You've received criticism on your code architecture. How will you address the feedback effectively?

First of all it’s important to accept our imperfection as humans. We can be angry or jealous, but to be professionals we have to put our emotions aside and aim to have the best possible outcome in each situation. If your colleague is criticising what you have done - try to understand if it’s emotions, your solution is bad, or your explanation of the solution can be improved. If that’s something that you can fix - fix it, if it’s emotions then ignore them.

Understand the issues in your code based on the feedback, and take time to analyze why they occurred. Make a note of these mistakes and patterns so you can avoid repeating them in the future. This not only helps improve overall code quality but also helps you grow into a better developer.

Treat criticism as a valuable learning opportunity. Regardless of how many years of experience you bring, there’s always room to grow. If the feedback isn’t clear, don’t hesitate to ask for specific examples or clarification — this helps you view the issue from the other person’s perspective and identify actionable improvements. At the same time, remember that architectural decisions are often shaped by practical constraints like time, budget, or legacy dependencies. Not all feedback can be implemented immediately, but understanding it still adds to your judgment and decision-making toolkit for future projects.

Feedback is more than just opinions—it’s a roadmap for growth. Whether it’s praise or criticism, understanding feedback means listening actively, looking beyond the surface, and finding the insights that can help you improve. Don’t take it personally; take it seriously. Ask clarifying questions, spot patterns, and focus on the intent behind the words. Feedback can reveal blind spots, validate strengths, and guide your next steps. The more openly you receive it, the faster you grow. In business and life, those who understand feedback build stronger relationships, better products, and smarter strategies.

Receiving criticism on my code architecture demands a structured, analytical approach. I first actively listen to understand the specific concerns and the underlying rationale, rather than reacting defensively. I'll then independently analyze the feedback against design principles and potential impacts on scalability, maintainability, and performance. I'll prioritize addressing the most critical points, researching alternative architectural patterns if needed. I will formulate a clear plan for refactoring or adjusting the design, communicating proposed changes and their benefits. This process ensures the architecture evolves based on constructive critique, strengthening the overall software system and my own programming practices.

Carefully review the feedback, focusing on the technical concerns raised. Ask for concrete examples or clarification if any part of the critique is ambiguous.

I would add that there other factors to take into account - because not all feedback is valid. A certain feedback may trigger a whole layer of changes, from design docs, to changes in the tickets in the project's board; delays in contractually-binding deadlines or change some parts of the infra that cannot be made - for various reasons. Ask yourself: 1. How valid the feedback is overall? 2. What's the person seniority within company? 3. Who is the person in the hierarchy of the company? 4. How likely that the person giving feedback may be a "nepotism"-related hire? Can you go in trouble simply questioning their feedback? ex. CEOs son or "cumătru". 5. How fast all the changes can be made? With that said, treat any feedback with respect.

When receiving feedback, pause to absorb it fully before reacting. Ask clarifying questions like "Can you show me where this pattern breaks?" or "What would a more modular approach look like here?" to pinpoint exact improvement areas. If the critique seems subjective, request objective criteria ("Which SOLID principle are we violating?"). Take notes during the discussion to separate emotional reactions from actionable items. Later, re-examine the feedback independently—sometimes distance reveals valid patterns. This disciplined approach transforms criticism from personal critique to professional growth opportunities.

To address criticism on code architecture, first, review the feedback objectively to understand the concerns. Engage with reviewers to clarify specifics and discuss the rationale behind your design choices. Evaluate the architecture against best practices and identify improvement areas. Propose actionable changes and iterate on the architecture, incorporating valuable insights. Communicate revisions transparently to demonstrate responsiveness and commitment to quality improvement.

Listen without defensiveness - ask clarifying questions to fully understand the specific architectural concerns raised. Analyze objectively - review the feedback against best practices, performance metrics, and maintainability goals. Create an improvement plan - outline concrete steps to refactor problematic areas with timelines and priorities. Follow up proactively - implement changes, document improvements, and check back with reviewers to ensure concerns are resolved.

Receiving criticism on code architecture can feel like a hit to the ego, but I’ve learned it’s actually an opportunity for growth. One thing that’s helped me is taking a pause to truly understand the feedback instead of reacting defensively. I try to map the comments to specific design principles or patterns, and then I reflect on whether I had missed something or made assumptions that didn’t hold up. I once had a teammate challenging my use of a service layer in a microservice design. Initially, I felt misunderstood, but after re-evaluating the rationale and discussing it openly, I realized his perspective helped uncover a potential scalability issue. That led me to revise the arch and even improve our documentation process.

You’re working hard, but not smart. That was my boss’s feedback after noticing I was spending more time than necessary on calls and live chats and missing some key tagging tasks. At first, it stung a little. But instead of taking it personally, I chose to reflect. He was right. I was putting in the effort, but not in the most efficient way. That moment became a turning point. I adjusted my workflow, improved my time management, and started thinking more strategically about how I handled customer interactions. And I’m glad I did. Because feedback, when embraced, is growth in disguise.

