With respect to technical debt reflecting organizational problems:
I've always been surprised at how much internal resistance (management and other programmers) I've faced when trying to pay down or eliminate technical debt, regardless of whether it was my code or other people's code. ( For the record, I've written plenty of bad code in my day. )
In the past when I was foolish enough to try and be deferential, I was given excuses like 'yeah, we don't want that kind of churn in version control' and 'we have to maintain compatibility' even when compatibility isn't an issue at all. This, more than anything taught me that it's better to seek forgiveness than permission.
Love the concept of building technical wealth. That's a great way to put it.
With respect to technical debt reflecting organizational problems:
I've always been surprised at how much internal resistance (management and other programmers) I've faced when trying to pay down or eliminate technical debt, regardless of whether it was my code or other people's code. ( For the record, I've written plenty of bad code in my day. )
In the past when I was foolish enough to try and be deferential, I was given excuses like 'yeah, we don't want that kind of churn in version control' and 'we have to maintain compatibility' even when compatibility isn't an issue at all. This, more than anything taught me that it's better to seek forgiveness than permission.
Love the concept of building technical wealth. That's a great way to put it.