There are technical decisions that sometimes dictate how the company is going to move forward a few years into the future, of course for the better. We've probably heard a few big companies did that (examples: 1, 2, 3). I think you all get the idea.
When it comes to these kind of decisions, how is it being made in your company? A few questions:
- Who came up with the decision? CTO/tech lead/devs?
- Who did the research on the decision? And how long did the research take?
- What triggered the decision? Was it set on a technical roadmap, or simply the product you're developing demanded it at that time?
- How was it being executed? Was it done gradually, or in one go (production stopped, all devs refactored the code until it is finished)?
- How did the devs perceive the decision? Did they follow because they agreed, or was it something that the devs had to follow regardless?
These questions might be a lot to answer, but I'm trying to understand the processes in other companies, so that maybe I can learn a thing or two and apply it in the company I currently work in.
Thank you in advance, for your insights. Much appreciated.
Top comments (2)
How about the context (and examples) which is provided in the first paragraph? Maybe switching a frontend framework or the entire backend to something else? Technical decisions that took a significant amount of resources and time and would shape the company directions for years to come? Has it ever happened in your company? How was the process?
But thanks for the insights anyway! TIL about architects, I've never had that in my career.
Whoa, that is one roller coaster ride (in a bad way). Sadly, it hits too close to home for me. I wished that big technical decisions like these could've been handled better by the whole team. But I get that it came from the top (management/exec) then devs were just executioners. I'm surprised that the devs didn't say anything (maybe they did?).
Again, thanks for sharing, it means a lot to learn how others did it.