Architects work to the Maker's Schedule

Paul Graham's essay on the manager's schedule and the maker's schedule provides food for thought for those of us that are expected to come up with ideas to deadlines.

There are two types of schedule, which I'll call the manager's schedule and the maker's schedule. The manager's schedule is for bosses. It's embodied in the traditional appointment book, with each day cut into one hour intervals. You can block off several hours for a single task if you need to, but by default you change what you're doing every hour. .... But there's another way of using time that's common among people who make things, like programmers and writers. They generally prefer to use time in units of half a day at least. You can't write or program well in units of an hour. That's barely enough time to get started.

So manager-type, you have asked the enterprise architect to come up with a new vision and roadmap for the business and technical architecture ... does it really help to haul them into adhoc meetings at short notice to ask about your current pain? Try cornering them at the coffee machine instead!