?

60. Break Please complete and Eval

61. Session 2: Organizational Dynamics

62. Part 1: A Little Systems Theory

63. Responsibility Authority Power Influence

64. The Purpose Driven Social System

65. Chaos Theory Point Attractors Cyclic Attractors Strange Attractors

66. What can we conclude from this?

67. Life is like high school

68. Part 2: Who’s Got An Agenda?

69. Who’s Got An Agenda? Everybody’s got an agenda!

70. Your CEO’s Agenda

71. Economics In One Slide Profit = Revenue - Costs We live in a growth economy.

72. “ I need to grow the company”

73. Your CIO’s Agenda

74. Is the CIO a technologist who understands the business? or a business person who understands technology?

75. “ I need to add value to the business”

76. Your Director’s Agenda

77. “ I need to get the right people working on the right projects”

78. Your Manager’s Agenda

79. “ I need to make sure everyone is happy”

80. Your Coworkers’ Agenda

81. “ We want to work with great people who carry their own weight”

82. Your Agenda

83. “ I need to choose technologies with a future”

84. “ I need to focus on adding business value and project success – not necessarily efficiency”

85. Part 3: Strategies for Success

86. Dress +1

87. Plug into your company’s information pipeline

88. Seek out a mentor

89. Have a best friend at work

90. Evangelize

91. Build an network of like-minded people

92. Build coalitions

93. Learn to the right way to gripe

94. Keep an eye on the sharks

95. Be prepared to have the “hard” conversations

96. Always maintain your composure

97. Master the formal political tools Compromise (win-win) Arbitration Escalation

98. Know your boundaries and limitations

99. Never burn a bridge

100. Be a positive force

101. Don't ever let the bozo's grind you down.

102. References Systems Thinking – Gharajedaghi What the CEO Want’s You To Know – Charan CIO Wisdom – Lane, et. al. 7 Habits of Highly Effective People – Covey How to Win Friends & Influence People – Carnegie Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion – Cialdini Introducing Neuro-Linguistic Programming – O’Conner & Seymour

103. © 2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft, Windows, Windows Vista and other product names are or may be registered trademarks and/or trademarks in the U.S. and/or other countries. The information herein is for informational purposes only and represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation as of the date of this presentation. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information provided after the date of this presentation. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS PRESENTATION.