Empowering Teams to Make Architectural Decisions • Andrew Harmel-Law • YOW! 2025

This presentation was recorded at YOW! Australia 2025. #GOTOcon #YOW https://yowcon.com Andrew Harmel-Law - Technical Principal at Thoughtworks & Author of "Facilitating Software Architecture" @AndrewHarmelLaw ORIGINAL TALK TITLE Facilitating Software Architecture: Empowering Teams to Make Architectural Decisions RESOURCES https://bsky.app/profile/andrewhl.bsky.social https://twit.social/@ahl https://x.com/al94781 https://github.com/andrewharmellaw https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewharmellaw https://andrewharmellaw.github.io Links https://facilitatingsoftwarearchitecture.com https://martinfowler.com/articles/scaling-architecture-conversationally.html ABSTRACT In this talk, Andrew explores key concepts from his book, fostering decentralized sociotechnical systems, emphasizing the importance of embracing imperfection in decision-making, and combating cognitive biases like the framing effect. He will highlight the shift to prioritizing learning, adaptability, and small, fast iterations in socio-technical systems. Andrew will also discuss psychological safety as vital for empowering teams to innovate while maintaining accountability, advocating for experimentation and collective ownership of evolving codebases. He will underline the importance of balancing creativity and structure to build resilient, adaptive systems that thrive in complexity. [...] TIMECODES 00:00 Intro 05:02 Short version:Thinking like a software architect 15:56 Long version 18:24 Lightweight ADRs (Architecture Decision Records) 29:22 Architectural advice forum 36:19 How to fail 40:30 Summary 41:35 Outro Download slides and read the full abstract here: https://yowcon.com/brisbane-2025/sessions/3886 RECOMMENDED BOOKS Andrew Harmel-Law • Facilitating Software Architecture • https://amzn.eu/d/5kZKVfU Gregor Hohpe • The Software Architect Elevator • https://amzn.to/3F6d2ax Barry O'Reilly • Residues • https://leanpub.com/residuality Barry O'Reilly • The Architect's Paradox • https://leanpub.com/architectsparadox https://bsky.app/profile/gotocon.com https://www.linkedin.com/company/goto- https://www.instagram.com/goto_con https://www.facebook.com/GOTOConferences #SoftwareArchitecture #ArchitectureTeam #ADR #ArchitectureDecisionRecord #Microservices #ContinuousDelivery #PlatformEngineering #ArchitectsParadox #EmpoweringTeams #FacilitatingSoftware #TodayInTech #AndrewHarmelLaw #YOWcon 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 Sign up for updates and specials at https://gotopia.tech/newsletter SUBSCRIBE TO OUR CHANNEL - new videos posted almost daily. https://www.youtube.com/user/GotoConferences/?sub_confirmation=1