[1920musicman]

I don't think this article limits the definition of architecture exclusively to very broad systems, like designing a new graph DB service. Architecture choices happen at all levels, and true systems architects are seldom involved in that.

> the point about being around for longer to see the effects of your mistakes assumes you're not a cog in the wheel.

Ideally—yes. In practice, decisions that should take QARs into account but don't are made by almost any IC level. I have seen systems designed by interns. You could say it's a company culture problem, and I would partially agree. On the other hand, tech companies have a tendency to lean into empowering ICs and so what ends up happening is that inexperienced engineers design systems that are only reviewed by overworked (and maybe not particularly experienced and/or motivated) senior ICs.