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> So while many team members were arguing about theoretical things, I onboarded important developers on to the new system and they were productive refactoring t

by jf22 5y ago

> So while many team members were arguing about theoretical things, I onboarded important developers on to the new system and they were productive refactoring the old things we produced into the new technology stack. I question the wisdom of somebody who started refactoring and replacing systems right after massive layoffs in an industry that was crippled by the pandemic. Businesses in survival mode can't spend resources like this. The author points out the executives became enraged when the found this out and I agree with the executives.

andix 5y ago
The pandemic was also a chance to implement new stuff, as there was anyway no real revenue generated. Everything was chaotic, so if you made mistakes you could just brush them off with "because of covid".
wsc981 5y ago
> I question the wisdom of somebody who started refactoring and replacing systems right after massive layoffs in an industry that was crippled by the pandemic. Well wisdom is gained from experience and it seems the author learned a few lessons.
lowercased 5y ago
And... when everything failed except the new system, which seemed to keep the company operational despite the executives' views... you still agree with them? You agree with their 'enraged' state? You think it was justified? Even with hindsight, or just at that moment in time?
- villasv 5y ago
  Refactoring by definition doesn’t fix things though so parent comment is still right
  - BoorishBears 5y ago
    What? By literal definition refactoring is fixing things without changing functionality... > refactoring the old things we produced into the new technology stack. You don't see how that could fix things?
    - villasv 5y ago
      Functionality doesn’t change, it also doesn’t fix bugs. IMO refactoring should make no tests break or pass if they didn’t before.
marcosdumay 5y ago
Depends on the project size and the details of the company risk. As a rule, when things are broken it's the best time to go out fixing them. But yeah, this has a non-zero cost that maybe can destroy the company.

by jf22 5y ago

andix 5y ago

The pandemic was also a chance to implement new stuff, as there was anyway no real revenue generated. Everything was chaotic, so if you made mistakes you could just brush them off with "because of covid".

wsc981 5y ago

> I question the wisdom of somebody who started refactoring and replacing systems right after massive layoffs in an industry that was crippled by the pandemic. Well wisdom is gained from experience and it seems the author learned a few lessons.

lowercased 5y ago

And... when everything failed except the new system, which seemed to keep the company operational despite the executives' views... you still agree with them? You agree with their 'enraged' state? You think it was justified? Even with hindsight, or just at that moment in time?

villasv 5y ago
Refactoring by definition doesn’t fix things though so parent comment is still right
- BoorishBears 5y ago
  What? By literal definition refactoring is fixing things without changing functionality... > refactoring the old things we produced into the new technology stack. You don't see how that could fix things?
  - villasv 5y ago
    Functionality doesn’t change, it also doesn’t fix bugs. IMO refactoring should make no tests break or pass if they didn’t before.

marcosdumay 5y ago

Depends on the project size and the details of the company risk. As a rule, when things are broken it's the best time to go out fixing them. But yeah, this has a non-zero cost that maybe can destroy the company.