Facilitating Software Architecture • Andrew Harmel-Law & Sonya Natanzon • GOTO 2024

This interview was recorded for the GOTO Book Club. #GOTOcon #GOTObookclub http://gotopia.tech/bookclub Read the full transcription of the interview here: https://gotopia.tech/episodes/348 Andrew Harmel-Law - Technical Principal at Thoughtworks & Author of “Facilitating Software Architecture” @AndrewHarmelLaw Sonya Natanzon - Senior Director of Software Engineering at Guardant Health @SonyaNatanzon RESOURCES Andrew https://bsky.app/profile/andrewhl.bsky.social https://twit.social/@ahl https://github.com/andrewharmellaw https://x.com/al94781 https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewharmellaw Sonya https://www.linkedin.com/in/sonya-natanzon Links https://facilitatingsoftwarearchitecture.com https://martinfowler.com/articles/scaling-architecture-conversationally.html https://www.thoughtworks.com/radar/techniques/lightweight-architecture-decision-records https://www.cognitect.com/blog/2011/11/15/documenting-architecture-decisions https://medium.com/@vanessamformicola/social-decision-records-adrs-for-human-interactions-e6bb3ffe30ef https://youtu.be/acqcyX-tpf4 https://youtu.be/Vd5IxWn3Ync https://youtu.be/H5FZEciOgI8 https://youtu.be/Gs1zUKrFCoY https://youtu.be/m7cWdYVAzX0 https://youtu.be/dJ8Z-MKqeB8 https://youtu.be/NKQ--vGY35E https://youtu.be/rIgTE9aDVj4 https://youtu.be/NGXl1D-KwRI https://youtu.be/sk1NPkAzYSM https://youtu.be/FbV9EFHnGOE https://youtu.be/fYWvTYFmVYs https://youtu.be/HKS5sKsIkkc https://youtu.be/BIuBnLTMkfQ https://youtu.be/E5oCgo7cu14 https://youtu.be/dcp6YMAmI3M https://youtu.be/0nsZ7lA9Znk DESCRIPTION Sonya Natanzon and Andrew Harmel-Law explore key concepts from Andrew’s book, fostering decentralized sociotechnical systems, emphasizing the importance of embracing imperfection in decision-making, and combating cognitive biases like the framing effect. They highlight the shift to prioritizing learning, adaptability, and small, fast iterations in socio-technical systems. Andrew discusses psychological safety as vital for empowering teams to innovate while maintaining accountability, advocating for experimentation and collective ownership of evolving codebases. Together, they underline the importance of balancing creativity and structure to build resilient, adaptive systems that thrive in complexity. TIMECODES 00:00 Intro 00:40 From blog to book 06:00 Evolving architectural decision-making 11:35 Decentralized decision-making 22:57 The transformative power of writing 26:58 Balancing decision-making & accountability in software architecture 32:04 Harnessing reframing & bias awareness for better decisions 38:02 Psychological safety & accountability in decentralized decision-making 42:26 Outro RECOMMENDED BOOKS Andrew Harmel-Law • Facilitating Software Architecture • https://amzn.eu/d/5kZKVfU Diana Montalion • Learning Systems Thinking • https://amzn.to/3ZpycdJ Donald G. Reinertsen • The Principles of Product Development Flow • https://amzn.to/3OZDqXc Alexander, Ishikawa, Silverstein, Jacobson, Fiksdahl-King & Ange • A Pattern Language • https://amzn.to/4gHTfgY Patty McCord • Powerful • https://amzn.to/3ZJ1uCF Gene Kim, Kevin Behr & George Spafford • The Phoenix Project • https://amzn.to/3P1McUB Shoshana Zuboff • The Age of Surveillance Capitalism • https://amzn.to/3VMswI5 Matthew Skelton & Manuel Pais • Team Topologies • http://amzn.to/3sVLyLQ https://bsky.app/profile/gotocon.com https://twitter.com/GOTOcon https://www.linkedin.com/company/goto- https://www.instagram.com/goto_con https://www.facebook.com/GOTOConferences #SoftwareArchitecture #ADR #ArchitecturalDecisionRecords #DecentralizedDecisionMaking #DecentralizedDecisions #Facilitation #SoftwareEngineering #Programming #AndrewHarmelLaw #SonyaNatanzon #BookClub CHANNEL MEMBERSHIP BONUS Join this channel to get early access to videos & other perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs_tLP3AiwYKwdUHpltJPuA/join Looking for a unique learning experience? Attend the next GOTO conference near you! Get your ticket at https://gotopia.tech SUBSCRIBE TO OUR CHANNEL - new videos posted almost daily. https://www.youtube.com/user/GotoConferences/?sub_confirmation=1