Conway’s Law and Organizational Communication
What is Conway’s law? It comes from a 1967 paper by Melvin E. Conway, and the basic idea is that organizations tend to design products that reflect their internal communication structures.
Put another way, Conway’s law implies that the quality of a product or service is reflected in and linked to the working methods of the business that produces it. This means that successful product or service design depends on communication: between designers, product owners, marketing, and sales, not to mention customers, who should have a strong influence on the creation process.
This highlights the importance of effective communication within an organization. If everyone isn’t on the same page, it’ll be difficult to innovate, grow, and create a service or product that meets everyone’s needs. This is why some projects are more successful than others. If the team working on a project has good communication and a well-designed system, they’re more likely to create better outcomes.
It’s important to identify those areas where communication structures are ineffective, and where it’s impacting the success of new endeavors. And Conway would argue if you want to change how a company communicates, you must change how it’s organized. Yet many companies aren’t in the position to implement a complete organizational upheaval (and often they just throw technology at it instead). So a more immediate and cost-effective approach is to address the four common negative behaviors which permeate almost all communication systems:
- Obstruction: a delay or political barrier in communication between different parts of an organization. In short, different departments or teams are working together on a project but communicating poorly and becoming siloed.
- Ambiguity: when different people have conflicting ideas about what the final product should look like, it can be difficult to come to a consensus and create an outcome that everyone is happy with.
- Blind Bias: when someone in a position of power makes decisions without considering others. This results in production problems and an unhappy team that feels unheard and undervalued.
- Elitism: when decision-makers think the opinions of those lower than them in the organization don’t matter. Not only does this organization miss out on potentially brilliant ideas, but the junior staff may feel less valued, leading to high turnover and low productivity.
While it’s very difficult for organizations to change established communication structures, you can address and correct the behaviors that aggravate the situation. In short, successful product and service design is much more about communication, culture, and alignment than simply great ideas.
About the Author
Andrea’s 25-year, field-tested background provides practical, behavioral science approaches to creating differentiated, human-focused organizations. A 4x ADDY award-winner, TEDx presenter, and 3x book author, she began her career at a tech start-up and led the strategic sales, marketing, and customer engagement efforts at two global industrial manufacturers. She now leads a change agency dedicated to helping organizations differentiate their brands using behavioral science.
In addition to writing and consulting, Andrea speaks to leaders and industry organizations around the world. Connect with Andrea to access information on her book, keynoting, research, or consulting. More information is also available at www.pragmadik.com or www.andreabelkolson.com.
Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com.
