I'd caution against using the term straw man. I don't think the audience is ignorant but I think stating that over-engineering is frowned upon is a good thing i

I'd caution against using the term straw man. I don't think the audience is ignorant but I think stating that over-engineering is frowned upon is a good thing in my mind. I have worked in several organisations where bright up and coming developers try to raise their profile by being "clever" and as a result there is always over-engineering. I agree no one is pro over-engineering but as you point out yourself it's sometimes something that isn't acknowledged because either the engineer doesn't consider they are over-engineering or are prepared to defend their work. Stating that you are against over-engineering makes it explicit and as a value it is something you expect your engineers to think about. "No over-engineering" should sit at the heart of any good set of coding practices and it should be there because it means engineers have to think about and understand what it means. "there are two ways of constructing a software design: one way is to make it so simple that there are obviously no deficiencies; the other way is to make it so complicated that there are no obvious deficiencies. The first method is far more difficult." - Tony Hoare