We’ve all been there—those endless, soul-sucking meetings where decisions are supposed to be made, but instead, we find ourselves trapped in a vortex of over-analysis and ego battles. The market is moving, funding is limited, and yet, here we are, debating for hours while nothing gets built.
The Loop of Doom in FinTech: When Meetings Stall Progress
A while back, we were designing a new scalable architecture for a FinTech product. The initial idea? Use AWS Lambdas to build an efficient, scalable system. But after deeper analysis, we realized that Lambdas, in this case, would lead to unnecessary fragmentation and skyrocketing costs. (If you're curious, I wrote more on that here: Why Nano-services & Lambdas Cost You More).
So we pivoted and began discussing microservices. A logical step, right? Yet, instead of progress, we hit a wall. Fellow engineers in the company, tasked with contributing to the solution, kept dragging the conversation into theoretical perfectionism. Suggestions ranged from a full database migration to re-architecting every single service before even launching a minimal viable product (MVP). The timeline? A generous 2+ years.
Meanwhile, my team was getting frustrated. A month passed. Zero code shipped.
Breaking the Cycle: Flow Over Force
At one point, I cut through the noise and asked: “Why do we need this now?”
Silence. No one had a solid answer. Because, in reality, we didn’t need it. We needed a scalable product, but not at the cost of infinite delays and unnecessary complexity. The focus should have been on delivering a functional, adaptable system—not satisfying egos with over-engineered solutions.
The Key Takeaways:
If a decision is taking too long, maybe it’s not the right time to make it.
If a solution feels forced, it probably is.
Progress > Perfection. Ship first, optimise later.
Resources are finite—time, developers, business needs. Make them count.
At the end of the day, forcing complexity leads to stagnation. Flow is what gets products built. If an idea doesn’t move you forward, let it go.
Final Thought: Get Out of Your Own Way
Tech isn’t meant to be rocket science—unless you’re literally building rockets. Most of the time, we’re just trying to prove a point instead of shipping solutions. Let go of what doesn’t flow, and build what actually works.
What’s your experience with over-engineering and decision paralysis? Let’s talk in the comments.
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