Project Debt

In the wonderful and somewhat absurd world of software development, there lives a methodology used by some that far exceeds most. It is known as Agile Software development or sometimes XP (Extreme Programming).

Enough tech talk. This methodology has a concept called “Project Debt.” Project Debt is simply all of the things that have accumulated during the course of a project that have not been completed. It is very much like consumer debt. You are getting something now with the understanding that you will have to pay later. You might be getting a new feature in a software program now, but delaying fixing a problem in a current feature.

Over time projects accumulate debt. During most of my career, project debt has not even been acknowledged; therefore; it never existed. We went to great lengths to hide this debt. Like credit card debt, if you stay in denial about the amount you still owe, you eventually seek for debt relief services.

Projects are not much different. If you ignore the problems for long enough, you will need project debt management. More often than not, managing project debt is done late in the project, often after implementation. Neither time is good. Like a consumer buried in debt, the project is headed for bankruptcy.

What I really admire about XP is that the creators of the methodology recognized that project debt was real. They built into the process a way to proactively deal with this debt. Some software teams will keep track of project debt by taping each item to the wall of the Project Manager’s wall. You see the debt; you cannot ignore it.

We can’t ever really run away from debt. If we do, we run the risk of becoming hopelessly derailed and feeling like a failure. If you are on a project right now, suggest to your team that you make a list of all of the debt in your project.

Even if it is a mountain of debt, start to address each item. You will be surprised how much you can do when you stop pretending the debt doesn’t exist.