this post was submitted on 29 Dec 2025
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and the response will invariably be: “Is there a way we can just ship feature x now and fix up the other stuff after?”
Just increase your time estimate,
calculate in the time needed to refactor,
but don't tell them you're gonna refactor.
Works out most of the time.
Only when they ask why the estimate is so long, then you explain your reasoning behind it, and then they might reply with your statement and block your refactoring idea.
However, getting time to refactor most of the time, is aleady way better then never being allowed to do so.
I have more than 20 years experience. I’ve never once not gotten the “can we do it without refactoring?” question. Bad managers? Not necessarily, the pressure always comes from above. Short term thinking always wins out in the for profit private sector.
In my case those almost never pass. Maybe you're the only one exclusively working on that system...? When you're one of a number of contractors competing to do something in software that cannot be regulated, you're basically screwed.