The Value of Deep Context in Business

As engineers, we often obsess over tools and syntax, forgetting that the real advantage lies in understanding why the software exists. This essay by Jesse Watson captures that idea beautifully ... the notion of "deep context" as the difference between just coding and creating value.

"The most valuable asset in the software industry is the synthesis of programming skill and deep context in the business problem domain, in one skull."

That line has stayed with me. Watson goes on to explain that programming skill without business domain knowledge is increasingly worthless—there are fewer and fewer problems that can be "tossed over a wall" and solved in isolation.

Deep context is the state of having achieved a kind of mental fluency in some large percentage of this immense field of micro-problems that appears in the space between technology and a business domain. [...] Every new software project requires forging a new path through the wilderness, but having deep context means that you know where the treacherous canyons and fast-flowing rivers are.

His example of the warehouse developer who knows that lawnmowers can't ship airfreight because of battery restrictions, or that Christmas capacity planning is trickier than Black Friday because it falls on different weekdays ... these details matter. They're the difference between building something that works in theory and something that works in practice.

It's a reminder that expertise isn't just technical ... it's relational. When you've lived the problem long enough to predict the tricky edges, you stop building generic solutions and start crafting precise ones.