Act Against Procrastination and Complexity

The two common vices among software engineers are procrastination — the tendency to postpone — and complexity — the tendency to make simple things complex.

Both feel natural. Procrastination masquerades as caution. Complexity masquerades as thoroughness. Neither is.

Act against those natural tendencies.

On procrastination: ask yourself, and ask others with grace — could this be done today? If not, why not? Not to be pushy. To be honest. Many things that live on tomorrow's list could live on today's. The friction is usually psychological, not practical.

On complexity: when you encounter something complex — code, a process, a decision — ask whether it could be done more simply. If yes: what are the trade-offs? Run the risk assessment. If the trade-offs are favourable, implement the simpler solution.

Keep in mind that simplicity itself is a positive trade-off. It is not a compromise. It is often the better engineering choice, and almost always the better team choice. Simple things are easier to understand, easier to debug, easier to hand off, and easier to extend.

The bias should be: do it now, and do it simply. Everything else is drag.