Continuous Delivery Is Not The Starting Point

Continuous Delivery is not a starting point in software development. It is where teams naturally end up when they push for high performance.

It is not something you adopt overnight. It emerges as a consequence of constantly refining and optimising how you work.

This is why debates over feature branches versus trunk-based development often miss the point. The delivery model is not a fixed choice. It adapts. As teams strive for higher performance, they gravitate towards what works best.

Over time, this leads to practices like trunk-based development, test-driven development, and team-focused development (pairing/mobbing).

These are not just trends. They are the result of natural selection. Anything that slows down delivery, introduces friction, diminishes quality, or adds unnecessary complexity eventually fades away because it simply cannot survive in a high-performing environment.

The real challenge in our industry is that many teams think they have already arrived. Too often, teams reach a certain level of efficiency and stop pushing forward. They believe they have achieved maturity or excellence. In reality, they have just plateaued and are now stagnating. The environment around them has not challenged them enough (yet).

There is no final stage of maturity in software development. The landscape changes. Competitive pressures shift. What worked yesterday may not be enough tomorrow. The highest-performing teams recognise this and keep evolving.

We should keep challenging, refining, pushing forward. High performance is not a destination. It is a journey that never truly ends.

Originally posted on LinkedIn