Reshaping Reality

Software engineers love to name things.

Call it philosophical or pedantic, but naming, and deciding how those names relate to each other, is world-shaping work. The shape of the world we live in, physically and mentally, matters. It shapes us.

If you love naming, you probably know the itch to reshape reality. You see a name that's wrong and you want to fix it. It might take a rewrite. It might be a lot of work. Maybe too much work. But if the new names really are better, it's worth it. The codebase reflects reality more accurately, and future work gets easier.

This doesn't just apply to code. It applies to every system built on words, and how we work is one of them.

Standups. Kanban. Agile. Retros. PR reviews. Commit messages. PRDs. Refinement. All of these "core" parts of building software are disposable. If they don't fit reality, they're wrong.

Coding agents have changed the reality of creating code. It's time to question what it means to make software.

Michael Bloch's No coding before 10am shows how one company reshaped their reality, starting with exactly that rule. If you need some inspiration, check it out.

How are you reshaping yours?