Addressing it sustainably.
WHAT DOES NOT WORK
Requesting a period to fix everything.
WHY
It is rarely granted, and when granted it is cancelled when priorities change.
WHAT WORKS
Addressing debt continuously, as part of normal work.
WHAT THAT LOOKS LIKE
Improving the area you are already changing A proportion of each iteration allocated to it Refactoring as a step before a feature, not after
WHY BEFORE
Making the change easy, then making the easy change.
WHAT TO ALLOCATE
A consistent proportion of capacity.
WHY CONSISTENT
Sporadic effort is always displaced by delivery pressure.
WHAT TO PRIORITISE
Whatever costs most, in areas you are actively working.
WHAT TO JUSTIFY IT WITH
Delivery speed, defect rates, and risk.
WHY NOT TECHNICAL ARGUMENTS
They do not persuade people who allocate time.
WHAT TO TRACK
Whether the affected area actually became easier to change.
WHAT TO RESIST
Rewriting rather than improving Improving areas nobody touches
