Questions#

Architecture Questions#

What tradeoffs are you making between ease of building now vs. future maintainability?
Would you be able to replace tools or modules easily?
How do you avoid future maintenance and work?
What are probable product enhancement requests?
How do you make those easy to build (without completely sacrificing simplicity or maintainability)?

How can we make sure this never happens again?
Is there a way to add a test or linting or otherwise enforce that no one will make this mistake again?
Might this project end up with the same or similar problems as something I’ve seen before?

Was the solution carefully thought through?
What other options were considered?
If something sub-optimal was chosen, why was it chosen? Is there a path to the more optimal solution? Have they thought that through?
Is this similar to other problems I’ve seen? If so, would any issues (or successes) we ran into there also apply here?

People won’t always agree with me, but are they hearing me?
Are people misinterpreting what I’m saying? Are they taking it in the right context? If not, can I change my approach or how I’m presenting my thoughts?
Do I understand my audience? Are they even the people I should be talking to about this topic? Am I presenting it in a way for them to understand and relate to it?
How much do I push a topic? Is this a battle worth fighting?

When I see something wrong, if I don’t fix it, who will?
What’s stopping me from doing it?
Am I working on the most important projects? Are the most important projects being worked on?
What are the weak points or gaps in our technology or our organization? What can I do to fill those?

How does your project affect other teams?
What’s the ‘adult’ or ‘right’ thing to do? If I’m not doing that, what’s stopping me? Should I probably just do that?
Am I leading by example? Do I want others copying me?
How do I create an environment where people feel safe to share their thoughts and opinions?
Are the people around me motivated and excited about their work and the technical direction? If not, what can I change?
How do I get others on board?
How do I get a project or initiative prioritized?
How do I make sure that people aren’t just blindly following my suggestions, but understand the why?
Are there similar things that you’re all trying to do?
Can you generalize your work to make it reusable by another team?

Who will learn the most from working on this?
What can I delegate?
How do I scale myself?
How can I never answer/do this again?
Is this particular task really worth the amount of time I’m spending on it? What would happen if it didn’t get done?
Who else could or should answer this?
What’s the worst that will happen if I stay out of it?

Is everyone’s voice being heard? How do I get others to open up and share their thoughts?
Am I keeping an open mind to other perspectives?
If something seems crazy to me, am I truly understanding what they’re saying and where they’re coming from (people are rarely actually crazy)?
What aren’t people saying?
Is someone’s body language, actions or demeanor saying something even if they’re not explicitly saying it?
Have I gotten a diverse set of input? Have I sought feedback from everyone I should?
Am I amplifying the people who deserve it?
What experiences have I had that are unique?
What unique perspectives do I bring to this problem?
Is there an important perspective that is missing in this conversation? Who can provide that?