People, Org & Influence
Systems are built by people in organisations with incentives. These models explain why the org chart shapes the system, and how architects gain influence without authority.
- No. 061
Conway's Law
Organisations design systems that mirror their own communication structures.
- No. 062
Inverse Conway Maneuver
Shape your teams to match the architecture you want, and the system will follow.
- No. 063
Cognitive Load
A team can only hold so much in its head; architecture should fit within that limit.
- No. 064
Incentives
Show me the incentive and I will show you the outcome.
- No. 065
Goodhart's Law
When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure.
- No. 066
Brooks's Law
Adding people to a late software project makes it later.
- No. 067
Bikeshedding (Law of Triviality)
Groups spend disproportionate time on trivial issues because everyone feels qualified to discuss them.
- No. 068
Hanlon's Razor
Never attribute to malice what can be explained by missing information, constraints, or honest mistakes.
- No. 069
Relativity (Stakeholder Frames)
Every observer sees the system from their own frame; none of them sees the whole truth.
- No. 070
Ubiquitous Language
Use one vocabulary, shared by domain experts and developers, in conversation, documents and code alike.
- No. 071
The Pyramid Principle
Start with the answer, then give the few reasons that support it, then the evidence for each.
- No. 072
Ladder of Inference
We climb from a few selected facts to firm beliefs in seconds; walk back down the ladder together to resolve disagreement.
- No. 073
Disagree and Commit
Argue openly until the decision is made, then everyone backs it fully — including those who argued against it.
- No. 074
Influence Without Authority
When you can't tell people what to do, trade: offer what they value in return for what you need.
- No. 075
Power–Interest Grid
Map stakeholders by how much power they have over the outcome and how much they care, and engage each group differently.
- No. 076
C4 Model (Zoom Levels for Audiences)
Draw architecture as a few maps at different zoom levels — context, containers, components, code — and show each audience the level it needs.
- No. 077
Curse of Knowledge
Once you know something, it is hard to imagine not knowing it, so experts explain too little, too abstractly.
- No. 078
Decision Rights (Who Has the D?)
For each important decision, make clear who recommends, who must agree, who gives input, who carries it out, and the one person who decides.