Somewhere along the way, “just pick up the next ticket” became the default dev workflow.
And that’s the problem.
Ticket-Driven Development looks like productivity—until you realize no one’s questioning the work, improving the system, or even thinking anymore.
🧠 It trains developers not to think.
Asking why is seen as overstepping. Improving code is gold-plating. Creativity becomes risk.
⚠️ Velocity isn't progress.
You can burn down 30 points a week and still be going backwards if every fix just creates more mess.
📉 It slowly erodes morale.
When engineers treat code like it belongs to someone else, they stop caring. That’s when quality dies.
You don’t need a new framework. Just permission to care again.
Read the full take:
👉 Ticket-Driven Development: The Fastest Way to Go Nowhere
Top comments (1)
That "velocity isn't progress" line 👌
Teams shipping 30 points of tech debt weekly, calling it "productivity" 😒
Meanwhile, the one dev who asks "should we build this?" gets labeled as "difficult" 😕