W27 - Infrastructure Standards Working Group

Last week we launched a new working mechanism — 🏗️ the Infrastructure Standards Working Group. This is not a spur-of-the-moment idea or a whimsical project; it is the result of a period of observation, reflection, and shared consensus.

In fact, during last year's engineering governance initiative I already sensed that that format wouldn't fit the team's next-stage rhythm and challenges. Task forces are useful tools for solving problems, especially when addressing acute bottlenecks or technical debt: they focus attention and concentrate resources. The issue is that task forces are essentially short-term “campaigns” that rely heavily on people and rapid tempos; without institutional safeguards, their成果 tend to fade over time and can quietly vanish amid personnel changes.

Over the past period I've discussed this with many colleagues. There is consensus on the importance of engineering infrastructure, but people also raised practical problems: as new members join, shared understanding erodes; work depends on a few individuals; there is no mechanism for sustained investment; motivated contributors don’t find a clear way to help; and active contributions can even trigger negative feedback loops.

I roughly divide the team's engineering infrastructure maturity into three levels:

Level 1 — Chaos and firefighting: infrastructure is fragmented, problems are handled ad hoc, and the team lacks an overall mindset.

Level 2 — Orderly but fragile: there is some accumulation, with relatively clear standards and processes, but they easily degrade and lack protective mechanisms.

Level 3 — Systematic and evolving: stable mechanisms underpin the work; engineering practices accumulate and evolve over time, steadily approaching the level of an excellent team.

We are currently at the second level: orderly, but facing hidden decline and gradual erosion. If we keep using the old approach, we will likely end up replacing people and starting over, repeatedly climbing the same slope and forever lingering within the same box.

We need a new organizational approach to shift infrastructure work from short-term campaigns to a sustained effort. The working group mechanism is the solution proposed for this stage.

What does success look like? Being able to maintain an up-to-date map of infrastructure issues at any time, forming a clear evolution path, and creating a mechanism the team agrees is worth preserving.