Conway’s Law in Team Topologies

Conway's law states that the architecture of a system mirrors the communication patterns of the teams that build it. The piece argues that you should not let existing team structures dictate a suboptimal architecture, but instead start with the desired architecture and shape your teams to support it.

The article cites the original Conway quote and a later version from the Team Topologies book, then points out how organizations often unintentionally limit design options because required communication paths do not exist. It uses a concrete scenario where stream-aligned teams share a single database and rely on an ops team, illustrating how that setup produces a tightly coupled architecture.

To break that lock-in, the Reverse Conway Maneuver is introduced: redesign the team graph before the software is built. The Accelerate book is referenced as evidence that high-performing organisations evolve their team structure to achieve the target architecture. An IBM case study shows how appointed advocates and formal training can drive the shift, using collaboration and facilitating interaction modes.

Practical advice includes picking the right interaction modes-collaboration, X-as-a-Service, facilitating-based on the desired architecture, and using temporary explicit collaborations and enabling teams to surface boundary problems early. The article stresses that without intentional team design, architecture will default to the status quo, hampering innovation and scaling.