Behaviours to avoid in a software architecture role

Re:Behaviours to avoid in a software architecture role by swirepe on Tuesday February 02, 2021 @01:03PM (#26004316)

>I'll add another one, don't openly confront the CTO.

Looks like we found the CTO :)

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Re:Behaviours to avoid in a software architecture role by hellohello1 on Tuesday February 02, 2021 @02:04PM (#26005119)

Nah sounds like a seasoned architect. The first thing I had to unlearn was that I had any say over my architecture.

Maybe the problem with software architects is that they only exist in bureaucratically hellish companies, and exist as a scapegoat for bad management decisions?

Or maybe I'm just jaded.

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Re:Behaviours to avoid in a software architecture role by treis on Tuesday February 02, 2021 @02:36PM (#26005494)

Your experience matches mine. I can think of twice where I stood my ground and argued with a more senior person. Both times I was shown to be right technically but that came at a big cost to my career. I would have been much better off letting the project crash and burn.

I think there are senior people that are different. Hell, there might be companies full of them. But I'd need to see first hand proof of it before doing anything harder than gentle pushback.

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Re:Behaviours to avoid in a software architecture role by joncrane on Tuesday February 02, 2021 @01:27PM (#26004652)

Nope, we found someone who, shortly before a low point in their career, openly confronted a CTO.

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Re:Behaviours to avoid in a software architecture role by webmaven on Tuesday February 02, 2021 @08:55PM (#26009696)

> >I'll add another one, don't openly confront the CTO.

> Looks like we found the CTO :),

Ooh, is this a game like "Spot the Fed" at DefCon?

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Re:Behaviours to avoid in a software architecture role by NDizzle on Tuesday February 02, 2021 @12:53PM (#26004199)

Even when they have indefensible positions? When the idea doesn't hold up to ~2 hours of research?

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Re:Behaviours to avoid in a software architecture role by TameAntelope on Tuesday February 02, 2021 @01:03PM (#26004314)

Especially then, because if that's the case then you know there's more to this story than just what you're experiencing in that moment.

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Re:Behaviours to avoid in a software architecture role by pc86 on Tuesday February 02, 2021 @01:38PM (#26004781)

Exactly.

If you're arguing with your boss's boss's boss, who has worked at the company for five years and the industry for two decades, and you think you've unraveled their entire argument by reading a few blog posts, you're wrong approaching 100% of the time. Best case scenario is that you've missed something specific to your company, or industry, or the current technical implementation, or some obscure contract the previous CTO signed that they're still trying to get out of.

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Re:Behaviours to avoid in a software architecture role by bluefirebrand on Tuesday February 02, 2021 @01:45PM (#26004874)

Or possibly you're extremely in the right but they have an ego the size of the moon and they will punish you if you bruise it.

Either way you lose.

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Re:Behaviours to avoid in a software architecture role by pc86 on Tuesday February 02, 2021 @09:44PM (#26009985)

Not to just reframe AnimalMuppet's point, but which of these two things is more likely?

1) Your couple hours of research has uncovered something blatantly obvious that was somehow missed by the other party.

2) Your couple hours of research hasn't shown you some edge case or something that is common knowledge once you've been in the field for 2+ decades.

I'm not saying #1 never happens, only that #2 is much more likely. It's a horses vs. zebras argument.

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Re:Behaviours to avoid in a software architecture role by imafish on Wednesday February 03, 2021 @02:52AM (#26011539)

3) The other party has a lot of stuff on his/her plate and does not get the luxury to spend hours of research/thought on architectural details.

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Re:Behaviours to avoid in a software architecture role by bluefirebrand on Wednesday February 03, 2021 @09:51AM (#26014039)

And don't forget "Hasn't actually worked hands on with anything you're doing for a decade"

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Re:Behaviours to avoid in a software architecture role by AnimalMuppet on Tuesday February 02, 2021 @05:30PM (#26007874)

In pc86's scenario, though, it's much more likely that you're the one with the ego, thinking that reading a few blog posts makes you more informed than a 20-year industry vet.

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Re:Behaviours to avoid in a software architecture role by wnoise on Tuesday February 02, 2021 @08:25PM (#26009505)

How often is "something more to the story" solid technical reasons vs something like kickbacks and bribes?

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Re:Behaviours to avoid in a software architecture role by vmh1928 on Tuesday February 02, 2021 @01:06PM (#26004355)

2+2 = 5 situations.

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Re:Behaviours to avoid in a software architecture role by TameAntelope on Tuesday February 02, 2021 @01:12PM (#26004434)

In my experience it's rarely (read: never) that clear, is my point. When it's that "obviously" wrong, there's almost certainly something you don't understand.

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Re:Behaviours to avoid in a software architecture role by coryrc on Tuesday February 02, 2021 @01:56PM (#26005016)

the important word is "openly"

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Re:Behaviours to avoid in a software architecture role by offtop5 on Tuesday February 02, 2021 @02:05PM (#26005134)

More like when you've been at the company for about 3 weeks

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Re:Behaviours to avoid in a software architecture role by NDizzle on Tuesday February 02, 2021 @02:09PM (#26005162)

What about the inverse? The CTO is the new person in my situation.

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