Boring Solutions: Strategy for Sustainable Engineering
In today's software engineering, there's a central conflict: the attraction to new technologies versus the solidity of established systems. Developers often find themselves divided, seduced by the latest tools promising magical solutions, while experience warns about the hidden costs of novelty. In this series of articles, we'll see that strategic technological containment doesn't hinder innovation; on the contrary, it drives it. True agility and freedom in engineering come from deep mastery of a stable and intentionally limited set of tools, not from the endless pursuit of what's new. Behind this approach lies a vital psychological foundation: an engineering mindset that values deep learning over constant exploration.
To develop this idea, we'll rely on four philosophical pillars that together create a solid foundation for technological leadership.
- First, we'll explore Dan McKinley's philosophy, "Choose Boring Technology", seen as an intelligent strategy for risk management and resource allocation.
- Second, we'll analyze Colonel John Boyd's "Law of Iteration", a military principle that shows how iteration speed is a crucial competitive advantage in software development.
- Third, we'll examine how these abstract concepts are applied in practice, using GitLab as a case study. The company attributes its impressive release cadence to its preference for "boring solutions".
- Finally, the philosophy will be updated for the contemporary scenario with Aaron Brethorst's reassessment, which argues that the arrival of Artificial Intelligence (AI) coding assistants makes the principles of boring technology even more important.
After breaking down these pillars, we will examine how to apply these concepts in technological decision-making, establishing objective criteria to evaluate new tools and maintain architectural consistency over time.
By breaking down and then interconnecting these pillars, you'll have a practical guide for technology leaders seeking to build sustainable, productive, and truly innovative engineering organizations.