The Tech Debt Framework Playbook
Not theory, not vendor documentation — the whole system for paying down tech debt without begging for a refactoring sprint, and making it self-enforcing so it actually sticks even when there's no tech lead. This is how I'd tackle tech debt on my team, written out step by step.
$17 · one-time · lifetime updates
- The 15–20% rule — how much of each sprint to protect for debt, and why the full-rewrite temptation is a trap that always fails
- The self-enforcing system — the three pieces that hold a team accountable with no tech lead: an Artifact, a Ritual, and a Rotating Owner
- The GitHub label system —
debt:incidentalvs.debt:escalated, so cleanup is tracked without extra process - The fix-vs-log decision — the ~30-minute rule for what rides in your PR and what becomes its own ticket
- The rituals that make it stick — the planning checkbox, the retro trend, and the Definition-of-Done tweak that makes cleanup the default
- The one number to watch — the single metric that lets the trend, not a person, hold the team accountable
- The escape-valve rule — what to do when a P0 eats the budget, so it's a conscious call and not silent erosion
- Instant delivery — download link emailed on purchase
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