eshamow
Nick TuneWouldn’t it be interesting if Leadership Decision Records (LDRs) were a thing?
(The equivalent of ADRs for software architecture)
numerodix@nick_tune I can imagine that would run into problems due to the fact that a lot of those decisions will be partly based on information that is (partly) confidential.
So if you want to have a documented decision about let's say a reorg where leadership decided on Option B that can be disseminated to a wide audience (eg. the whole department) it's not going to include various gut feeling-y reasons like "I trust Person F more than Person H to manage our relationship with Vendor R" and such.
Colin Hart@numerodix @nick_tune now I’m imagining LDRs, but with redactions
Laila Bougria@numerodix @nick_tune I’d argue that if they’re making gut-feelingy decisions, their decision-making is flawed to begin with. If they can distill those “gut feelings” into data points, assumptions and risks, maybe it becomes a lot easier to share too.
Jon "The Nice Guy" Spriggs@nick_tune or just use the term "decision records" - it's what I've been doing for a while. https://jon.sprig.gs/blog/post/2339
Giorgio Sironi@JonTheNiceGuy @nick_tune my team uses Miro boards and "post its as decision" instead of textual records due to the reduced friction and the capability to visually organize decisions into application layers, or different viewpoints such as testing or observability. Less space to write in, but finding and moving content more quickly?
@giorgiosironi @JonTheNiceGuy @nick_tune How do you then keep track of the context that led to that decision? Context, alternatives, etc? Are those recorded on surrounding post its?
Good question @noctovis !
The templates I use all have "context" as one of the headings. The rest of the template is as follows:
```
# {0000}. {TITLE}
Date: {yyyy-mm-dd}
## Status
{Accepted|Proposed} by {author}
{Superceded by 0000}
## Context
{Given external factor A and B, a choice was made between options 1 or 2}
## Decision
{Option X was selected because REASON}
## Consequences
{Because X was selected project Z can now proceed. Project Y cannot.}
```
/ @giorgiosironi @nick_tune
@noctovis
D'oh just realised you wanted to know what @giorgiosironi was doing, not what the rest of us are/were. Please ignore my previous!
@JonTheNiceGuy @giorgiosironi @nick_tune No worries, it’s interesting to see which templates are being used because there are many different ones!
@noctovis @JonTheNiceGuy @nick_tune we have tended not to record the "why" as much as the "what". Sometimes there is a link to an example from the code, which provides context along with the position in the map e.g. what architectural layer we are in.
Our motivation was speeding up repeatable decision-making while we build new features, more than architecture auditing or evolution: that might be why. Assuming if we change decisions later on the context has changed enough that it needs to be evaluated again.
Our motivation was speeding up repeatable decision-making while we build new features, more than architecture auditing or evolution: that might be why. Assuming if we change decisions later on the context has changed enough that it needs to be evaluated again.
Michael McCliment@nick_tune Aren't they? Then I guess I'm doing something wrong with the way I document work processes and manage experiments in changing them...
@nick_tune (Although I never thought of calling it by that name, the influence is definitely there.)
Ruth — of systems & designAhead of the curve :)
Shelly@nick_tune Amazing timing to see this post! Our company just started using adrs and with great success so far. I've actually been shocked by how much our management team loves it. Because while the ADRs have been great, we still find Leaders later have experienced an inability to stick to decisions those ADRs drive to. Definitely going to consider introducing the LDR now. Maybe just augment our reviews to incorporate the broader implications. What a great governance tool to have!
Stephen 🌈 (he/him)@nick_tune Have you heard of Sociocracy? Here is an example pattern that talks about what you are wondering about: https://patterns.sociocracy30.org/logbook.html
@firepoet haven't seen that before, and I don't know much about sociocracy. Thanks for sharing.
@nick_tune You are welcome! Happy to chat more if you want.. I have tons of training in both Sociocracy and Holacracy.
jadeforrest@nick_tune that is a really interesting idea. A variant ok that idea is here. https://www.rubick.com/engineering-handbook/
@jadeforrest I agree with your principles and observations, and I think the solution you propose has lots of potential advantages.
kaeff@nick_tune Having (to the degree possible) insights into the context and trade-offs considered, could make it easier for employees to empathize, disagree and commit with some decisions, and put the focus on constructively challenging once the context sufficiently changed
Thomas lissajoux@nick_tune have a look at Ackoff's decision journal
https://ackoffcenter.blogs.com/files/ackoff-a-major-mistake-that-manager-make.pdf0
Peter Ritchie🌍🍁@nick_tune Business Architecture Decisions?
@peterritchie could be yeah