Part I: The Origin of AIFC
12. The Company as a Community of Communities
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Once the community pattern existed, a company could be seen differently.
A company is not only a legal entity.
It is a community of communities.
A department is a community.
A product team is a community.
A support team is a community.
A security team is a community.
A vendor relationship is a boundary between communities.
A customer relationship is an interface between communities.
This changed the view of enterprise architecture.
The company is not just:
- org chart,
- tools,
- processes,
- reporting lines,
- PowerPoint strategy,
- Jira tickets,
- Confluence pages.
It is a nested community system.
This produced the concept of Enterprise Interface.
Each community needs an interface.
It should make clear:
- who we are,
- what our purpose is,
- what we own,
- what we provide,
- what we need,
- what values govern us,
- what decisions we can make,
- how others can interact with us,
- how feedback flows,
- what AI may do in our context.
The company becomes readable as a system.
Not only manageable as a hierarchy.