Upon reflection, I just realised something: If the biggest difference in productivity comes from the impact of decision-making, then perhaps that is also a big

Upon reflection, I just realised something: If the biggest difference in productivity comes from the impact of decision-making, then perhaps that is also a big part of the impact of pair programming. If you are a fresh-out-of-uni developer working alone, then it is a lot easier to believe something like "Even though this documentation is in Chinese, I can make do with Google Translate. I don't need to push my manager to approve a budget for having it professionally translated into English." When you have two people talking to each other, the explicitness of your reasoning and verbal communication makes it much more obvious when a decision leads to 3 weeks of wasted time. (yes, this was my first project out of uni. A can-do impossible-is-nothing attitude can be misinterpreted to lead you to relentlessly pushing against a wall rather than resourcefully going around it.)