Architecure Evolution & DevOpts

In theory, collaboration is one of the greatest strengths of software engineering. Diverse perspectives, shared ownership, and collective problem-solving are often cited as key ingredients of successful teams. In practice, however, collaboration can easily degenerate into something far less effective: design by committee . Design by committee is a well-known anti-pattern in software development where technical decisions are made by large groups without clear ownership, authority, or accountability. Instead of producing robust solutions, this approach often leads to diluted designs, endless discussions, and systems that satisfy no one while solving little. This article explores what design by committee really is, why it happens so often in IT organizations, how it damages software quality and delivery, and—most importantly—how to avoid it. What Is Design by Committee? Design by committee occurs when: Technical decisions are made by groups rather than by clearly accountable experts Parti...

Introduction When performance degradation or production freezes occur in a classic three-tier web application (frontend, backend, database), the reaction I often witness is surprisingly predictable. Someone — often labeled as an expert because they used a specific tool in the past — quickly proposes an application as the solution. A monitoring tool, a query analyzer, an APM platform. The implicit assumption is simple and dangerous: the tool will find the problem for us . This approach is not only simplistic, but in many cases deeply misleading. Tools are useful, sometimes excellent, but they are never a substitute for competence, experience, and structured investigation . The Dangerous Illusion of the Silver Bullet Tool In many organizations, the reasoning goes like this: “This tool shows slow queries. Let’s find the heaviest one, optimize it, and the problem will be solved.” This mindset is attractive because it is fast, reassuring, and easy to delegate. Unfortunately, it is also of...