In Conversation: Tracie Crites on Making Tech Debt a Tactical Asset
Tech debt rarely makes headlines. It doesn’t grab attention with dramatic outages or PR crises. Instead, it accumulates quietly in aging codebases, undocumented systems, and architectures built for a version of the business that no longer exists.
Tracie Crites knows exactly how tech debt can sink a roadmap or stall a company’s growth. As Chief Marketing Officer at Heavy Equipment Appraisal, Crites brings more than a decade of leadership experience to the table, blending strategic marketing with a deep respect for operational clarity. Her work is known not just for elevating brand visibility but also for building trust through transparency.
She’s the force behind tools like the popular “Equipment Appraisal 101 Infographic,” which turns valuation jargon into something human.
But her curiosity doesn’t stop at the marketing funnel. In recent years, Crites has been shoulder-to-shoulder with engineering and leadership teams, navigating one of the thorniest issues in modern business infrastructure: technical debt.
In this conversation, Crites offers a grounded, real-world take on managing technical debt, even if you’re not the one writing the code. We cover:
- One deceptively simple shift that can change how teams plan every sprint
- How to define and prioritize debt without getting overwhelmed
- What to say when leadership insists on “new features first”
- The surprising power of dedicated “debt days”
- Why you don’t have to fix everything, and when that’s actually the smarter move
In your experience, when someone on your team says “tech debt,” what actually goes through your head? Are we talking just messy code, or something bigger?
Crites: We define technical debt as the gap between quick, short-term solutions and the sustainable, maintainable code or systems our business needs. Prioritizing this debt usually involves a framework that balances risk, impact on customers, and team velocity. For example, issues causing outages or customer complaints get top priority, while less urgent debt is scheduled alongside new feature development.
How often do you see those debt-reduction plans get steamrolled by someone higher up saying, “Let’s just launch the new feature first”?
Crites: It’s common to see leadership, including CEOs, favor chasing new opportunities over paying down technical debt. Navigating this means clearly communicating how unresolved debt can slow future innovation. In one case, explaining that ignoring debt led to a 22% increase in bug-related downtime helped secure leadership buy-in.
There’s this line I hear a lot: “You can’t fix everything,” especially when someone’s inherited an old codebase. Do you think that’s just a convenient excuse?
Crites: I don’t believe the “can’t fix everything” mindset is a cop-out; it’s a reality many CTOs face. The key is knowing when debt reduction becomes counterproductive, which can happen if the team spends too much time refactoring instead of delivering value. Balancing incremental debt paydown with innovation keeps morale and progress healthy.
Okay, what’s the most unconventional or unexpected trick you’ve seen actually work to manage tech debt? Something that made people go, “Wait, we’re doing what?”
Crites: One non-traditional method I’ve seen work well is dedicating “debt days” where the team focuses exclusively on cleanup. It boosts motivation, prevents burnout, and shows visible progress. Tracking technical debt with tools integrated into code repositories and using metrics like cycle time for fixes has improved decision-making and prioritization.
Let’s say a team wants to start tackling their debt but doesn’t know how to make it part of their everyday work. What’s the one shift you’d suggest they make first?
Crites: The one simple shift I advocate is embedding debt assessment into every sprint planning session. Making it a regular conversation prevents surprises and keeps the team aligned.
And if someone’s just inherited a mess of a system, legacy code, half-documented tools, the works, where do they even start? What would you tell them?
Crites: For leaders starting this journey, my advice is to start small, measure impact clearly, and communicate often. Technical debt is not a one-time fix but an ongoing part of managing a healthy, innovative organization.
Before we wrap, what’s the one thing you wish more teams understood about technical debt?
Crites: The costliest technical debt isn’t in your code; it’s in the opportunities your company can’t pursue because of it.
