There’s no one right path through the steps. Every team and company is different. But at each step, tokens aren’t enough to move you forward: to get to the next step, you need to find and break down the next set of bottlenecks, and build up the next set of guardrails.
@bcherny: there is no single correct sequence of steps—every team and company…
Brief
Author @bcherny argues that organizations can’t rely solely on tokens or one-size-fits-all recipes to advance through development steps. Because teams and companies differ, each transition requires identifying and breaking the immediate bottlenecks and simultaneously constructing new guardrails—operational constraints, processes, or checks—to sustain progress.
Why it matters
@bcherny: there is no single correct sequence of steps—every team and company requires a different path.
Key details
- Progressing from one step to the next requires more than token-level solutions; you must locate and dismantle the next set of bottlenecks.
- Advancement also requires building the next set of guardrails (processes, checks, or constraints) alongside removing bottlenecks.