Member-only story
You can apply any tool poorly
If all you have is a hammer, everything starts to look like a nail.
Attributed to Bernard Baruch is one of my favorite quotes. And it couldn’t be more true in software engineering.
If all you have is Java, everything starts to look like it could be solved by a Spring instrumented web application.
If all you have is PowerShell everything starts to look like a windows configuration problem.
If all you have is scrum everything starts to look like it should be chunked into 2-week sprints, pointed better, and released at a faster velocity.
But it took me years to realize that there are two components to the problem this quote highlights
- A lack of the proper tools
- A human who is used to using the wrong tool
It’s really easy to step into a new team and say, “Have you heard of CICD? It’s a really slick approach to solve some of the problems you’re experiencing!”
And then to try to slap a pipeline onto an existing team's deployment process without realizing that they weren’t just missing a pipeline, they got really used to deploying another way.
That would be like finding a home builder who’s using a chainsaw for everything.
