Point taken. At the same time, I'd note that anything can be debated ad nauseam, so nearly everything can be considered subjective. So indeed I can't aim to 0

Point taken. At the same time, I'd note that anything can be debated ad nauseam, so nearly everything can be considered subjective. So indeed I can't aim to 0.00000 tech debt, nor identify "avoidable" tech debt with 100% accuracy. But I _can_ follow certain practices and have a given team follow them. Those practices being quite objective, benefitial, and superior to the status quo of the industry.