Chef to waiter isn't a good analogy in terms of skills. I was trying to highlight how different the roles were and not the skillset disparity. Hell, I'm one o

Chef to waiter isn't a good analogy in terms of skills. I was trying to highlight how different the roles were and not the skillset disparity. Hell, I'm one of them...my job title is application/solution architect and I spend most of my time doing exactly what you said above. I agree with what you're saying. My main point is that what I've seen (and even heard from people I'm interviewing) is that they want to become an architect to move away from code and graduate into another position. I think your point of needing a broader skill set is important because in my mind, architects are excellent at their old job, continue to do portions of that job and also gain the other skills (communication, change management, evangelizing)...but I don't see everyone understanding that.