2023 03 14 Technical decisions in an advice focused archictecture

technicalDecisions

The process of making a technical decision is at the core of being a software architect, and also evolving the architecture practice.

One of the main challenges is to find the sweet spot of: Speed of decision making vs consensus-style decision making (which makes it slower)

Decisions might be quick, but this method risks option bias, and often leaves the rest of the company feeling like their voices don’t matter. On the other hand, you can end up with consensus-style decision-making that drags on and on forever, leading to debates that never end, or people who are afraid of speaking up if their opinion is in the minority. Neither process is good for making decisions effectively.

Tips * Disagree and commit is a good principle to speed decisions * RFCs and ADRs * Document current process and iterate over it * Encourage phycological safety so people can speak up * Informed captains who make decisions * Embrace conflict

An organization without disagreement is either a hive-mind or one where some people have given up on trying to participate.

hive mind:

Hive mentality, also known as groupthink, is when a person has a strong tendency to fall for group decision-making. If someone has a hive mentality, they may feel invulnerable and morally correct when they're part of a certain group

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