Good Manager, Bad Manager: Value Delivery and Development Life Cycle

Part 3b. How to approach Software Development. Planning and Adaptability

Cover Photo by Marten Bjork on Unsplash

It’s easy to get caught in the rhythm of sprints, it can give a comforting illusion of progress. Together with that, effective managers understand that software doesn't stop at the end of a sprint. Code lives on, users evolve, and business priorities change.

Photo by 愚木混株 Yumu on Unsplash

That’s where lifecycle thinking comes in. Instead of short-term delivery at the cost of long-term maintainability, strong leaders look at the full picture - from analysis and development to iteration and closure.

Frameworks like rolling-wave planning or milestone-based roadmaps help balance short-term focus with long-term vision. Instead of building everything upfront or reacting sprint-by-sprint, they allow for structured flexibility. You deliver incrementally while keeping sight of the bigger picture.

Easy-to-maintain tools can support this approach without slowing the team down. It’s not about bureaucracy; it’s about visibility, alignment, and sustainable delivery.

Just as importantly, adaptability is crucial for a leader. Markets shift, user needs change, and team capacity fluctuates. Great managers don’t just deliver within the current sprint, they adjust to circumstances.

When managers carry the full weight of value delivery alone, burnout isn’t a risk, it’s a guarantee. And when engineers are left to fight solo for code quality, you get tension, frustration, and tech debt no one wants to talk about.

Alternative? Shared ownership.

Managers succeed if they invite the team into the why. They encourage engineers to shape the roadmap, flag risks early, and advocate for quality without having to ask if they are allowed to.

Examples in action:

• A team where developers are involved in backlog grooming, offering insights on feasibility and suggesting more optimal ways to solve the same problem.
• A product manager who asks engineers during sprint planning: “Are we cutting corners here that we’ll pay for later?” - and actually listens.
• A team that treats demos as shared wins, where designers, developers, and PMs all speak to the impact.

Photo by Cytonn Photography on Unsplash

PMBOK and Agile frameworks highlight the importance of stakeholder engagement and team empowerment, and this isn’t just theory.  Shared planning and delivery means shared decisions and shared responsibility for outcomes.