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Reliability versus Firefighting

Mar 15, 2017

Extracted this from screenshot from another software developers at another companies thoughts.

Reliability investments create leverage over time, where-as firefighting is actually an act of regression.
A reliability investment means that some future problem class is eliminated, creating space to focus on creating value.
Every time energy is diverted towards an emergency, that's a lost opportunity to create leverage through investment.
In this sense, firefighting is the opposite of investing in reliability.
To make matters worse, social reinforcement programs us to underestimate the value of investment and overestimate the value of firefighting.

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