Post #3993621

2026-07-21 19:08 UTC

For me, the most perilous stage of software development is when we're close enough to the goal that folks' internal sense of completeness gives them the dopamine hit from being "done", but we haven't delivered yet. We get an influx of new ideas for what to do next, suggestions for internal systems to replace, ideas for how to optimize the system -- but we haven't delivered yet! Ideally, our internal sense of completion would not come until the code is delivered to customers and proven to work.... but I've found that in practice, we often "feel done" when it's not quite done. This is a perilous stage where we're apt to distract ourselves.

Replies (1)

@alexanderbird@mstdn.ca 2026-07-21 19:11

A related peril is the stage where we have built enough that we have collected a set of regrets about the technology choices we made. Now we know how we could have done it differently. If we're not careful, we'll start rewriting the software before we've delivered it. Even if we give in to the urge and start swapping out components, we're likely to collect new regrets and form new ideas for improvement. I've heard of projects wallowing for years in rewrites and optimizations, never quite releasing. I think it's a superpower to use the proven-but-worse tool you have in the face of exciting tool improvement ideas. Can you think of a tool improvement and not act on it? Can you deliver in the face of viable improvement ideas?

Open ##3993671