Reliability versus Firefighting

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.