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Tools · Principle 15

Every Tool Is a Tax

Every new tool creates overhead.

Another login. Another place to check. Another set of notifications. Another thing to learn.

Teams accumulate tools like barnacles. Someone suggests a new one. It solves a problem. You adopt it. Repeat.

Soon you’re drowning. Information scattered across twelve services. Nobody knows where anything lives.

Resist.

The best tool stack is the smallest one that works. Before adding, ask: can an existing tool do this? Is the problem bad enough to justify the cost?

A tool you don’t use is better than a tool that fragments your team’s attention.