We can also break it down even more, managers are only allowed to pick one of the mutually exclusive options:
- Well documented, well maintained code that everybody could work on
- Quickly finished projects that nobody ever touches again, but only the programmer(s) have a mental model of it
The first option is more expensive at first, but way less expensive if you happen to have to rewrite it from scratch at some point (and if you are not maintaining and document it, that moment will come and it might not come at a point in time that fits the schedule).
The second option is less expensive first, but it will bite you in the arse if the programmer(s) are gone or forgot how it is done.
Everywhere else managers try to minimize risks, here they often just don't aeem to get the trade-offs involved.
The missing bit you forgot is that even if the first option was chosen, it very quickly devolves into the second option, whether the managers like it or not.
- Well documented, well maintained code that everybody could work on
- Quickly finished projects that nobody ever touches again, but only the programmer(s) have a mental model of it
The first option is more expensive at first, but way less expensive if you happen to have to rewrite it from scratch at some point (and if you are not maintaining and document it, that moment will come and it might not come at a point in time that fits the schedule).
The second option is less expensive first, but it will bite you in the arse if the programmer(s) are gone or forgot how it is done.
Everywhere else managers try to minimize risks, here they often just don't aeem to get the trade-offs involved.