Architecture

As I am in my late 40ies, I’ll be closing my 25th year as an IT engineer this year and my 20th year as an architect.

As I was reflecting about the journey, I wondered: Am I really a Senior or just a Vintage, a Relic?

We often tend to think that a person with considerable years of experience is usually a respected Senior (as a rank and age), but Experience in some careers is viewed as universally positive, but that’s not necessarily the case in tech.

In other careers, the craft matures. It becomes less technical and more artistic, and people gain more knowledge while effortlessly getting things done.

Lawyers and doctors are respected when they cross into their 50’s. They are held in high esteem. Tech workers don’t collectively share the same belief.

In our case, the rapid change in technologies and tools, plus the weird label that stuck to us as technology handlers, are making us prone to being obsolete in a few years, if not months.

During an after-work with some dear colleagues, one asked: “How can we define our success?”.

People started throwing answers like : by the customer’s happiness, by listing the greatest achievements, the metrics hit, by the completed tasks and goals, the career evolution or even by the gain accumulated.

Unsurprisingly, I was unsatisfied. These answers looked more like a standard pitch to succeed in an interview rather than deep thoughts.

In my opinion, one’s success can’t be measured only by corporate expectations; a career can’t be measured only by goals, achievements or accumulated wealth; a professional can’t be successful only by positive feedback or customer satisfaction.

And what about Architects, as the disgraced-and-always-blamed people in an organization ?
How can they measure their successes, especially since they only provide listening, more questions and rarely one option?

In a world where specialization is often hailed as the pinnacle of success, I find myself cheerfully perched atop the hill of ambiguity, happily wearing the badge of a “polyglot” in the tech cosmos.

This term, I’ve grown quite attached to it over the years, It’s morphed from its linguistic origins to become, synonymous with an approach that values versatility over specificity.
Yes, I’m the Architect who dances between the raindrops of technology stacks, merging them into a harmonious symphony.

Today, I’m here to share some thoughts about the unique and somewhat underappreciated role of a polyglot architect.

I’ve always been fascinated and reflecting about the peacefulness and the respect that emerges when watching some masters doing their professions.
So, I spent lately some years time observing and trying to see the world through their lenses and may be, and if I’m good enough, adopt their skills and get inspired to improve myself personally and professionally.

The role of the software architect remains a subject of considerable debate: it is vaguely defined, difficult to pin down, and sometimes leads to nonsensical responsibilities in certain job descriptions.

I will not discuss here the precise day-to-day responsibilities of an architect within a team or company, but I will attempt, through my experience, to describe some of the aspects and qualities that any architect should possess.