Architect Like You Are Retiring

Many folks have asked about the title of my blog...so seeing as though its been over a year, here goes:

Architect Like You Are Retiring is my personal mantra to keep me sane and hopefully successful.

And before I begin:
- get over the grammar issue with "Architect" as a verb
- I am not really planning on retiring anytime soon.

Here is what my mantra is about:

(1) Architect with a plan to not be critical path to understanding its elegance or complexity or style. This is a derivation on Keep It Simple Stupid.

(2) Plan for the design so that critical deliverables do not cascade across multiple years postponing your retirement.

(3) Design so that the brilliance of the solution would beg the company to hire you back after retirement to consult at twice your pension

(4) Design in a way that values people before process or technology such that people will miss you and invite you to subsequent years Holiday parties.

(5) Architect with realization that the security of your future pension and profitability of your company stock is based in some part to the efficiency and appropriateness of the costs of your design. Don't under-deliver on functionality, scale, quality, or security-- don't over-deliver under-valued functionality regardless of the powerpoints that show how "kewl" it will be.

(6) Design in a manner that assumes you will always be retained as an in-house resource in your organization. Architect "guns for hire" have NO vested interest in the 3 year plan.

(7) Workwith a realization that your likelihood of getting a good pay increase (which could later translate to a better pension) is based on your ability to
a) navigate the organization with efficiency and effectiveness,
b) gain experience with multiple systems and technologies,
c) be perceived as a employee with humilty and integrity who cares about the people who are building it and solution after its been released to Production.

I hope you appreciate my thoughts and please comment back with your own.