#38 - Golden Paths for Efficiency
How standardized workflows can streamline your organization
Introduction
As technology advances, nearly every company is now, in some way, a software company (as Microsoft's CEO was quoted and McKinsey states). This shift, while powerful, comes with significant costs, such as infrastructure, human resources, and maintenance.
Though there is no official research, many in the industry suggest that R&D is often the most expensive department, potentially consuming 35%- 50% of a company's revenue. It’s no surprise that the focus has shifted to optimizing engineering efficiency—the classic “do more with less” approach.
One way to achieve this efficiency is through Platform Engineering, which simplifies and accelerates developers' work by making tools more accessible and creating standard pathways to complete tasks. These pathways are known as “golden paths.”
The Benefits of Having Golden Paths
In complex environments like software development, speed is crucial for market dominance. The main benefits of Golden Paths include:
Efficiency: Completing tasks requires less time and effort, as a “template” is already in place.
Reduced Cognitive Load: Fewer decisions mean less mental strain.
Enhanced Creativity: Individuals can focus on innovative and creative tasks by eliminating mundane decisions.
Consistency: A uniform approach across teams improves alignment and collaboration.
One example of a golden path is a workflow that enables deploying a feature to production with a single click. The tools and practices are managed behind the scenes, allowing developers to focus on their work without needing to be experts in every aspect.
Non-Technical Golden Paths
While golden paths primarily apply to engineering, other parts of the organization can also benefit from them.
Let’s explore a few examples:
Onboarding a New Employee
Managers often face the challenge of creating an onboarding process from scratch—covering tools, knowledge bases, tasks, and introductions. Meanwhile, new employees may feel overwhelmed by their new environment. To reduce cognitive load and ramp-up time, an Onboarding Golden Path could include:
An automated assistant that schedules introductions based on availability and onboarding goals.
A workflow that automatically manages access to required tools.
Templates with a general structure and materials for every new employee, regardless of their role or team.
Progress and Project Tracking
As companies grow, there’s an increasing need for visibility and progress tracking, often leading to numerous status meetings. To enhance efficiency, maintain consistency, and free up time for creative work, a possible Golden Path for reporting could include:
A general status update template.
Guidelines on who should update and for which projects.
Tools to report and read updates.
Monitoring and promoting the use of this flow instead of ad-hoc status meetings.
I’ve experienced a similar approach using Atlas, though implementation wasn’t easy.
Decision-Making Framework
A respected manager once told me, “You have the autonomy to make decisions, just not bad ones.” Teams often face complex decisions and tradeoffs. To empower decision-making and improve consistency across the organization, we can introduce a Decision-Making Framework:
Company-level guidelines and principles.
A suggested framework (like S.P.A.D.E).
A concise, straightforward template.
Tools to share and receive feedback on decisions.
Tradeoffs
Golden paths come with tradeoffs that must be considered:
Flexibility vs. Rigidity: While reducing cognitive load and simplifying processes is the goal, it’s important not to stifle creativity and individual perspectives.
Over-Reliance: Not everything can, or should, be standardized. Carefully weigh the cost and impact of each potential path.
Evolving Paths: Golden paths must be adaptable to a company’s changing state, culture, and goals.
Conclusion
Golden paths help teams become more efficient and unlock their potential. Organizations should evaluate their workflows, identify inefficiencies, and consider where golden paths could add value.