Organizational Dynamics
Key Questions
Why do org charts determine software architecture? (Conway's Law)
What is the difference between Agile theater and actual iterative delivery?
How do we measure engineering productivity without destroying morale?
Why does adding more developers to a late project make it later?
What is tech debt and when should we pay it down vs accumulate more?
How do we balance feature velocity with system stability?
What are Team Topologies and why do they matter?
How do we make decisions when stakeholders disagree on priorities?
Why do digital transformation initiatives fail 70% of the time?
What is the difference between automation and digitalization?
How do we navigate bureaucracy without getting stuck in process theater?
What You'll Learn
Understand Conway's Law: how organizational structure shapes system architecture
Learn to identify real Agile practices vs cargo cult Agile
Recognize when tech debt needs paying vs when it's acceptable
Understand engineering productivity frameworks (DORA, SPACE)
Learn Team Topologies: Stream-aligned, Platform, Enabling, Complicated Subsystem
Grasp why "best practices" from BigTech don't copy-paste to government/enterprise
Hard Truths
Most organizations buy Agile consultants but keep waterfall approval processes.
Adding headcount doesn't linearly increase output - communication overhead is real.
Tech debt compounds silently until a "simple change" takes 6 months.
Metrics like "lines of code" or "tickets closed" optimize for the wrong behaviors.
Stakeholders want "fast, cheap, and perfect" - you get to pick two at most.
Change management is treated as "send an email and hope" instead of deliberate culture work.
Digital transformation gets sold as tool migration instead of process redesign.
Procurement and compliance teams often block the exact tools needed for modern development.
The phrase "it works in production" shouldn't be more reliable than "it works in staging".