The ADM: The Never-Ending Cycle — Revisiting TOGAF’s Eternal Loop

Greetings, brave architects of recurrence! 🌀
This week, we revisit the architectural Groundhog Day — the TOGAF ADM cycle, also known as “that project phase we’ve definitely finished… until someone reopens it.”

The Main Story: The Loop That Never Ends

Picture this: The EA team proudly completes Phase E — Opportunities & Solutions. There’s applause, celebratory coffee, even a PowerPoint that says “Final Architecture Approved.”

Two weeks later, a new stakeholder appears like a boss in a side quest:

Suddenly, you’re back in Phase A: Architecture Vision, reliving the same workshops, rediscovering the same Post-its, and pretending this time it’ll stick.

By the third cycle, your team starts labeling diagrams with Roman numerals — “Solution Architecture vIII (definitely final this time)” — while the PM insists the schedule is still on track.

TOGAF to the Rescue (Sort of)

TOGAF, ever the wise old owl, nods knowingly:

Indeed, the ADM is not a straight line — it’s a loop of refinement, learning, and yes, mild existential dread.
But therein lies its genius: each pass through the cycle improves alignment, understanding, and occasionally, your tolerance for ambiguity.

Instead of fighting the loop, embrace it. Make iteration intentional. Define what triggers re-entry into earlier phases, and keep your architecture repository clean — it’s your memory in this architectural déjà vu.

Educational Twist: Surviving the ADM Spin Cycle

• Define iteration checkpoints. Don’t fall back to Phase A unless criteria demand it.

• Keep version control sacred. Label each cycle clearly (no more “final-final.docx”).

• Communicate the why. Stakeholders tolerate repetition better when they understand the purpose.

• Use the Architecture Repository as your compass — it’s how you remember what worked last time.

Humor in Diagrams

Reader Engagement

Have you ever been caught in an ADM time loop?
Share your funniest “we’re back to Phase A” story — the best one gets immortalized in our next issue’s cartoon!

Next Week’s Tease

Next week: Framework Wars — TOGAF vs The Rest
Because what’s a good architecture session without a little framework smackdown? 🥊