One-way & Two-way Door Decisions

One-way and two-way door decisions provide a practical framework for decision-making in software engineering management. The idea, popularized at Amazon, illustrates the reversibility and implications of choices we make. By understanding this framework better, you can guide your team more effectively, striking a balance between innovation and risk awareness.

One-Way and Two-Way Decisions Explained

One-way door decisions have lasting effects and are often hard to reverse. They’re significant and can influence your project’s course, even your entire organization. Conversely, two-way door decisions are reversible and less impactful. They provide opportunities to experiment, learn, and iterate. Identifying these differences is vital for guiding your team and nurturing an innovative, risk-conscious culture.

For instance, in software engineering teams, selecting a core programming language or a specific framework are usually one-way door decisions. Their implications are far-reaching, and changes to them are disruptive and costly. Thus, they demand thorough research, careful thought, and stakeholder input. Conversely, two-way door decisions encourage agility and experimentation. If a new development process or tool doesn’t bring expected benefits, it can be reversed or adjusted with minimal team disruption.

Applying One-Way and Two-Way Door Decisions

One-way door decisions set the strategic direction and guide your team’s journey. Two-way door decisions, on the other hand, foster innovation and continuous learning, serving as repositionable stepping stones along your team’s path.

One-Way Door Decisions:

• Architecture Design: Fundamental system architecture decisions, like choosing between monolithic vs. microservices architecture, are hard to reverse and impact the project long-term.
• Programming Language Selection: This foundational decision affects your team’s recruitment, software performance, and development ecosystem. Choosing Python over Java, for instance, would significantly impact your application’s performance and scalability.
• Data Storage Solution Selection: Choosing between SQL or NoSQL databases or picking a database provider, such as MySQL, PostgreSQL, MongoDB, has long-term implications for your application’s performance, scalability, and data integrity.

Two-Way Door Decisions:

• Implementing New Tools or Processes: If a new project management tool or code review process doesn’t work as expected, it can be reversed or changed with relative ease.
• Feature Experiments: If a new feature hidden behind a flag doesn’t resonate well with users, it can be easily rolled back.
• UI/UX Changes: Small changes to user interface or user experience can be reversed or iterated upon based on user feedback and usage metrics.

Let’s dive deeper

The decision to implement a new tool or process is typically a two-way door decision because it often has less significant, long-term impact, and can be relatively easily reversed, adjusted or abandoned if it doesn’t meet the team’s needs.

For example, if a software engineering team decides to try a new project management tool but finds it doesn’t suit their workflow or fails to deliver the anticipated benefits, they can fairly easily revert back to their previous tool. The impact of this decision is generally limited to the time and effort spent experimenting with the new tool, which can be valuable for learning and growth even if the tool itself is ultimately not adopted.

Similarly, if a new process is implemented — like a different approach to code reviews or standups — and it’s not beneficial or disrupts the team dynamics, it can be discarded or modified, with the team reverting to the old process or iterating on the new one to better meet their needs.

That said, it’s essential to consider that these are general categorizations and the classification of a decision as one-way or two-way can depend on specific circumstances, the scale of the decision, and its potential impact on the team or project. In some contexts, implementing a new tool or process could indeed be seen as a one-way door decision, particularly if it involves substantial financial investment, affects a large number of users, or would be complex and disruptive to reverse.

Balancing Risk and Impact

Maintaining a balanced approach is crucial. Weigh the potential risks and benefits for each decision. Encourage innovation but ensure that your team understands the implications and feels comfortable discussing potential concerns.

Remember, decision-making in software engineering is iterative. Regular reviews and adjustments are essential. Implement feedback mechanisms, measure outcomes, and be open to recalibration as needed. Foster a culture that sees every decision as an opportunity to learn and improve.

So, the next time you’re faced with a decision, consider which door you’re about to walk through and plan accordingly.

The learning continues in…

• All chapters — The Engineering Manager’s Pocket Guide
• Chapter 1 — How Engineering Managers can understand their team better
• Chapter 2 — The Power of Iterative Roadmap Planning in Tech Teams
• Chapter 3 — Building Trust and Alignment with Your Manager
• Chapter 4 — Facilitating Cross-Team Projects For Engineering Managers
• Chapter 5 — How Engineering Managers Can Reduce Throw-Away Work
• Chapter 6 — Stakeholder Management For Engineering Leads
• Chapter 7 — One-way & Two-way Door Decisions

If you have any thoughts or experiences to add, let me know! Respond to this post or let me know on LinkedIn. I’m happy to talk about anything software engineering related.