Belief systems in architecture standards

This paper reports on research undertaken as part of the programme of work being pursued by the INCOSE UK Chapter Architecture Working Group (AWG). The research builds on an innovative application of the Soft Systems Methodology to derive an approach to characterizing Belief Systems in architecting. The primary aim of the research is to provide guidance to architecting practitioners on the key features of different approaches to architecting. A secondary aim of the research programme is, by applying the Belief Systems methodology, to ensure its robustness and demonstrate its utility. The research to date has considered three ‘standards’ relating to architecture: the draft standard ISO/IEC-42010, the MOD Architecture Framework (MODAF) and the book “The Art of Systems Architecting” by Meier & Rechtin. These cover a spectrum of beliefs about architecting, including the belief that architecting is a creative discipline. The research concludes that the Belief Systems methodology does indeed provide a systematic way of understanding the underlying (and usually unstated) beliefs articulated by such ‘standards’. The research also concludes that these three sources are complementary in that they each contribute to the practice of system architecting. A process view has been developed that synthesizes the architecting processes from the three sources, which may itself prove to be a product that is useful to system architects.