Are Architects well compensated ?
Pic Courtesy: Google Images : Some Day!!
Today I want to write about my Role as an Architect from my lens;
Let me start by answering this question first;
What is being an Architect ?
He or She is a Loner or a Team Player ?
Unlike common myth that Architecture is a loner’s job done by most knowledgeable and experienced member of the team who is omniscient it’s exactly opposite.
IMO As an Architect I need to be a team player first; who can lead the team from front technically and standing by them through thick and thin giving away all the applauds to the team and taking all the brickbats for the team unconditionally.
An Architect’s asset is his own technical knowledge, experience, wisdom, empathy and amalgamation of his team’s technical knowledge , experience, support and trust.
Hope I answered aforementioned question partially at-least;
Now coming back to next question;
What and How I do as an Architect?
Let me cover the “How” part first that is necessary to understand “What” I do;
Looks a bit counter-intuitive but please be with me and trust that I will try my best to justify this approach;
I follow the golden rule of 80–20 as an Architect;
80% of my time goes towards DREAMING about Future; thinking and architecting for Tech Debts , NFRs , Lost Deal Analysis and Innovation in exact order;
20% of my time goes towards Present to make sure each sprint hits prod with as best quality as humanly possible by the team.
Now this 80–20 looks simple in theory but it’s hard practically so a lot of time goes in prioritising and de-prioritising Future and Present and that’s most trickier part and that’s where IMO a good and experienced Architect shines.
I try but I succeeded sometimes and I’ve failed miserably sometimes but there is no magic wand to solving this problem, that’s part of the occasional hazard of an Architect’s role.
In reality I end up spending 80% towards delivering Present and 20% towards delivering Future.
I am in constant endeavour to reverse this trend but it’s easier said than done and in most of the cases it’s quixotic.
But I don’t like to give up on my dreams and always spend extra time outside working hours to find solutions which can be implemented on ground.
And there is one relatively easy solution to this that’s find a trusted confrere within team who is willing and inclined towards contributing
Her/His ’s 80% ; to; your 20%
And;
20% of Her/His ’s; to; your 80%;
To make it 100% effort and concentration towards Present and Future.
If as an Architect you could find that trusted companion then you can sleep in nights else be ready to have sleepless nights if one is serious about his/her Architectural responsibilities.
Now let me come to final piece of jigsaw puzzle;
What I do to make this happen on ground?
Answer is again simple and not a rocket science so I won’t go in detail explaining but I would list down my methods of which most if not all are part of our Pod process;
1. I make sure to Join Daily Dev and Customer Success Scrum to understand technical blockers of present.
2. Daily Design Discussion to unblock those blockers.
3. Weekly One to One with confrere (P1: His/Her 80%; P2: My 80%)
4. Weekly one to one with Product Manager to understand the Future.
5. Need basis one to one with Dev , QA & Junior engineers to understand their technical problems , empathise and offer my suggestions in solving them and motivate them.
6. Need basis Cross Pod communication to initiate help and collaboration where our pod lacks depth.
7. Bi Weekly With TA to share Future technical challenges , take inputs and make everyone part of Future (80%)
8. And some secret sauce, these are not trade secrets but we can discuss one to one , so let’s connect :)
If you reach here you must be wondering what’s it all have to do with title of this blog. Well I leave that to you to ponder why I took so long to come to the point.
So now let me come back to addressing the main subject;
Are Architects well compensated ?
Well compensation can mean different things to different people so I would like to keep it at monetary level in this blog and talk about other compensations some other time in a larger and different context.
IMO answer is in two lines from me being an audiophile and through that context;
1. I am well paid to afford Apple AirPodsPro. You could also buy if your Org pays you decently enough from here; https://apple.co/3I03pIv
2. I hope some day I don’t have to sell my home to buy this from here; https://bit.ly/3qkNuyq
So are you well compensated as an Architect ?
Which one you can afford ? Apple AirPodsPro or HiFiMAN — Shangri-La ?
I would love to hear about that and other things;
And finally “one more thing” an Architect has to be a Loner too in rare cases in team’s interest and that’s most trickiest part of the job which I am yet to master but some quick fixes and workarounds;
As a Team Player; Architect with earphone on listening “Roar” by Katy Perry;
And;
As a Loner; Architect with earphone on listening Gurudev Tagore’s song “Ekla Chalo” sung by One and Only Kishore Da;
IN LOOP MODE.
Epilogue:
The trusted confrere is the Better & Stronger Architect In Waiting And hopefully She/He won’t have to write a blog on this leitmotif.
About Me:
My name is Santosh Akhilesh, I’m a Computer Science Engineer; I love to and attempt to write about; Humans and Philosophy, Poets and Poems, Artists and Arts and Humans and Computers; all together, all intermingled, all united as an unison like a Beethoven Symphony.
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Disclaimer:
This is a personal account. The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer — past, present or future.