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In software development, innovation is often seen as the main driver of progress. Companies build new features, adopt new technologies, and adapt quickly to market demands.
But behind the scenes, another force builds up — technical debt. If left unchecked, it can slow down innovation and increase costs. Knowing how to balance the two is key to building sustainable digital products.
Technical debt is the cost of choosing an easy or quick solution in software development that will need to be revisited later. This doesn't mean the initial solution is necessarily bad: it often makes sense to deliver something fast, especially during innovation phases. But over time, as your system grows and evolves, older code that once worked well might no longer fit the current architecture or requirements.
Imagine you developed a feature a year ago. Since then, your system has changed, and new components, workflows, and business logic have been added. That older piece of code still functions, but it may not integrate well with the new elements. It wasn't designed with today’s structure in mind, and that misalignment can lead to bugs, slow performance, or workarounds that further complicate the system.
If these outdated parts of the codebase aren’t regularly reviewed and updated — a process known as refactoring — you accumulate technical debt.
Innovation in software refers to building new features, integrating new technologies, and improving user experiences. It's what helps businesses stay competitive. Innovation brings change and complexity. And while it's crucial for growth, it often means prioritizing speed over perfect architecture, especially in the early stages of a project.
This is where technical debt tends to build up. The focus is on delivering new functionality fast. But without regular maintenance, the codebase becomes harder to manage.
Technical debt is invisible until it starts to hurt your development process. Here are a few clear indicators that your company may be carrying too much of it:
A practical approach to balancing innovation and technical debt is to make refactoring part of your development routine, not something you only do when things go wrong.
One useful analogy is roadwork: if you have to dig up the street in front of your house to install a new cable, it's more efficient to check whether other infrastructure (like sewage or gas lines) needs updating too. That way, you avoid having to dig up the same road again and again.
Apply the same logic to software. When you touch a part of the codebase to add a new feature, take the opportunity to review its structure:
Refactoring while the code is already being worked on may seem like it adds time, but it pays off by keeping the system clean and maintainable. It prevents future problems and makes the next round of innovation easier.
Technical debt isn’t inherently bad — it’s part of the development process. But unmanaged debt can stall progress. The key is to recognize the signs early and adopt a mindset of regular maintenance alongside innovation. Make innovation sustainable by building in time to revisit and refresh what you’ve already built.
To ensure your innovation delivers real value, it’s also important to track how well new features perform. Read more in our blog post on how to measure a feature’s success.
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