--- title: "Managed Technical Debt" url: https://daily.dev/posts/managed-technical-debt-xuzvgxi8h source_url: https://verraes.net/2013/07/managed-technical-debt type: article source: "Mathias Verraes" published: 2026-06-17T11:25:35.865Z updated: 2026-06-17T11:27:09.066Z tags: ["architecture", "agile", "technical-debt"] reading_time: 4 upvotes: 0 comments: 0 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. # Managed Technical Debt **[Mathias Verraes](https://daily.dev/sources/verraes)** · 4 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary A distinction is proposed between Managed and Unmanaged Technical Debt. Managed debt is intentional, documented, and handled by a disciplined team that understands the optimal solution and has a plan to pay it off. Unmanaged debt arises from immature teams building hacks on top of hacks without awareness of better alternatives. The post also describes a practical visualization technique using story maps and sticky notes to track and prioritize technical debt, making it feel controllable rather than overwhelming. ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: --- Tags: [#architecture](https://daily.dev/tags/architecture), [#agile](https://daily.dev/tags/agile), [#technical-debt](https://daily.dev/tags/technical-debt) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/managed-technical-debt-xuzvgxi8h)