Change Is Both the Disease and the Cure

In software development, we face a fundamental paradox: the very act that solves our problems is the same act that creates them. Every bug fix is a change. Every new bug is the result of a change.

The Universal Answer

When something is broken in software, there's only one way to fix it: change something. When something was working and now it isn't, there's only one explanation: something changed.

This isn't a coincidence. It's the defining characteristic of software development.

The Regression Question

"Why did we have a regression?"

The answer is always the same: something changed. The real question isn't why we had a regression—it's why we didn't catch the change that caused it.

The Bug Question

"What is this bug?"

Every bug is a story about change:

• A change that didn't account for an edge case
• A change that broke an implicit assumption
• A change that interacted poorly with existing code
• A change that revealed a problem that was always there

The False Dichotomy

People often frame software development as a battle between moving fast and being safe, as if these are opposing forces:

• Move Fast: Ship features, iterate quickly, respond to market demands
• Stay Safe: Test everything, review carefully, avoid breaking changes

But this misses the point entirely.

The Real Problem: Change Management

The actual challenge isn't choosing between fast and safe. It's learning to change things well:

• Fast teams know how to make changes safely
• Safe teams know how to make changes quickly
• Great teams make changes that are both fast and safe

The Speed-Safety Synthesis

The best teams understand that speed and safety aren't opposites—they're complementary:

Speed Enables Safety

• Fast feedback loops catch problems earlier
• Quick iterations mean smaller, safer changes
• Rapid deployment makes rollbacks feasible

Safety Enables Speed

• Good tests give confidence to move quickly
• Clear interfaces prevent accidental breakage
• Stable foundations support rapid innovation

The Change Management Mindset

Once you see software development as change management, everything shifts:

Instead of avoiding change, optimize for it

• Make changes smaller and more frequent
• Invest in tools that make changes safer
• Build systems that handle change gracefully

Instead of fearing bugs, expect them

• Changes will sometimes break things—plan for it
• Build monitoring to detect problems quickly
• Design recovery mechanisms for when things go wrong

Instead of choosing fast or safe, choose both

• Automate the safety checks so they're fast
• Make the safe path the easiest path
• Measure both velocity and quality

The Practical Reality

Every day in software development, you're making changes. The question isn't whether to change—it's how to change well:

• Good changes solve problems without creating new ones
• Great changes make future changes easier and safer
• Perfect changes don't exist, but you can get better at them

The Fundamental Truth

Software development isn't about writing code. It's about managing change.

The teams that master change management don't avoid problems—they solve them faster than they create them.

And that's the only way to win the game: not by avoiding change, but by getting better at it.