You love a fast developer. I do too. Features ship, tickets close, velocity goes up.
But the same speed can slow you down.
What works today… It may block you next week.
Hard-coded paths, one-off hacks, not utilised UIKit components, zero reusability etc.
I don’t blame the developer. We hire for hustle.
The real challenge sits with you, the leader.
You need to coach strategy without killing momentum. I’ve learned you can’t just say “slow down, write clean code.” That kills motivation and doesn’t solve for value. You have to reframe the game.
I ask developers:
- Who uses this tomorrow?
- How many times will we copy-paste this logic?
They are smart enough to realise the answer and what it is going to mean for them.
Suddenly, we design for tomorrow, not just today.
Speed matters, but outcome beats output.
Fast isn’t enough, reusable wins.
As leaders, we set the bar. Shift your feedback from “good job shipping fast” to “great job making the next job easier.”
That’s how you go from high-output to high-impact.