"Don't blame the Business for this: ..." - exactly! All blame should go on the programmers. This maybe sounds sarcastic but really, I'm serious.
Why do the business folks even know what refactoring is? Who mentioned the word "refactoring" to them?
Do I know procedures my mechanic applies when fixing my car? Or my doctor when fixing my body?
There is a similar topic about testing and TDD. "I asked my manager should I write tests." Why, oh why in the name of sanity would you ask that???
Programmers who don't refactor (or write tests) simply aren't being professional. They don't need permission from their managers to write code which ensures their employer's future in the IT market - its implied!
Anyway, great article. Although there is one thing I would have liked - the practice of continuous refactoring (i.e. you shouldn't do stop-the-world-refactoring, but should refactor a little in each story/task) is IMHO not made explicit enough. A link to Ron Jeffries' awesome article on the subject would be great: https://ronjeffries.com/xpr...