I'm not commenting too much on the details of the article, but the premise does resonate with me. I would argue all the engineering teams I've been on do not spend enough time thinking about how much a piece of work will cost to execute, and whether it will generate a return.

I suspect this is most apparent on things like meeting culture. Something happens and all of a sudden there is another recurring meeting on the calendar, with 15 attendee's, costing x dollars in wages, that produces no value for the customers because the lesson was already learned.

Or when reacting to an incident of some sort, it's so easy to have a long list of action items that may theoretically improve the situation, but in reality are incredibly expensive for the value they produce (or the risks they reduce). It's too easy to say, we'll totally redesign the system to avoid said problem. And what worries me, is often those very expansive actions, then cause you to overlook realistic but small investments that move the needle more than you would think.

And as a hot topic I also think the costs are an input into taking on tech debt. I know we all hate tech debt with a passion, but honestly, I think of it as a tool that can be wielded responsibly or irresponsibly. But if we don't know what our attention costs, we're going to have difficulty making the responsible choices about when and where to take on this debt. And then if we're not conscious about the debt, when it comes do it stings so much harder to pay down.