The engineer’s illusion of speed: How skipping your software development process actually slows you down
Skipping well-designed software development processes might feel like a shortcut, but it’s the ultimate productivity trap. Good processes are the key to achieving consistent, reliable results.
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Why skip something designed to make you efficient?
We all dislike bureaucratic, slow, or pointless processes.
But here’s the truth: a good process isn’t extra work. It’s the optimized way to get consistent, reliable results.
Skipping processes feels faster in the moment, but it’s a contradiction.
You say “no” to an optimized way to obtain reliable results in the delusional hope that you know better than the dozens of engineers who shaped this process before you.
The outcome of chasing this illusion of speed? Wasted effort.
In this article you’ll learn
Why skipping processes creates inefficiencies and wasted effort.
How good processes ensure consistency and prevent chaos.
Practical strategies to embed effective processes in your team.
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The cost of skipping processes
Let me share some personal examples where skipping processes backfired:
Skipping the interview process:
During a debrief, I discovered that another interviewer had used the same coding question I did, on a different day. The candidate struggled with it the first time, revealing weaknesses, but solved it perfectly the second time.
This invalidated the second interview’s results, wasting everyone’s time and losing for the candidate one of the chances to prove their worth in the interview.
Skipping the operational readiness checklist:
Our team uses a checklist to address operational concerns before launches. Skipping it might seem like it saves time—but it doesn’t.
It’s like writing without an outline: you start with a blank page and miss key points. In our case, we skipped the checklist and overlooked the need for load tests after making major infrastructure changes. Two days before launch, we had to rush unplanned tests, dropping other work in the process.
Skipping the sprint planning:
I bet your team has some time skipped sprint plannings when you have been on a rush. While skipping it might seem faster, it creates bigger problems.
Without a plan, team members pull tasks from the backlog. This looks fine until someone realizes a critical task is unassigned. Redirecting engineers mid-sprint forces them to drop half-done work, wasting effort. Sprint planning ensures focus on priorities, avoiding context switching.
Why good software engineering processes drive success
Good processes aren’t obstacles, they’re enablers.
Here’s what makes a process effective, taking as example the readiness checklist:
Clear scope: Everyone knows when and where the process applies.
You fill a readiness checklist before releasing your software.
Clear objectives and steps: Everyone knows what’s expected and how to proceed.
You have to answer all the questions from a template
Cover the second question: Processes anticipate common pitfalls and build solutions upfront.
If any of the concerns applies to your software, you have guidance about how to solve it
Identify blind spots: Processes bring attention to areas you might overlook if you only had a blank page in front of you.
The checklist highlights infrastructure concerns that could go unnoticed during routine planning.
Streamline decision-making: Processes reduce decision fatigue by making you work following a framework.
The checklist eliminates the guesswork about which operational risks to address first as they are prioritized.
Continuous improvement: A process, when executed repeatedly over time, gets optimized with feedback
If any project identifies something not covered by the checklist, you can update it, making it more optimized for the next project