synthesized-feedback.md

Key Feedback on Engineering Decision-Making Strategy

1. Measure AAG Bottleneck Risk

The strategy should include specific metrics to detect if the AAG becomes a bottleneck:

• Time from ADR submission to initial AAG feedback
• Time from ADR submission to final decision
• Queue depth of pending reviews
• Percentage of decisions requiring escalation beyond AAG

Without these measurements, you won't know if the AAG is helping or hindering velocity until it's too late.

2. Add 4-Week SRE Pilot Phase

Before rolling out to all of Engineering, run a 4-week pilot with just the SRE organization to:

• Test the ADR process and tooling at small scale
• Validate the "2-3 hours per week" time estimate for AAG members
• Identify process friction points and refine the approach
• Gather concrete data on review turnaround times

This pilot would provide evidence-based refinements before broader adoption.

3. Replace Arbitrary Success Metrics

Remove metrics like "90% ADR compliance" and "<5% decision escalation rate" unless you can explain why these specific numbers matter. Instead focus on:

• Elapsed time metrics (as suggested above)
• If keeping compliance metrics, use them only to understand why non-compliance happens, not as targets
• Measure actual impact on engineering velocity, not proxy metrics

The current success criteria feel arbitrary and could drive the wrong behaviors.