Being an architect does not mean being separated from the team. Ivory tower architects should be left in fantasy movies and books keeping common company with trolls. It doesn’t work. Not at all. To think that a person who is responsible for the entire ecosystem of applications in a given platform would not sit with, code with, win and fail with the team is to not think at all.

Do you know what code just got checked in? Did you know that the quiet dev in the corner just slammed out an awesome bit of code that could change the face of your platform? Did you challenge anyone today; did they challenge you? Did you know if you asked the team their opinion on a blueprint you created it could’ve saved the company millions? Did you know that many devs don’t understand why they should be test first developing? Know your team, and use them as an instrument of architecture.

Spending time connecting and coding with your team is what makes really great apps. Leave the magic bag of architecture terms, methodologies, notions, assumptions, and pride in the fairy tail - build, plan, and do.

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