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Top 25 Gene Kim Quotes (2026 Update)

Gene Kim Quote: “Left unchecked, technical debt will ensure that the only work that gets done is unplanned work!”

1. “Left unchecked, technical debt will ensure that the only work that gets done is unplanned work!”

Gene Kim Quote: “Practice creates habits, and habits create mastery of any process or skill.”

2. “Practice creates habits, and habits create mastery of any process or skill.”

Gene Kim Quote: “Any improvements made anywhere besides the bottleneck are an illusion.”

3. “Any improvements made anywhere besides the bottleneck are an illusion.”

Gene Kim Quote: “Ask a programmer to review ten lines of code, he’ll find ten issues. Ask him to do five hundred lines, and he’ll say it looks good.”

4. “Ask a programmer to review ten lines of code, he’ll find ten issues. Ask him to do five hundred lines, and he’ll say it looks good.”

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Gene Kim Quote: “In high-performing organizations, everyone within the team shares a common goal – quality, availability, and security aren’t the responsibility of individual departments, but are a part of everyone’s job, every day.”

5. “In high-performing organizations, everyone within the team shares a common goal – quality, availability, and security aren’t the responsibility of individual departments, but are a part of everyone’s job, every day.”

Gene Kim Quote: “The only thing more dangerous than a developer is a developer conspiring with Security.”

6. “The only thing more dangerous than a developer is a developer conspiring with Security.”

Gene Kim Quote: “Punishing failure and “shooting the messenger” only cause people to hide their mistakes, and eventually, all desire to innovate is completely extinguished.”

7. “Punishing failure and “shooting the messenger” only cause people to hide their mistakes, and eventually, all desire to innovate is completely extinguished.”

Gene Kim Quote: “CIO stands for “Career Is Over.”

8. “CIO stands for “Career Is Over.”

Gene Kim Quote: “Unplanned work is what prevents you from doing it. Like matter and antimatter, in the presence of unplanned work, all planned work ignites with incandescent fury, incinerating everything around it.”

9. “Unplanned work is what prevents you from doing it. Like matter and antimatter, in the presence of unplanned work, all planned work ignites with incandescent fury, incinerating everything around it.”

Gene Kim Quote: “Being able to take needless work out of the system is more important than being able to put more work into the system.”

11. “Being able to take needless work out of the system is more important than being able to put more work into the system.”

Gene Kim Quote: “If you can’t out-experiment and beat your competitors in time to market and agility, you are sunk. Features are always a gamble. If you’re lucky, ten percent will get the desired benefits. So the faster you can get those features to market and test them, the better off you’ll be. Incidentally, you also pay back the business faster for the use of capital, which means the business starts making money faster, too.”

13. “If you can’t out-experiment and beat your competitors in time to market and agility, you are sunk. Features are always a gamble. If you’re lucky, ten percent will get the desired benefits. So the faster you can get those features to market and test them, the better off you’ll be. Incidentally, you also pay back the business faster for the use of capital, which means the business starts making money faster, too.”

Gene Kim Quote: “We need to create a culture that reinforces the value of taking risks and learning from failure and the need for repetition and practice to create mastery.”

14. “We need to create a culture that reinforces the value of taking risks and learning from failure and the need for repetition and practice to create mastery.”

Gene Kim Quote: “By relentless and constant experimentation in their daily work, they were able to continually increase capacity, often without adding any new equipment or hiring more people.”

17. “By relentless and constant experimentation in their daily work, they were able to continually increase capacity, often without adding any new equipment or hiring more people.”

Gene Kim Quote: “Something seems wrong in a world where half the e-mail messages sent are urgent. Can everything really be that important?”

18. “Something seems wrong in a world where half the e-mail messages sent are urgent. Can everything really be that important?”

Gene Kim Quote: “It’s difficult to overstate the enormity of this problem – it affects every organization, independent of the industry we operate in, the size of our organization, whether we are profit or non-profit. Now more than ever, how technology work is managed and performed predicts whether our organizations will win in the marketplace, or even survive.”

20. “It’s difficult to overstate the enormity of this problem – it affects every organization, independent of the industry we operate in, the size of our organization, whether we are profit or non-profit. Now more than ever, how technology work is managed and performed predicts whether our organizations will win in the marketplace, or even survive.”

Gene Kim Quote: “It’s not the upfront capital that kills you, it’s the operations and maintenance on the back end.”

21. “It’s not the upfront capital that kills you, it’s the operations and maintenance on the back end.”

Gene Kim Quote: “There’s a very real cognitive and spiritual burden of having to carry so many unfulfilled promises forever into the future, where anyone can ask at any time “Where is my feature?”

24. “There’s a very real cognitive and spiritual burden of having to carry so many unfulfilled promises forever into the future, where anyone can ask at any time “Where is my feature?”

Gene Kim Quote: “Brent. Brent, Brent, Brent! Can’t we do anything without him? Look at us! We’re trying to have a management discussion about commitments and resources, and all we do is talk about one guy! I don’t care how talented he is. If you’re telling me that our organization can’t do anything without him, we’ve got a big problem.” Wes.”

25. “Brent. Brent, Brent, Brent! Can’t we do anything without him? Look at us! We’re trying to have a management discussion about commitments and resources, and all we do is talk about one guy! I don’t care how talented he is. If you’re telling me that our organization can’t do anything without him, we’ve got a big problem.” Wes.”

Programming Quotes

Programming Quotes

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Motivational Quotes

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Inspirational Entrepreneurship Quotes

Positive Quotes

Positive Quotes

Albert Einstein Quotes

Albert Einstein Quotes

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Programming Quotes

SOFTWARE PROGRAMMING

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Motivational Quotes

INSPIRATIONAL SUCCESS MOTIVATIONAL

Inspirational Entrepreneurship Quotes

Inspirational Entrepreneurship Quotes

ENTREPRENEURSHIP BUSINESS INSPIRATIONAL

Positive Quotes

Positive Quotes

Albert Einstein Quotes

Albert Einstein Quotes

ENTREPRENEURSHIP BUSINESS INSPIRATIONAL

Steve Jobs Quotes

Steve Jobs Quotes

ENTREPRENEURSHIP BUSINESS APPLE

Inspirational Quotes

Inspirational Quotes

COURAGE MOTIVATIONAL STRENGTH

INSPIRATIONAL SUCCESS MOTIVATIONAL

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