The Internet is full of tips about #productmanagement and #saas. But what about Product Architecture?
Here are my top 20, with inspiration from @jpatel41, @shreyas, and others.
Good Product Architects, Great Product Architects; a thread: 👇
Here are my top 20, with inspiration from @jpatel41, @shreyas, and others.
Good Product Architects, Great Product Architects; a thread: 👇
1/
Good architects work with teams to build experiences people love. Great architects are also infrastructure experts who think deeply about reliability, availability, and security.
Good architects work with teams to build experiences people love. Great architects are also infrastructure experts who think deeply about reliability, availability, and security.
2/
Good architects meet regularly with product management to discuss customer needs. Great architects gather additional context by engaging with the broader business (go-to-market functions, technical support, etc).
Good architects meet regularly with product management to discuss customer needs. Great architects gather additional context by engaging with the broader business (go-to-market functions, technical support, etc).
3/
Good architects meet regularly with engineering managers to determine the obstacles faced by their teams. Great architects tear down barriers that affect the whole org to uncover new pathways to innovation.
Good architects meet regularly with engineering managers to determine the obstacles faced by their teams. Great architects tear down barriers that affect the whole org to uncover new pathways to innovation.
4/
Good architects build empathy with developers and help them with incremental process upgrades. Great architects cultivate platforms that treat developer happiness and productivity as first-class concerns.
Good architects build empathy with developers and help them with incremental process upgrades. Great architects cultivate platforms that treat developer happiness and productivity as first-class concerns.
5/
Good architects have high confidence and will take on any challenge. Great architects formulate their own challenges, focusing efforts where they'll have the biggest impact.
Good architects have high confidence and will take on any challenge. Great architects formulate their own challenges, focusing efforts where they'll have the biggest impact.
6/
Good architects set technical direction and clearly communicate it to the team. Great architects establish long-term visions for the entire company to rally around.
Good architects set technical direction and clearly communicate it to the team. Great architects establish long-term visions for the entire company to rally around.
7/
Good architects can articulate strategy and the rationale behind it. Great architects tell stories that bring the abstract future to life.
Good architects can articulate strategy and the rationale behind it. Great architects tell stories that bring the abstract future to life.
8/
Good architects connect with people and advocate for strong collaboration. Great architects protect inter-team bandwidth from low-level decision making to keep more of it available for high-level shared goals.
Good architects connect with people and advocate for strong collaboration. Great architects protect inter-team bandwidth from low-level decision making to keep more of it available for high-level shared goals.
9/
Good architects facilitate brainstorming and inspire out-of-the-box thinking. Great architects create safe spaces to ensure the best ideas win.
Good architects facilitate brainstorming and inspire out-of-the-box thinking. Great architects create safe spaces to ensure the best ideas win.
10/
Good architects are outstanding problem solvers. Great architects are outstanding problem preventers. Great architects are discerning about which problems to prevent, which problems to solve, and which problems not to solve.
[credit: @shreyas's "Good PMs, Great PMs" thread]
Good architects are outstanding problem solvers. Great architects are outstanding problem preventers. Great architects are discerning about which problems to prevent, which problems to solve, and which problems not to solve.
[credit: @shreyas's "Good PMs, Great PMs" thread]
11/
Good architects look to advance their understanding of the market, not just their technical acumen. Great architects stay well-informed about the industry as a whole.
Good architects look to advance their understanding of the market, not just their technical acumen. Great architects stay well-informed about the industry as a whole.
12/
Good architects aim to simplify whenever possible. Great architects isolate any complexity that remains to make things easier for everyone else.
Good architects aim to simplify whenever possible. Great architects isolate any complexity that remains to make things easier for everyone else.
13/
Good architects take judicious risks and embrace change to drive the organization forward. Great architects actively demonstrate how to disrupt the status quo.
Good architects take judicious risks and embrace change to drive the organization forward. Great architects actively demonstrate how to disrupt the status quo.
14/
Good architects are relentlessly curious and seek inputs from a diverse range of perspectives. Great architects share as much as they consume, and use every medium available to scale key knowledge across the organization.
Good architects are relentlessly curious and seek inputs from a diverse range of perspectives. Great architects share as much as they consume, and use every medium available to scale key knowledge across the organization.
15/
Good architects know that behind every design lies a complicated series of tradeoffs. Great architects tirelessly prevent these compromises from affecting end users.
Good architects know that behind every design lies a complicated series of tradeoffs. Great architects tirelessly prevent these compromises from affecting end users.
16/
Good architects break sprawling problems down into smaller, more digestible pieces. Great architects atomize the entire problem space, then mix, match, and rewire these elements in novel and surprising ways (first principles thinking).
Good architects break sprawling problems down into smaller, more digestible pieces. Great architects atomize the entire problem space, then mix, match, and rewire these elements in novel and surprising ways (first principles thinking).
17/
Good architects take great pride in their craft and sweat the small details. Great architects care deeply about the abstractions that underly them, and can quickly spot patterns that are too specific or too generic.
Good architects take great pride in their craft and sweat the small details. Great architects care deeply about the abstractions that underly them, and can quickly spot patterns that are too specific or too generic.
18/
Good architects produce high-quality solutions for previously insurmountable problems. Great architects identify power moves to solve multiple problems simultaneously (with similar amounts of effort), providing even bigger leaps in value.
Good architects produce high-quality solutions for previously insurmountable problems. Great architects identify power moves to solve multiple problems simultaneously (with similar amounts of effort), providing even bigger leaps in value.
19/
Good architects involve themselves at every stage of the software delivery cycle, from design and code review through release and post-deploy ops. Great architects work to remove bottlenecks from the pipeline to minimize the time to customer value.
Good architects involve themselves at every stage of the software delivery cycle, from design and code review through release and post-deploy ops. Great architects work to remove bottlenecks from the pipeline to minimize the time to customer value.
20/
Good architects are humble and value team contributions as much as their own. Great architects are force multipliers who level up others through teaching, mentoring, and sharing wisdom.
Good architects are humble and value team contributions as much as their own. Great architects are force multipliers who level up others through teaching, mentoring, and sharing wisdom.
Great software architects, even good software architects, are hard to find. If you're a hiring manager, I hope this content helps you with your search.
END THREAD
Huge thanks to @dugsong, @jonoberheide, @devata, and @gngrwsbi for building such a strong product organization, I've learned so much from you all!
Huge thanks to @dugsong, @jonoberheide, @devata, and @gngrwsbi for building such a strong product organization, I've learned so much from you all!
21/
Good architects engage in writing to draft proposals and institutionalize knowledge. Great architects engage in writing to clarify their own thinking.
Good architects engage in writing to draft proposals and institutionalize knowledge. Great architects engage in writing to clarify their own thinking.
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