--- title: "Fear of over-engineering has killed engineering altogether" url: https://daily.dev/posts/fear-of-over-engineering-has-killed-engineering-altogether-cojyxghlh source_url: https://fika.bar/blogs/paoramen/fear-of-over-engineering-has-killed-engineering-altogether-01J3MM2Y3RGK8AZWYHHFJMAGJJ type: article source: "Lobsters" published: 2024-07-26T12:45:12.738Z updated: 2024-08-23T16:17:45.346Z tags: ["startup", "agile", "project-management"] reading_time: 10 upvotes: 96 comments: 4 language: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Fear of over-engineering has killed engineering altogether **[Lobsters](https://daily.dev/sources/lobsters)** · 10 min read · 96 upvotes · 4 comments ## Summary Over the past two decades, there has been a shift in software engineering from rigorous planning to rapidly shipping products without much foresight. While agile methodologies have benefited the tech industry, there's a growing concern that the pendulum may have swung too far, leading to a disregard for basic engineering principles. The post emphasizes the importance of using simple tools like napkin math and Fermi problems for making informed decisions, ultimately saving time and resources. By sharing examples from the development of fika, the author illustrates how basic calculations can prevent costly mistakes and optimize development processes. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Community discussion Top comments from developers on daily.dev. **@henriqueleite42** · 6 upvotes > I think that what's making things worst isn't "fear of over-engineering", but stakeholders and startup culture. > > They want us to deliver things in no viable time, so we don't even have time to _engineering_ something, imagine _over-engineering_ it. **@georgganev** · 3 upvotes > the biggest problem is that perceived speed is not equal to actual speed. > > Fast perceived speed means many releases, developed quickly. Actual speed in this case means countless amount of bugs, data being incorrectly saved and altered because of these bugs, causing huge amounts of maintenance that actually, in the end, slow the whole company down. I've literally seen companies go bankrupt because of this. Finding the perfect balance is impossible, but going extreme in either way is definetly, 100%, always bad. No matter how good the devs or managers are. **@branele** · 0 upvotes > I think it’s less the fear of over-engineering but more poorly designed education and OHSA type organizations. Bear with me. > > When impossible structures in history were made, often they were made by (in modern terms) uneducated engineers. They succeeded because nobody was there to tell them they would fail. Today, engineers are taught to prioritize what they’re told is possible and only incrementally improve what is already designed. > This is why, for decades we thought 1000hp in a production car was impossible. Then Bugatti did it. Now you get over 1000hp cars all over the place. > > The health... ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [Don’t just attend KubeCon \+ CloudNativeCon, Merge Forward your experience\!](https://daily.dev/posts/don-t-just-attend-kubecon-cloudnativecon-merge-forward-your-experience--l0rpp73x8) · CNCF · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Announcing H2 2026 KCDs](https://daily.dev/posts/announcing-h2-2026-kcds-m96goajm1) · CNCF · 1 upvotes · 0 comments - [Two months of Open Community Groups](https://daily.dev/posts/two-months-of-open-community-groups-asf52zhbs) · CNCF · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [CNCF Unveils Schedule for KubeCon \+ CloudNativeCon Europe 2026](https://daily.dev/posts/cncf-unveils-schedule-for-kubecon-cloudnativecon-europe-2026-ikhcoa5cb) · CNCF · 2 upvotes · 0 comments - [CNCF Debuts KubeCon \+ CloudNativeCon Japan 2026 Schedule](https://daily.dev/posts/cncf-debuts-kubecon-cloudnativecon-japan-2026-schedule-xp5pyudub) · CNCF · 1 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#startup](https://daily.dev/tags/startup), [#agile](https://daily.dev/tags/agile), [#project-management](https://daily.dev/tags/project-management) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/fear-of-over-engineering-has-killed-engineering-altogether-cojyxghlh)