Who did they think was doing the work before they arrived?

There’s a peculiar kind of arrogance that seems to echo through the halls of the tech industry. It’s not always the loud, chest-thumping kind (though, let’s be honest, there’s plenty of that, too). Instead, it’s a quieter, more insidious belief: that everything before now was inefficient, outdated, and just plain wrong.

Every new wave of developers, designers, and product managers arrives with big ideas, ready to fix all the broken things. And sure, innovation is the heartbeat of tech. But it’s worth asking—who do these people think was doing the work before they got here?

The myth of the outdated past

There’s a tendency to dismiss legacy code, old design patterns, or past product decisions as relics of a less enlightened era. Newcomers, especially those fresh out of boot camps or universities, can be quick to scoff at the work of previous generations, assuming it was built by people who simply didn’t know better.

But here’s the reality: the engineers, designers, and product thinkers who came before us were just as smart, just as driven, and just as committed to improving things as we are today. They weren’t careless or incompetent. They were making the best decisions they could with the tools, constraints, and knowledge available at the time.

Standing on the shoulders of those before us

No one enters a blank industry. Every system we work on, every tool we use, every best practice we follow—it all exists because of the hard work and problem-solving of those who came before us. The sleek apps we build today stand on the foundations laid by people who wrestled with earlier versions of the technology. The UX patterns we now take for granted were pioneered through trial and error by designers before us. The frameworks and methodologies we champion exist because others created, refined, and sometimes failed at them first.

This isn’t to say that tech shouldn’t evolve—of course, it should. But there’s a difference between pushing for progress and assuming that everything that preceded you was fundamentally flawed.

The cycle of forgetting

The irony? Today’s newcomers will eventually become the old guard. The shiny new JavaScript framework everyone loves right now? Give it a decade, and someone will call it bloated and outdated. The UX trends that feel cutting-edge today? Just wait until the next generation dismisses them as clunky and inefficient.

It’s a cycle that repeats itself endlessly. But wouldn’t it be refreshing if, instead of tearing down the past, we acknowledged that we’re all part of a continuum? That we’re building on the successes (and lessons) of those before us, and that someday, others will do the same with our work?

Breaking the cycle: a little more humility

So how do we break the cycle of forgetting? It starts with humility. Before rolling your eyes at a legacy system, take a moment to understand why it was built that way. Before dismissing past decisions as outdated, consider the constraints and trade-offs that shaped them.

And most importantly, remember that one day, someone will look at your work the same way you’re looking at the work of those before you. Wouldn’t you want them to assume you did your best with what you had?

Tech moves fast, but its history still matters. Let’s respect it.

Will Kelly is a writer, content strategist, and product marketer with B2B and B2G experience. He’s passionate about the role of content in GTM and solutions marketing. He’s written over 300 articles about AI, DevOps, and cloud computing for CIO, TechTarget, and other industry publications. Follow him on X: @willkelly. You can also follow him on BlueSky: willkelly.bsky.social.