In my previous article, I discussed how Plato would have viewed IT governance. Like many philosophers, Plato focuses on the ideal situation, describing his utopia. The aim is to discover truth, describe beauty and reach a perfect situation. But let's look at the definition of IT governance again, at least the last part: "... to enable both business and IT people to execute their responsibilities in support of business/IT alignment and the creation of business value from IT enabled investments."
 
This is not only about truth and beauty, but about reality – about being responsible for certain results and getting things done. This requires pragmatism and insight into how things work in practice. The type of philosophy that describes the perfect world doesn't suffice; a different type of philosophy is needed as well. Here we encounter the unavoidable Machiavelli and Sun Tzu.
 
Niccolò di Bernardo de Machiavelli (1469–1527) was a diplomat and administrator in Florence during the Renaissance. He didn't have an easy life. Italian city-states were at constant war with each other, in varying coalitions, and with many shifts in power. Machiavelli fell from grace at one point as well, was tortured and lived in exile. It was during this period that he did most of his writing. Machiavelli's most famous book is called The Prince, and it deals with the difficulties of new princes gaining and sustaining power, including best practices in strategy, leadership, and how to use force and deceit. In short, it is good advice for every new executive in the corner-office, if not in applying Machiavelli's work, then at least in recognizing others doing it.
 
Despite the era it is written in, it is a surprisingly easy and sometimes amusing read. In fact, more recently, some have commented The Prince should be read as a work of irony, with Machiavelli meaning the opposite. Meant seriously or not, "being Machiavellian" today has a strong negative connotation. It stands for about every unfair way to reach your goals. If you set this current interpretation aside, what remains after reading The Prince and Machiavelli's other works, is a remarkable practical philosophy. Machiavelli doesn't describe how politics should work, he describes how they do work.
 
For instance,  Machiavelli describes how to control occupied territory:

 
This is directly applicable advice for CIOs. Even today, IT is sometimes housed at a separate location, leading to garrisons moving up and down. Collecting systems requirements from a distance, Machiavelli says, is much less productive and much more expensive. Instead, IT should be extremely close to the business and blend in IT should send its own citizens and let them live within the colony called business, creating harmony. If business and IT are one, business/IT alignment simply stops being an issue.
 
Machiavelli continues:
 
 
In other words, keep your users happy. Empower them with the infrastructure to do things themselves; don't prescribe all solutions. Of course, there are areas of standardization (e.g., everything in finance), but in general the users should be empowered. How many new CIOs started doing that, instead of coming in and making a mark by strong standardization?
 
Machiavelli describes the latter approach as follows:
 
 
In short, dear CIO, this is what happens if you go for SAP as the first thing in your new job ;-).  
 
The most important task of the CIO is to defend the IT territory:
 
 
So much for philosophers being kings, and kings being philosophers! However, there is a glorious but careful role for enterprise architects after all:

 
Machiavelli is not the only one describing the grim reality of power and politics. Sun Tzu, an ancient Chinese military general and author of The Art of War has as well. Sun Tzu and Machiavelli make many of the same points. It is peculiar though that Machiavelli now has a bad reputation, while quoting Sun Tzu is considered to be a sign of strength and wisdom: "Business is war!"
 
Historians question if Sun Tzu was indeed an authentic historical figure, and when exactly he lived, either in the period of 544-496 BC, or somewhere between 476-221 BC. A well-known story describes the world in which Sun Tzu lived. The King of Wu wanted to test Sun Tzu's leadership skills, and asked him to train a group of 180 harem ladies to become soldiers. Sun Tzu started by appointing the two concubines most favored by the king as his officers, and gave them the "face, right" command. They giggled. He then repeated the order, as the general – in this case, Sun Tzu himself  – is responsible for making sure orders are well understood. The concubines giggled again, and Sun Tzu had them executed. The king protested, but Sun Tzu explained that his officers have to obey, and that the task of the general is to carry out his mission, regardless of any complaint. Sun Tzu then appointed two new officers. His two officers and the other concubines performed perfectly. Governance!
 
Although Machiavelli and Sun Tzu have much in common, they each wrote in a different style. Machiavelli uses many historical examples and elaborate prose. The work of Sun Tzu is structured more like a list of instructions or short descriptions; what today we would call best practices.
 
Sun Tzu has many quotes that tell us a bit about governance. Management of many is the same as management of few; it is a matter of organization, he wrote. His definition of governance is much shorter than the one I have been using in this essay so far:
 
 
In the case of IT, to be successful you need to be close to the business:
 
Sun Tzu also tells us to be analytical. His insight here is surprisingly fresh. The military method starts with measurement, and one should concentrate on measuring tangible and concrete things like distance, temperature and other factors affecting battle conditions. After measurement comes estimation of quantity, and Sun Tzu means the interpretation of the data to create meaningful information. Calculation comes third, which translates into creating an overview of your options to respond. Then comes the balancing of chances, which is an evaluation of what the best course of action is, based on the list of options available and the risks associated with them. Victory comes last. If I had attributed this list of five steps to Kaplan and Norton, the gurus of management control today, you would have believed it too.
 
Sun Tzu also tells us to be dispassionate about control as part of governance, not be sidetracked by vested interests of others, and keep your eye on the goal. Hence,  
 
 
IT believers will also recognize the idea of having a competitive edge through IT  by adopting the principle of first mover advantage. In the case of Sun Tzu, though, it needs to be taken very literally:
 
 
An angle to IT governance I haven't touched on so far is architecture. In hindsight it seems better to credit Sun Tzu for describing the principles of a service-oriented architecture first:
 
 
But we shouldn't forget being successful is still a dirty job. I am not sure if we can call Sun Tzu Machiavellian in nature, as Machiavelli wasn't born yet, but let there be no mistake:
 

SOURCE: Machiavelli and Sun Tzu on IT Governance

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