Thinking Architecturally

Chapter 2. Thinking Strategically

Guiding our projects through technology transformations is our challenge as architects. While it is tempting to flit from technology to technology, as architects we need to have a plan.

We need to think strategically about technological evolutions. In this chapter, you will learn how to keep up with your field, why you should build yourself a technology radar, and how to create a learning plan.

Keeping Up With New Technologies

It seems like every few days a new library, framework, or language is released. Every conference introduces dozens of new ideas. Companies are innovating introducing new products almost constantly. While you slept last night someone published a “new” methodology that solves all the problems with the one you use today.¹

In a given week, you could go to ten meetups, watch days of video, and read thousands of posts. Your queue is fifteen deep with the latest must-read books and your phone has a months’ worth of podcasts just waiting for your listening pleasure. But how do we cope with a rate of change that is, if anything, accelerating?

Hope is not a strategy.² As a senior technologist, you need to keep up with changes in your industry. Many occupations require continuing education to remain credentialed. Some occupations build professional development days into their schedule. But software doesn’t have any kind of licensing nor do we have any agreed-upon concept of ongoing learning. This might have something to do with the ...