How to Write an Engineering RFC That Actually Gets Decisions Made
Most engineers write their first RFC by borrowing a template and filling in the blanks. The result is a document that describes a technical solution in detail, lists some alternatives, and ends with an open-ended question about what people think. That kind of RFC doesn’t produce decisions. It produces comment threads. An effective RFC is not a document that describes a solution. It is a document that frames a decision — that lays out the problem, the constraints, the viable options, and the trade-offs clearly enough that reviewers can evaluate them and reach a conclusion. The solution you prefer is in there, but it’s one item in a structured argument, not the whole document. ...