Moving beyond technical debt

Advocating for technical improvements to a product or system can be extremely challenging. In this session, you’ll learn how to better champion technical initiatives. We’ll talk about how the concept of “technical debt” is, counterintuitively, holding you back.

The metaphor of technical debt has had a hugely positive impact on software development. However, its convoluted current state is hindering decision-making and value creation. The technical debt metaphor deserves its exalted place in history, but it’s time to move beyond it.

We’ll investigate the origins of the technical debt metaphor and discuss how current approaches driven by it are hampering technical efforts. We’ll use this understanding to identify more inclusive approaches to cross-disciplinary prioritization. You’ll be prepared to better collaborate with your technical and non-technical colleagues to ensure the right technical work is delivered at the right time.

Although this session is geared towards technical advocacy, practitioners of product, design, agile coaching, quality, and all other disciplines are welcome! Anyone involved in cross-functional decision-making and delivery will benefit from understanding the shortcomings of technical debt. Moving beyond technical has benefits for us all.

• Development