The True Meaning of Technical Debt (2020)
> Weird phrases that we often mock, such as "action item", or "circling back", are actually highly efficient vectors of meaning. They fit non trivial concepts in very few words, and are understood by everybody.<p>I hold the opposite belief. Management speak is meant to obfuscate. Instead of just telling a report who disagrees with your decision based on expected outcome to think the way you tell them to, just say "think outside of the box". When you commit to "circling back", you're committing to nothing but having this idea cross the manager's mind at some point in the future.<p>It's weird that this is the conclusion the author came to from their linked article, considering this is in it:<p>> This is why you might be tempted to use the readily accessible management metaphor laced language which you’re familiar with. Don’t.<p>"Technical Debt" is this level of crummy metaphor. I love Cunningham's original definition. Do your best to model the business problem with the understanding you have. Later, pay down that debt by refactoring.<p>That's not what it means anymore. Tech debt means whatever the speaker wants it to mean. It's a get out of jail free card for any bad software choice.<p>"That choice will severely limit our capabilities in the future, and be incredibly hard to change."<p>"I'm willing to take on some tech debt to prioritize shipping."<p>See? No need to think.