“Weight Loss” vs. “Health” in Software Development

Every day we’re bombarded with the latest fad in weight loss: “Lose 40 lbs in a month by eating this one super fruit!” “Shred fat without ever going to the gym!” “Get 6-pack abs in just 4 minutes a day!”

Aside from being silly and borderline unhealthy, what’s the common theme? All of these fads are based on one superficial thing. The scale. The inches. The abs. They’re classic “quick fixes”, and they completely ignore overall health in favor of a single metric.

Any health professional will tell you that’s a recipe for disaster. The best trainers and nutritionists always steer people toward a balanced diet and consistent exercise – because that helps your whole body get healthy. Stick to their plan, and the numbers take care of themselves. It’s about consistency, not perfection. General health, not myopic obsession over one detail.

The same principle applies to software development

Too often, projects are driven by metrics – a date, or a bug count, or even lines of code per developer (sad, but sometimes true!). Sometimes people are looking for a quick fix – “If we ship by this date, our customers will be happy!”, or “Our code is unstable if we have less than 95% code coverage!”

Just like weight loss, if you only plan around specific metrics, you’re ignoring the overall health of your project and your team. Even if you reach those goals, your project will be in worse shape because you’ve neglected the rest of it.

So do what the health and fitness experts would do – focus on overall health and stability. Be consistent. Keep the big picture in mind. For example:

• Have a stable CI/CD process that runs all the tests
• Establish clear expectations around coding standards and code reviews
• Promote easy, open communication habits for your team

None of these are “quick fixes” – but they support the overall health and wellness of your project. When you stick to the plan, the numbers will take care of themselves!

How is your project going? Is your team able to focus on health and wellness, or are you driven by a “quick fix” mentality from upper management? Leave a comment below!

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