Body of Knowledge · Glossary
Mirroring hypothesis
The empirically tested form of Conway's observation. Products built by loosely coupled organisations are measurably more modular than equivalent products built by tightly coupled ones.
Where the standard develops it
- TJ-1Evaluating architectural decisions and their organisational consequencesTrade-offs, reversibility, and who has to coordinate because of this.
Related terms
- Architecture review forum
- A standing forum where significant designs get cross-team scrutiny early.
- Decision process
- The usual way a manager of managers intervenes in a cross-team technical decision.
- Inverse Conway manoeuvre
- Designing the organisation to produce the architecture you want, on the basis that the system will mirror the organisation's structure either way.
- One-way door
- A decision that is hard to reverse and so deserves deliberation and senior involvement.
- Strangler pattern
- Replacing a legacy system incrementally by growing the new capability around it and routing traffic away piece by piece until the old system can be retired.
Cite this definition
Chicago, BibTeX and licence →Engineering Management Academy. (2026). Mirroring hypothesis. In Engineering Management Academy Body of Knowledge (Version 3.1, GLO.mirroring-hypothesis). https://www.engineeringmanagement.academy/body-of-knowledge/glossary/mirroring-hypothesis