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Duties Skills Knowledge Model

7 min readStatus:Seedling

TLDR

Software architect competence measured across three dimensions: Duties (what architects do—creating, evaluating, documenting architecture), Skills (how they work—communication, leadership, systems thinking), and Knowledge (what they know—patterns, technology landscape, domain). Architects need breadth in knowledge, depth in communication skills, with duties distributed across organization.

Core Idea

Software architect competence cannot be measured by a single dimension. Instead, it integrates three interdependent areas: the Duties an architect performs, the Skills they employ, and the Knowledge they possess.

The Three Dimensions

Dimension 1: Duties (What Architects Do)

Definition: Specific responsibilities and activities architects perform

Major Duty Areas:

Architecting (Design)

  • Design or select an architecture for system
  • Create software architecture design plans
  • Partition system into components
  • Define how components fit together and interact
  • Identify patterns, tactics, and principles
  • Create and evaluate prototypes
  • Expand details to converge on final design

Evaluating and Analyzing

  • Evaluate architecture against requirements
  • Evaluate for quality attributes (performance, security, availability)
  • Create/run scenarios for quality attributes
  • Identify risks in architecture
  • Participate in/lead architecture reviews
  • Determine architecture compliance

Documenting

  • Document design decisions and rationale
  • Create architecture views (logical, physical, process, deployment)
  • Document patterns and tactics used
  • Create ADRs (Architecture Decision Records)
  • Communicate to different stakeholders

Managing

  • Lead architecture review processes
  • Manage architecture definition lifecycle
  • Coordinate with other architects
  • Work with project management

Requirements Analysis

  • Analyze and translate requirements
  • Clarify requirements with stakeholders
  • Break down complex requirements
  • Understand business drivers

Advising/Mentoring

  • Mentor developers in architectural thinking
  • Advise on technology choices
  • Coaching on design patterns
  • Lead design discussions

Dimension 2: Skills (How Architects Work)

Definition: Capabilities and competencies architects employ to perform duties

Technical Skills

  • Systems thinking and big-picture perspective
  • Understanding trade-offs and implications
  • Translating between technical and business language
  • Problem-solving and analysis
  • Technology knowledge application

Soft Skills

  • Communication: Oral (presentations, discussions), written (documentation), visual (diagrams)
  • Leadership: Influence without authority, decision-making, conflict resolution
  • Collaboration: Working across teams, stakeholder management
  • Facilitation: Leading discussions, building consensus
  • Negotiation: Between competing requirements, teams, stakeholders

Business Skills

  • Understanding business drivers
  • Financial awareness (cost implications)
  • Understanding organizational structure
  • Time-to-market implications
  • Risk management

Depth vs Breadth in Skills:

  • Depth needed in: Communication (critical for impact)
  • Breadth needed in: Leadership, collaboration (must work across contexts)

Dimension 3: Knowledge (What Architects Know)

Definition: Information, concepts, and understanding architects possess

Architecture Knowledge

  • Architectural patterns (monolithic, microservices, event-driven, etc.)
  • Architectural styles and their characteristics
  • Quality attributes and how to achieve them
  • Architectural tactics (specific techniques)
  • Design patterns (Gang of Four, domain-specific)
  • Modeling and documentation approaches

Technology Knowledge

  • Programming languages and paradigms
  • Frameworks and platforms
  • Databases and data technologies
  • Cloud platforms and deployment
  • Integration technologies
  • DevOps and operational approaches
  • Breadth required: Understanding multiple technology options

Domain Knowledge

  • Industry-specific knowledge
  • Business processes and workflows
  • Regulatory/compliance requirements
  • Specific organizational context
  • User behaviors and needs

Software Engineering Knowledge

  • SOLID principles and design fundamentals
  • Testing strategies
  • Security practices
  • Performance optimization
  • Deployment and operations
  • DevOps practices

Organizational Knowledge

  • How decisions get made
  • Organizational politics and culture
  • Skill distribution across teams
  • Technical capabilities available
  • Historical context and past decisions

Breadth vs Depth in Knowledge:

  • Breadth critical: Need awareness of many options
  • Selective Depth: Deep in 2-3 areas most relevant to organization

Competence Model Integration

For Early Career Architects

Duties: Narrow (specific projects)

  • Contribute to architecture decisions
  • Evaluate specific components
  • Help document decisions

Skills: Growing

  • Learn communication/presentation
  • Develop systems thinking
  • Build stakeholder awareness

Knowledge: Broad but shallow

  • Learn many patterns
  • Explore multiple technologies
  • Build domain understanding

For Mid-Career Architects

Duties: Broader

  • Lead architecture decisions
  • Evaluate systems against requirements
  • Mentor junior architects
  • Own specific domains

Skills: Well-developed

  • Strong communication
  • Proven leadership
  • Navigate organizational dynamics

