Operating Principle

2–4 min read

Your Product Will Mirror Your Org Chart

Your Product Will Mirror Your Org Chart

Your Product Will Mirror Your Org Chart

What you build tends to mirror the communication pattern of the team that built it.

What you build tends to mirror the communication pattern of the team that built it.

What you build tends to mirror the communication pattern of the team that built it.

Conway’s Law makes internal silos become product silos.

Conway’s Law makes internal silos become product silos.

Conway’s Law makes internal silos become product silos.

Conway’s Law makes internal silos become product silos.

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Operating Question

What reporting line, decision right, team boundary, or informal network is shaping this outcome?

What reporting line, decision right, team boundary, or informal network is shaping this outcome?

What reporting line, decision right, team boundary, or informal network is shaping this outcome?

Why It Matters

Conway’s Law makes internal silos become product silos.

Supporting Evidence

Melvin Conway, “How Do Committees Invent?”.

Research Notes

Match the structural choice to actual coordination needs, task complexity, and organizational context.

Practical Actions

Compare product seams to team seams; restructure boundaries; examine unexpected silos.

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