How to balance speed and quality?

To balance speed and quality, considering focusing on specific metrics - cycle time, deployment frequency (speed metrics), and change failure rate, mean time to repair (MTTR), PRs reviewed, and flashy reviews (quality metrics).

1. Optimize cycle time without sacrificing code review

• Focus on reducing idle time in the development cycle, such as waiting for deployments or code reviews, without skipping these essential steps. Implementing a pull request queue and setting expected times for reviews can help.

• Example: Automate basic code quality checks with linters and commit hooks to ensure that only code that meets certain standards reaches review, thus speeding up the cycle time without compromising quality.

2. Increase deployment frequency with feature toggling

• Use feature flags to manage deployments more flexibly. This allows more frequent updates to your application with less risk, as features can be enabled or disabled without redeploying.

3. Manage change failure rate with canary releases

• Use canary releases and blue-green deployments to minimize the impact of changes. By gradually increasing the user base seeing the new version, you can detect failures early and reduce their impact.

4. Reduce MTTR through post-incident analysis and automated rollbacks

• Conduct thorough reviews after resolving any incident to identify the root cause and to document lessons learned. Having a playbook allows team members to react swiftly and effectively, reducing the time spent figuring out how to address common problems.

• Automated rollbacks can immediately mitigate the impact of a faulty deployment, drastically reducing downtime and the associated repair time.

5. Ensure thorough PR reviews with automated and manual checks

• Combine automated testing and manual peer reviews to ensure high code quality. Encourage detailed, constructive feedback during reviews and maintain a culture where quality is everyone's responsibility.

6. Address flashy reviews with mandatory review standards

• Set minimum review time standards or checklists for PRs, especially large ones, to ensure no changes are approved without adequate scrutiny, thus reducing flashy reviews.

By integrating these practices, teams can effectively manage the delicate balance between moving fast and maintaining the high quality necessary for long-term success. Each practice not only addresses specific metrics but also fosters a culture where quality and speed are equally valued and managed.