“𝘞𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨”

I still regularly come across this mindset. Not with any ill-intention. Developers aren’t cheap, so naturally you want them to be productive.

Whenever I do, I’m reminded of this meme (image created by Sebastian Hermida).

So this is a reminder that with software development…

𝗧𝘆𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗰𝗸 🐵⌨

Development is about a lot more than just being heads down hammering out code – it’s about problem-solving, understanding user needs, designing scalable solutions, and ensuring that what’s built is truly valuable. Rushing to code without seeing the bigger picture leads to missed requirements & re-work, technical debt and buggy software.

It actually slows things down more than it speeds them up 🐌 🚧

Developers should be involved in the full end-to-end delivery process, not just the coding bit:

🔍 Understanding what we need to deliver, and why

🧪 Quality Assurance (you mean you didn’t test it before you threw it over the wall to QA?)

🚀 Shipping! Getting things out to customers before picking up new work

🤝 Collaborating with each other and other disciplines

Collaboration is a key one. When developers pair with each other or folks from other disciplines, it speeds up the process by reducing feedback loops and capturing issues early, and fosters shared understanding and ultimately, better solutions.

Having developers engaged more widely might seem counterintuitive if you’re focused on keeping them “busy” with coding, but it’s the best way to get the most out of their time.