The Prince

I'm working on my book, "On Policy" today. Recent events have inspired me to finish this book and send it to print. When working on my book, I always start with a review of Niccolo Machiavelli's classic, The Prince.

I "grew up" in the shadowy world of intelligence. Policy was just a tool for getting what we wanted out of other people, other countries, and other Governments. When I retired from the Military, policy became about getting what we want from our people, our Country and our Government.

I am an Enterprise Architect. The "short definition" for an Enterprise Architect is someone who defines the objects that a business cares about and the rules associated with those objects. This is a "picture of policy". In the case of the Government, those rules must be derived from the United States Constitution and the law and policy created to implement the constitution as law.

I did Enterprise Architecture for both the Government and Fortune 500 businesses. The commercial side (those Fortune 500 businesses) is a bit more interesting because, why they also have to follow the law where it is applicable they also have the freedom to "create" the rules for everything else. I found that most satisfying. As the one with control of the whiteboard (or, the facilitator), I found that I could influence policy in both domains.

Machiavelli was a master of policy. He understood that policy is power. It is a tool for the acquisition and maintenance of both political and private industry power. That's why I always do a quick re-read for inspiration.

Enterprise Architecture is driven by a number of philosophical approaches. Little or lots of detail. Explicit or vague business rules. Tight or loosely coupled objects. Specific or vague object names. These same rules apply to policy. There is no "wrong" answer; however, there is a strategy to understanding these approaches to influence the outcome. Simply put, you can't write effective policy if you don't understand the objects you desire to influence with policy and the applicable business rules.

My biggest lesson over the years regarding policy, "Unintended consequences are often not"... at least if you really understand policy.