Conway's Law: How Organisational Design Shapes Technology
Strategy9 min read

Conway's Law: How Organisational Design Shapes Technology

By Technology Expert•March 25, 2024

In 1968, computer scientist Melvin Conway made an observation that would later become one of the most influential principles in software and organisational design. He wrote:

"Any organisation that designs a system will produce a design whose structure is a copy of the organisation's communication structure."

This insight, now known as Conway's Law, highlights a critical truth: the way companies structure their teams directly influences the systems, products, and technologies they create. More than 50 years later, the law still explains why some organisations produce elegant, scalable solutions—while others struggle with fragmented systems and inefficiency.

What Is Conway's Law?

At its core, Conway's Law suggests that systems mirror the communication and collaboration patterns of the teams that build them.

  • If teams are siloed, the software or processes they design will reflect those silos.
  • Conversely, if teams communicate openly across boundaries, the systems they create will be more integrated and cohesive.

Stats: Research by McKinsey (2021) found that companies with highly integrated cross-functional teams deliver software 30–40 per cent faster and experience 25 per cent higher customer satisfaction than siloed counterparts.

Real-World Examples

  • Monolithic vs. Modular Systems – Organisations with centralised teams often produce monolithic software, which can take 50 per cent longer to scale compared to modular architectures.
  • Digital Transformation Challenges – Enterprises attempting to modernise legacy systems discover that siloed communication slows projects by up to 35 per cent, according to a 2020 Harvard Business Review study.
  • Agile and DevOps Success – Companies adopting cross-functional agile teams report a 20 per cent increase in deployment frequency and 30 per cent faster time-to-market (State of DevOps Report, 2021).

The Business Implications

Conway's Law extends beyond software; it influences product design, customer experience, and business models:

  • Innovation Speed – Fragmented communication slows innovation; integrated teams generate 1.5 times more new product launches per year (BCG, 2018).
  • Customer Experience – Companies organised around product lines often deliver disjointed customer experiences, reducing Net Promoter Scores (NPS) by 15–20 per cent.
  • Scalability – Structural bottlenecks in teams become bottlenecks in technology. Scaling systems without redesigning teams can increase operational costs by 25 per cent.

The Inverse: Designing Teams for Desired Outcomes

The Inverse Conway Maneuver helps organisations structure teams intentionally to achieve the desired system architecture:

  • Microservices architecture → Independent, cross-functional teams owning distinct services.
  • Customer-centric platforms → Teams aligned around customer journeys rather than internal functions.
  • Scalable operations → Flat, decentralised teams that minimise dependencies and maximise autonomy.

Stats: Organisations implementing this approach report 40 per cent fewer integration errors and 30 per cent faster feature deployment (State of Agile Report, 2022).

Case Study: Amazon's "Two-Pizza Teams"

Amazon is a frequently cited example of Conway's Law in action. Jeff Bezos introduced "two-pizza teams"—teams small enough to be fed by two pizzas. Each team owns a service end-to-end.

Impact:

  • Deployment frequency increased five times after restructuring into small, autonomous teams.
  • AWS service uptime improved to 99.99 per cent, reflecting operational independence.
  • Customer satisfaction and adoption rates grew by 25 per cent year-on-year in the first five years.

The organisational model directly shaped Amazon's technology: a service-oriented architecture enabling rapid scaling, continuous innovation, and market dominance.

The Takeaway

Conway's Law is not just a theory—it is a mirror. It reflects the reality that organisational design and technical design are inseparable.

  • Leaders who ignore it risk creating systems as fragmented as their teams.
  • Leaders who embrace it can deliberately shape their organisations to produce systems that are scalable, innovative, and customer-focused.

In today's business landscape, where digital systems define competitive advantage, Conway's Law is more relevant than ever: your org chart is your architecture.

References

  • Conway, M. E. (1968). How Do Committees Invent? Datamation, 14(5), 28–31.
  • Amazon.com, Inc. (2020). Two-Pizza Team Concept. Amazon Leadership Principles.
  • McKinsey & Company. (2021). State of Organisations Report.
  • Boston Consulting Group (BCG). (2018). How Agile Teams Drive Innovation.
  • Harvard Business Review. (2020). Digital Transformation and Organisational Structure.

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