3 ms·

> This is actually a frequent occurrence. But honestly it usually doesn't come with that exact same phrasing. It usually comes with "let's spend our time on thi

> This is actually a frequent occurrence. But honestly it usually doesn't come with that exact same phrasing. It usually comes with "let's spend our time on this other thing that isn't important but is new therefore important". It's true, sometimes you need to triage, but there's a clear bias that once something "works" (no matter how poorly) there is much less incentive to make it work not poorly. Exactly. “It technically functions and therefore doesn’t need attention” has become an industry norm. There’s a massive bias towards piling on more features over making older ones good.

godelski 1y ago
> “It technically functions and therefore doesn’t need attention” has become an industry norm. Most commonly seen with the aphorism "don't fix what isn't broken." But I really hate that aphorism. There's some truth to it, but it is commonly used as a thought terminating cliche. If you see a rusty pipe you should sure as hell fix it. Sure, it isn't "broken" in the sense that it has burst and is leaking water everywhere, but it sure is a ticking time bomb. And boy, is it a hell of a lot cheaper to fix a rusty pipe that isn't leaking than to fix a burst pipe and also pay for all the water damage. The aphorism misses that "maintenance" is much cheaper than "repair". The aphorism misses that you can get major cost savings by doing thing differently. Sure, it costs more in the moment, but are we trying to run a business paycheck to paycheck or are we trying to create something sustainable. I sure hope your business is thinking more than just 3 months out. "More expensive now" is far too common of an excuse, enough that I see it used to justify not implementing things that would have a ROI within 6 months! Which not doing anything with under a year ROI is absolutely batshit insane (unless you're a startup living on the edge or something, but I see this in big tech companies and I hope we understand that's the context here).

godelski 1y ago

> “It technically functions and therefore doesn’t need attention” has become an industry norm. Most commonly seen with the aphorism "don't fix what isn't broken." But I really hate that aphorism. There's some truth to it, but it is commonly used as a thought terminating cliche. If you see a rusty pipe you should sure as hell fix it. Sure, it isn't "broken" in the sense that it has burst and is leaking water everywhere, but it sure is a ticking time bomb. And boy, is it a hell of a lot cheaper to fix a rusty pipe that isn't leaking than to fix a burst pipe and also pay for all the water damage. The aphorism misses that "maintenance" is much cheaper than "repair". The aphorism misses that you can get major cost savings by doing thing differently. Sure, it costs more in the moment, but are we trying to run a business paycheck to paycheck or are we trying to create something sustainable. I sure hope your business is thinking more than just 3 months out. "More expensive now" is far too common of an excuse, enough that I see it used to justify not implementing things that would have a ROI within 6 months! Which not doing anything with under a year ROI is absolutely batshit insane (unless you're a startup living on the edge or something, but I see this in big tech companies and I hope we understand that's the context here).