Knowledge: Strategic

  • Deep in 2-3 areas
  • Broad awareness of others
  • Clear domain expertise

For Principal/Distinguished Architects

Duties: Org-wide

  • Set technical direction
  • Lead organization-wide architecture initiatives
  • Architecture governance
  • Mentoring multiple architects

Skills: Exceptional

  • Recognized communicators
  • Influence without authority
  • Navigate complex organizational politics
  • Strategic thinking

Knowledge: Strategic depth

  • Multiple deep expertise areas
  • Thought leadership in domains
  • Long-term vision and perspective
  • Industry knowledge and trends

Competence Assessment

Self-Assessment Questions

Duties:

  • Can I clearly articulate architecture decisions?
  • Do I evaluate systems against quality attributes?
  • Am I mentoring others in architecture?
  • Can I handle the full architecture lifecycle?

Skills:

  • Can I present architecture to executives, developers, stakeholders?
  • Can I influence decisions without formal authority?
  • Can I facilitate productive discussions?
  • Can I translate between business and technical language?

Knowledge:

  • Can I evaluate multiple architectural approaches?
  • Am I current on technology landscape?
  • Do I understand domain constraints?
  • Can I articulate trade-offs clearly?

Development Strategies

Building Duties

  1. Seek Opportunities

    • Volunteer for architecture decisions
    • Lead design reviews
    • Mentor junior team members

  2. Take Responsibility

    • Own architecture for specific systems
    • Lead evaluations end-to-end
    • Document your thinking

Building Skills

  1. Communication

    • Present regularly (architecture reviews, team meetings)
    • Write clearly (documentation, ADRs, design proposals)
    • Practice explaining complex ideas simply

  2. Leadership

    • Facilitate design discussions
    • Negotiate between competing priorities
    • Mentor others

  3. Business Thinking

    • Understand business drivers
    • Learn financial implications
    • Understand time-to-market impacts

Building Knowledge

  1. Architecture Patterns

    • Study foundational patterns (TOGAF, etc.)
    • Understand quality attributes deeply
    • Know trade-offs between approaches

  2. Technology

    • Do 20-minute rule learning daily
    • Experiment with new technologies
    • Build breadth across technology landscape

  3. Domain

    • Work in domain; understand problems
    • Learn from business stakeholders
    • Understand constraints and drivers

Relationship Between Dimensions

When One Dimension is Strong, Others Can Compensate

High Knowledge, Developing Skills:

  • Knows patterns but struggles to communicate
  • Pair with communicator; learn from them
  • Join Toastmasters-like group

Strong Skills, Developing Knowledge:

  • Great communicator, limited technical depth
  • Mentor with technical expert
  • Accelerate learning in key areas

Broad Duties, Gaps in Skills:

  • Leading projects but lacking execution
  • Delegate execution; focus on guidance
  • Build skills in gaps

When All Three Are Strong

  • Effective architect at any level
  • Can take on progressively larger roles
  • Can mentor others effectively

Anti-patterns

Pattern 1: Deep Knowledge, No Communication Skills

  • Knows best approach but can’t convince others
  • Brilliant ideas, poor execution
  • Career limited by communication

Fix: Invest heavily in communication skills (highest ROI)

Pattern 2: Great Communicator, Weak Technical Depth

  • Can convince people of anything
  • When technical decisions needed, lacks credibility
  • Risk of poor technical judgment

Fix: Build strategic technical depth in critical areas

Pattern 3: Limited Duties, High Skills

  • Great communicator, not trusted with decisions
  • Might be too new; need to prove judgment
  • Need to show ability to navigate actual problems

Fix: Seek opportunities to own architectural decisions

Sources

Primary References:

Architecture Skills:

  • Richards, Mark and Neal Ford (2020). Fundamentals of Software Architecture: An Engineering Approach. O’Reilly Media.

    • Chapter 2: “Architectural Thinking”
    • Chapter 22: “Making Teams Effective”
    • Chapter 23: “Negotiation and Leadership Skills”
    • ISBN: 978-1-492-04345-4

  • Ford, Neal, Rebecca Parsons, Patrick Kua, and Pramod Sadalage (2021). Building Evolutionary Architectures (2nd Edition). O’Reilly Media.

    • Architect roles and responsibilities
    • Skills for evolutionary thinking
    • ISBN: 978-1492097549

Communication and Leadership:

  • Patterson, Kerry, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler (2011). Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High (2nd Edition). McGraw-Hill.

    • Communication skills for architects
    • Handling difficult conversations
    • ISBN: 978-0071771320

  • Maxwell, John C. (2007). The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. Thomas Nelson.

    • Leadership principles applicable to architects
    • Influence without authority
    • ISBN: 978-0785288374

Note

This content was drafted with assistance from AI tools for research, organization, and initial content generation. All final content has been reviewed, fact-checked, and edited by the author to ensure accuracy and alignment with the author’s intentions and perspective.

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