The Engineering Obsession with Addition
Engineering teams love to build. Product Managers love to launch. But very few organizations celebrate the deletion of code. The result is "Feature Gravity" — an ever-expanding codebase that demands an increasingly large share of your R&D budget just to maintain.
The Sunset Protocol
Real innovation capacity is unlocked by subtraction. The Sunset Protocol is a rigorous governance framework for deprecating code:
1. Economic Audit: Measure the usage and revenue attribution of every feature against its maintenance cost. If Cost > Value, mark it as a Zombie Feature.
2. The Kill Switch: Put the feature behind a toggle. If nobody complains for 30 days, delete the underlying infrastructure.
3. Capacity Reallocation: Measure the hours saved and immediately reallocate them to high-margin, cap-ex initiatives.
Deleting code is the highest ROI action a CTO can take to extend the team's Technical Insolvency Date.
Calculate your maintenance burden instantly at richardewing.io/tools/pdi. Original run on Built In.