Linear is always a lagging indicator
The author argues that issue tracking tools like Linear have become ineffective management oversight instruments rather than practical tools for engineers. They suggest that modern development work is increasingly defined by pre-implementation planning, which remains invisible in traditional ticketing systems, and propose using LLMs to synthesize status updates from existing communication channels.
Why it matters
This perspective highlights the growing friction between administrative reporting requirements and actual engineering productivity, suggesting a shift toward AI-driven project visibility.
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Not to pick on linear -- any issue tracking tool that is used instead as a visibility tool by higher-ups to get a view into what their organization is doing is also lagging. If engineers used it by themselves for themselves then of course it's useful. We don't want to work on things that are already being worked on or already done.
But something something when a measure becomes a target it ceases to be a good measure. Now engineers are thinking about tickets instead of engineering.
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