Imagine your engineering team is running as fast as they can to get around the track while forced to be stay a treadmill. This frustrating stagnation is probably the result of a high Technical Debt Interest Rate (TDIR). TDIR is consuming your capacity before you can touch a new feature. In the Waypoint Methodology we treat TDIR as a hard financial liability. Essentially, your organization is paying a tax on every line of code you write because of past structural compromises. Until you quantify this interest rate you are left guessing why your delivery dates keep slipping into the future and customer satisfaction is dropping faster and faster.
Stop letting invisible TDIR dictate your strategic roadmap and start measuring the real cost of your technical compromises.
I remember working with a development team to implement new features the client needed, not wanted. We took the time to explore the process and design the aligned technology with the customer to build an aligned vision of success. We then turned it over to the developers to build. As soon as the stories were presented, the Tech Lead spoke up recommending we follow a different design. The recommendation reduced the value the customer anticipated. When questioned on why the new design was recommended, it was explained previous decisions prevented moving forward with the recommended design. The Tech Lead went on to explain if we followed the recommended design it would require several months of rework before the new feature development could start. Ultimately the Product Owner decided to retain the technical debt accumulated early on it the product lifecycle and follow the Tech Leads recommendations. The tech debt remained and the customer, while accepting the product, began exploring alternative technology solutions to fill the void.
Bottom line: If your team is working hard but the roadmap isn’t moving, you are likely paying a high TDIR. Together we can work to find and reduce your the technical debt holding you back.
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