If it doesn’t matter when I get to it… then where it is now might actually be far enough.
That is correct systems thinking.
A real principle:
- Value emerges through use
- Not through endless refinement in isolation
Incremental testing is not just good practice — it’s ethical:
- it prevents wasted labour
- it grounds design in reality
- it avoids invisible perfectionism
Projects die and demoralise the builder, when:
- built in isolation, without:
- a feedback loop
- deployment
- consequence
Stopping at “ready enough to test” is not giving up.
It’s refusing to polish something no one has touched.