Reflection is powerful—but only when it’s honest. To reflect objectively means stepping back from ego, emotion, and bias to truly assess what’s working and what’s not. It’s about looking at outcomes, actions, and patterns with a clear lens. Ask: What did I learn? What could I have done differently? What are the facts—not just the feelings? This kind of reflection fuels growth, sharpens decision-making, and builds self-awareness. It’s not about judgment; it’s about understanding. The more objective your reflection, the stronger your next move will be.

Detach from personal attachment to the code. Evaluate the feedback against established design principles, scalability, maintainability, and performance metrics.

Allow yourself to answer feedback asynchronously, collect it, make a checklist of the changes and a rough estimation on potential team-wide effort required on that; then come back with a decision "sandwich". On list where you present all the things you consider to agree on based on all the context, followed by the things you disagree on right now due to various motifs... but, might be taken on later and lastly with a list that you disagree on completely. For each positive/negative point, give a short feedback on why you think this is true and add concrete links or other forms of proof so it removes the personal preferences from the mix and possible ambiguity of international communication.

While we should strive to always improve and enhance out work, do keep in mind that sometimes the criticism is either unwarranted or flawed in some way. There can be criticism that doesn't exactly help you move forward and that is ok. Still validate the feedback, find out if it is really useful and if not, you can discard it. Just make sure you always validate it objectively, think it over and take it if it truly helps, but never feel you HAVE TO take feedback and change something. Too many times we feel obligated to take all criticism and do something about it. That is just not the case.

Change is inevitable—planning for it is optional, but powerful. Whether you're shifting strategy, updating processes, or launching something new, planning changes thoughtfully makes all the difference. Start by understanding the "why" behind the change, then map out the steps, stakeholders, and timelines involved. Communicate clearly, prepare for resistance, and stay flexible as you move forward. A well-planned change minimizes disruption, builds trust, and increases the chances of success. Don’t just react—lead with intention.

After a certain changeset is established, create a collection of unordered unit of work items. Then a dependency tree between them based on global and shared prerequisites. After that is done - establish all the individual prerequisites needed to finalize the changes. 🎉 Once that is done, group it in a time or version based roadmap in your software of choice and start pushing your work forward.

Identify actionable areas of improvement. Prioritize modifications based on architectural impact and dependencies. Ensure the changes are testable and align with the project’s goals.

Effective communication is the backbone of strong relationships, teams, and leadership. It’s not just about talking—it's about listening, understanding, and delivering your message with clarity and purpose. Be direct, yet empathetic. Tailor your words to your audience and choose the right time and channel. Ask questions, seek feedback, and stay open to different viewpoints. Whether you're leading a team, pitching an idea, or resolving conflict, clear and thoughtful communication builds trust, drives action, and fuels progress. Speak to connect, not just to be heard.

Share your analysis and proposed changes with the team. Provide clear reasoning backed by technical standards. Maintain transparent documentation for traceability and future reference.

Identifying issues is only half the battle—real progress comes when you implement improvements. Whether it’s tweaking your strategy, upgrading systems, or refining workflows, action is where transformation happens. Start small if needed, prioritize high-impact changes, and measure results as you go. Involve your team, stay flexible, and keep learning through the process. Continuous improvement isn’t a one-time fix—it’s a mindset. Each improvement builds momentum, helping you move closer to your goals with greater clarity, efficiency, and confidence.

🔹 Stay small, documented. Try making changes incrementally using atomic-commits strategy, which would let other people be informed about your decision making thought process. Avoid big and git non-documented changes if your company policy allows it. If you are part of a startup - well, good luck then. 🌩️ If you use GitHub as your VCS; be fast! Use git together with GitHub CLI, create aliases and wrappers to quickly move on your individual tasks. gh issue develop 6 // Creates a branch out of a task gh pr create // Creates a PR out of a branch Avoid all unnecessary thinking micro-stops, customize your workflow and be hyper-efficient. Become, dare I say it, a x10 engineer 😅.

You can't remember everything in your brain. Your brain's memory and long-term storage capacity has a limit. Despite any NDA you ever sign, always keep a local, privately kept, well secured, generic version of the code you've ever touched with no mention of any branding or other company related things as snippets. Keep a local version of notes or issues you've encountered - accessible links that you can recall quickly any time. ALWAYS work on your pet projects and periodic yearly R&D if your finance allows for it. Use your spare time wisely.

When ever changes incurred it will give back something which be a lesson to use somewhere in future. So be attentive and listen what's coming your way.

Sometimes you just have to put your ego aside and treat Feedbacks as a chance to get better. That is how real growth happens.