100 Lessons Every Solution Architect Should Learn
A career's worth of hard-won lessons on how great architects actually think, decide and lead. ~220 pages, illustrated.
$19.99Get it →
The Anonymous Architect
Technology changes. Judgement endures.
Architecture was never about the technology. Essays and books on the part of the job that doesn't go out of date — how great architects actually think, decide and lead.
Featured essay
Why No One Agrees What an Architect Is
Every architecture job advert describes the tools and forgets the purpose. That gap is why the role has never had a clear definition.
More writing
Recent essays
Architecture Is Not a Technology Profession
For years the honest answer to "what is an architect" would have been a technical one. Here is the definition that replaced it, and what it quietly explains.
Engineering Performs, Architecture Conducts
Every component in a system can be individually excellent, and the system can still fail. That gap between local and global optimisation is what architecture is for.
No Right Answers, Only Defensible Trade-offs
"What's the right architecture?" is the wrong question. Architecture is never judged on whether you guessed the best option — only on whether your reasoning survives pressure.
The books
Go deeper
The argument in the essays, worked out in full.
Get new essays by email
Occasional essays on the craft of architecture — the judgement, not the tools. No spam; unsubscribe anytime.
Signup activates once the email provider is connected.