"We need to refactor this code."  Blank stares.  "The architecture is getting messy."  More blank... Tagged with webdev, career, productivity, learning.

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Engineers often struggle to get stakeholders to prioritize technical debt because they use technical jargon instead of business language. The key is translating code quality issues into tangible business impacts using relatable metaphors (infected wounds, cracked foundations) and quantifiable metrics (time, money, bug rates). Frame technical debt discussions by acknowledging stakeholder priorities first, connecting technical problems to their goals, quantifying costs, proposing clear ROI, and empowering them to make informed decisions. Cross-discipline communication isn't a soft skill—it's a core engineering competency.

"Technical Debt Will Bite Us in the Ass": How to Make Non-Technical Stakeholders Actually Care

Translating technical stuff into business language is generally super important.

I generally think that this is often a trust issue.
If a specialist say something has to be handled, the business should trust him (well, he is usually paid to know things they don’t).
If both sides don’t trust each other then the whole thing can go sideways.
Sometimes a little tech debt is the way- but there’s a reason we call it “debt”.

learn business even as a software engineer? Ah man I became a SWE just to realise its all business!

What also really helps is developing systems that stop tech dept from happening in the first place:
<ol>
<li>Automatic tests</li>
<li>AI Code reviews</li>
<li>Good manual code reviews</li>
<li>Eslint</li>
<li>Knip</li>
<li>Lots of Github actions</li>
</ol>
This way you have to have the discussion less often.

Awesome example I will bring it to my next discussions