[XenophileJKO]

In large companies I have seen a related pattern. Usually a mid-level engineer that the managers love because they "get stuff done".. meanwhile they are a bulldozer in the code, usually with some "ship-it" buddy green lighting the work.

The reason they can "move fast" is because everyone else is trying to limit complexity, etc. and they are punching holes through the abstractions.

Then turn into your "Pete" when they get promoted...

[motorest]

> The reason they can "move fast" is because everyone else is trying to limit complexity, etc. and they are punching holes through the abstractions.

That's perfectly fine. Your salary is paid by paying customers which are attracted and maintained by improving their user experience. You will never get a new paying customer by advertising that you prevented your abstractions from being soiled.

[make3]

the issue is that this is not a sustainable approach for projects that are meant to last a long time

[XenophileJKO]

Bingo! This is the right answer. It always comes down to how long will the code exist and do you need to be able to sustain high velocity over a long period of time.

If you don't need to keep it very long, then hack the hell out of it. If you are in a startup, hack it.. you don't even know if you have product market fit. If you are in an enterprise and your team is responsible for some aspect of the company.. keep it clean and move fast. As soon as you start snowballing hidden complexity via hacks.. it becomes a tar pit.

[rvba]

The reason is why they move fast, since there are tons of Juliuses (as per the article terminology) who cannot code at all.