Momentum is 🔑
If you took physics in high school (or at least pretended to while copying homework), you probably remember this equation when doing an assignment:
p = m × v
Momentum equals mass times velocity.
In software engineering, I think of mass as the quantity of work, and velocity as how fast it's being done. Momentum isn’t about cranking up one of these. You don’t win by doing everything, and you don’t win by doing one thing really fast if it’s the wrong thing. Momentum, is about from finding balance: doing the most meaningful work at the fastest sustainable pace.
Momentum matters because time is the most valuable resource in engineering (and in life, but that's a deeper discussion for another day). Not compute. Not headcount. Not even IC talent. You can always vertically or horizationally scale servers, hire more people (what a drag), or refactor technical debt. You cannot buy back lost time!