You're facing conflicting opinions on a technical solution. How do you determine the best course of action?

1. Go with the instincts 2. Go with Experience. 3. Take Majority of opinions. 4. Analyse the pros and cons with everyone. 5. Once decided, put all your hearts on it.

Gather Facts: Begin by collecting all relevant information, including technical specs, requirements, and constraints. Consult Experts: Seek input from knowledgeable individuals, like team members or industry peers with similar experience. Analyze Impact: Assess outcomes on timeline, budget, scalability, and user experience. Weigh Opinions: Evaluate solutions based on feasibility, alignment with goals, and long-term implications. Test Assumptions: Validate assumptions through prototyping or testing. Align Goals: Ensure chosen solution fits project objectives and standards. Considerations: Factor in team dynamics, risk tolerance, and future adaptability.

Everything involves trade-offs. Defining priorities with stakeholders and aligning them with the organization's strategy is essential for clear decision-making. Key questions include whether to launch a product quickly or focus on long-term growth, and how to handle customer requests. These decisions should be based on business knowledge and non-functional requirements. It's crucial to designate a role, such as a software architect, tech lead, or engineering manager, to have the final say and prevent analysis paralysis, while still involving the team and stakeholders in the decision-making process.

What investments have you already made in tooling and skills? There needs to be some justification to alter course from your existing architecture and skill set. What benefits are realized from the change, and what is the cost of changes going forward?

Once you've done your research, the next best step is to consult a senior expert in the domain. It's important to understand that learning is a privilege; there is so much knowledge out there, and you are getting the opportunity to gain some of it so, be open to learning from these professionals. At Careem (Uber), I've seen this firsthand. Often, you might rely on suboptimal solutions, but the Infrastructure or Architecture team can provide the best possible solution due to their domain expertise. Seeking help from mentors not only leads to optimized solutions but also significantly boosts your learning and professional growth.

You need to ensure that personal biases are removed from the decision making process. I was caught in this trap once. I wanted my customers to be in a solution space where I thought I could be most productive. What I learned was the concept of business value. What impact will these decisions have to the value of the business, or the satisfaction of your customers.

One of the ways to minimize the risk of technical debt is to design agnostic interfaces to application layers. For example, instead of burying relational SQL in your application and binding yourself to a database technology, call an API layer that handles the calls to the database. Now you can minimize the impact on the application layer if you want to make a change in database technologies.

After consulting experts and analyzing impacts, weigh the opinions of your team members. Everyone has biases based on their experiences and expertise, so it's important to understand the rationale behind their preferences. Engage in healthy debate and encourage your team to view the problem from different angles. This step is not about reaching a consensus but rather about ensuring all voices are heard and considered before making a decision.

Don't take anything at face value; instead, challenge and test the assumptions underlying each proposed solution. Set up experiments or proof of concepts if feasible, to gather empirical data. This might involve creating prototypes or simulations to observe how the solutions perform under controlled conditions. Testing assumptions not only provides concrete evidence but also minimizes the risk associated with basing decisions on unverified beliefs.

Finally, ensure that the chosen technical solution aligns with your project's overall goals and objectives. It should support the strategic direction of the project and meet the needs of the end-users. Consider how each option fits within the broader ecosystem of your project, including its impact on stakeholders and how it contributes to the project's success metrics. The best solution is one that not only solves the immediate problem but also propels the project towards its long-term vision.

Determining the best course of action when facing contradictory opinions on a technical solution involves aligning the organization's strategic and tactical objectives with the proposed solutions, considering operational impact, cost, scalability, technological compatibility, and emerging opportunities like blockchain and AI. Involving all stakeholders, conducting tests and prototypes, and establishing continuous monitoring mechanisms are essential. This systematic and collaborative approach ensures informed, adaptive decisions aligned with organizational goals and future technological trends.