I've been contemplating something along these lines for a bit:
Step one is to understand the tradeoff space.
Step two (which is sometimes much more difficult) is picking where in the tradeoff space makes sense for the business, but now and into the future.
That's tough. The context is always changing. The future looks different every week or two. Worth considering but it's also easy to go down the rabbit hole of over anticipating, over planning, etc.
Be wise. Be thorough. But be aware you'll be wrong often (when it comes to predicting the future).
The best predictors don’t scout all roads, they instead avoid decisions that cut them off.
We still have a legacy of bad design we were chasing in the 00’s and well into the 10’s of trying to future proof things when what we should have been doing was hedging by putting off decisions we cannot change as long as we possibly can: the Last Responsible Moment is too often conflated with YAGNI - things like building infrastructure “you don’t need yet” (need is open to interpretation and a clogged roadmap full of long runways often means that targets of opportunity should be pursued when the trail is hot, not when the “time is right”. There is never time, only opportunity). When instead I think it is more about jumping off ledges with no trail back. I cannot reverse this decision, so I should avoid it as long as I reasonably can.
Stall until there is more information, until your tools are better, until the requirements are clear, until workarounds and interim solutions do not suffice and you must commit.
Brilliant. I agree with everything you said. Present me has no idea what future me needs. Let future me decide. Keep things simple and flexible as long as possible.
