Leadership Debt: Skipping the Small Things Can Cost You Big
1-Minute Engineering on Leadership — Edition #15
Software engineers borrow many real-world terms to simplify abstract concepts.
One powerful metaphor is Technical Debt, which compares taking shortcuts in software development to financial debt.
Imagine a project with two choices: one is quick and easy but will need fixing later, while the other is well-designed but takes longer to implement.
Choosing the first option is like taking on debt—you release software faster but pay interest later through extra work. Refactoring post-release is like repaying the principal.
In other words, Technical Debt is a trade-off where speed comes at the cost of future complexity.
But debt isn’t just technical—it applies to leadership, too.
Two years ago, I led a project that was expected to last three months. To move faster, I skipped one-on-one meetings with my team, thinking the short timeline justified it.
However, as the project stretched to four, then to five, and ultimately to six months, the debt accumulated. Without regular check-ins, alignment suffered, and the team's cohesion weakened—just like technical debt slowing down a codebase.
I learned my lesson. The first thing I did on my next project was schedule one-on-one meetings—I wasn’t going to pay this kind of debt again.
Whether in code or leadership, debt isn’t inherently bad—but it must be managed wisely.
—Alex