Maintainable

CTO coach Joel Chippindale joins Robby to share what he's learned over two decades of building and leading software teams. Joel argues that maintainability has less to do with “clean code” and more to do with how teams communicate, prioritize, and make progress visible. Drawing on his time at Unmade and his current coaching practice, Joel outlines practical ways teams can build trust, navigate brittle systems, and stop letting technical debt conversations get lost in translation.Episode Highlights[00:01:10] A Working Definition of MaintainabilityJoel explains why “software that’s easy to keep changing” is the gold standard—and why context matters as much as code.[00:05:24] The Pitfalls of Pre-OptimizationHow developers can trap themselves by designing for futures that may never arrive.[00:10:40] Challenging the Iron TriangleJoel pushes back on the idea that teams must sacrifice quality for speed or cost.[00:15:31] Quality Is a Team ConversationWhy code quality starts long before you open your editor.[00:20:00