> So yes, the core idea of technical debt resonates with developers, but not with business stakeholders.
I think that if this is the case, you are presenting it wrong. Business types are very familiar with the tradeoffs of debt financing, you have present it as being paid in effort vs. $ (which after all, have a close relationship) and they will immediately understand that a large technical debt means you can get less desired stuff done for the same input of effort. And then you collectively decide.
Agree you have to be careful about what you present as technical debt. If you need buy in from the business side, you don't want them thinking "that's just what they say when they want more time, it doesn't mean anything". It has to be pretty concrete.
I think we're largely agreeing, but a fundamental difference is that actual debt you have to pay back, and with technical debt you don't. So inherently you need to start discussing the trade-offs associated with the debt, and not the actual "debt" itself. Technical debt is not some external thing that we are forced to deal with.
I think that if this is the case, you are presenting it wrong. Business types are very familiar with the tradeoffs of debt financing, you have present it as being paid in effort vs. $ (which after all, have a close relationship) and they will immediately understand that a large technical debt means you can get less desired stuff done for the same input of effort. And then you collectively decide.
Agree you have to be careful about what you present as technical debt. If you need buy in from the business side, you don't want them thinking "that's just what they say when they want more time, it doesn't mean anything". It has to be pretty concrete.