A cost center is a function that is operated by optimizing its existing components.
This definition gets at the root of why I think explaining engineering’s contribution through optimization metrics is a flawed endeavor. When engineering departments ask their CEOs and Boards to evaluate them through the context of optimization metrics (“cycle time decreased by 20% QoQ!”), they are training those bodies to evaluate them as a cost center.
What does it mean to be a cost center?
from Irrational Exuberance
