Facilitating Software Architecture

Chapter 3. Decisions at Scale

Chapter 2 clarified what makes a decision an architectural one and, more importantly, what makes an architectural decision significant. It’s now time to get a firm grip on the act of deciding and various ways to approach it. Specifically, we’ll answer:

• What are the standard approaches to decisions at scale?

• What are the characteristics of an “ideal” postrevolutionary decision process?

Despite the fact that we all make many decisions a day, few of us are cognizant about how we go about it. This chapter will remedy that. I’ll start simply by presenting a generic decision process that applies to all decisions. You’ll gain an understanding of the steps involved, which I’ll return to again and again throughout this book. You’ll then move on to consider decision processes when more than one person is involved. You’ll see how the processes compare and, more important, how suitable they are for a revolutionized world.

Decision Processes

Let’s take a break from architecture for a moment and focus on the practice of arriving at decisions in general terms. Let’s start with an example of a personal decision of the kind many of us likely make on a daily basis. (Bear with me. I’ll get back to architectural decisions in the next section, but for now I want to provide clarity on a fundamental aspect underlying all decisions—even the ones where you are choosing a beverage for yourself.)

I’m standing at the counter of a coffee shop. I’m parched and want a drink ...