In business, we want to focus on our core domain, and let everything else be “good enough.” We need accounting, payroll, travel. But we don’t need those to be special if our core business is software for hospitals.
As developers, we want to focus on changing our software, because that is our core work. We want other stuff, such as video conferencing, email, and blog platforms to be “good enough.” It should just work, and get out of our way.
The thing is: “good enough” doesn’t stay good enough. Who wants to use Concur for booking travel? No one. It’s incredibly painful and way behind modern web applications that we use for personal travel. Forcing them into an outdated travel booking system holds your people back and makes recruiting a little harder.
When we rent software as a service, then it can keep improving. I shuddered the last time I got invited to a WebEx, but it’s better than it used to be. WebEx is not as slick as Zoom, but it was fine.
There is a lot of value in continuing with the same product that your other systems and people integrate with, and having it improve underneath you. Switching is expensive, especially in the focus it takes. But it beats keeping the anachronism.
DevOps says, “If it hurts, do it more.” This drives you to improve processes that are no longer good enough. Now and then you can turn a drag into a competitive advantage. Now and then, like with deployment, you find out that what you thought was your core business (writing code) is not core after all. (Operating useful software is.)
Limiting what you focus on is important. Let everything else be “good enough,” but check it every once in a while to make sure it still is. Ask the new employee, “What around here seems out of date compared to other places you’ve worked?” Or try a full week of mob programming, and notice when it gets embarrassing to have six people in the same drudgery.
You might learn something important.