When a company wrings a 40% speed gain out of its product, it’s hard not to get curious. That’s exactly what Mailchimp did—but this performance jump came with a tradeoff: tighter governance that left some developers wishing for more room to move.
Why Mailchimp Went Chasing Speed
Mailchimp’s original goal was to make their system faster and more reliable. Fair enough. Performance matters, especially at a company handling massive volumes of data and customer communications. But improving speed at this scale isn’t just about writing better code—it’s about changing how teams work.
So they tightened up technical governance. Think rulebooks, stricter processes, and standardized patterns.
It worked. Kind of.
What They Gained: Performance and Clarity
Photo by Jason Goodman on Unsplash
The changes led to a real, measurable impact: a 40% improvement in system performance. That’s huge.
Not only were things running faster, but teams also saw more reliability. Fewer bugs. Less firefighting. And from a high-up management perspective, it looked like a win.
Standardized coding practices ensured that systems behaved predictably. Governance made it easier to scale engineering efforts without slipping into chaos. In short: the system became faster, cleaner, and more manageable.
What They Lost: Developer Autonomy
Photo by Blake Connally on Unsplash
But as always, there’s no free lunch.
Some developers reported feeling boxed in. Having to follow rigid patterns and conform to stricter guidelines chipped away at their creativity. They couldn’t just build a tool the way they thought worked best. It had to fit the pattern, follow the governance.
To be fair, governance isn’t the bad guy here. It’s what helps large systems stay manageable. But for engineers who love solving problems in their own ways, it can feel like a slow erosion of ownership.
The Balance Every Tech Team Faces
This is a tension tech companies everywhere wrestle with. Do you optimize for speed and scale, or do you preserve flexibility and innovation at the edge?
Mailchimp’s experience is a reminder that boosting performance isn’t just a technical problem. It’s a human one too.
When processes get too tight, morale can take a hit. Developers might spend more time navigating red tape than building meaningful features. But if you let everyone do their own thing? Chaos.
So maybe the real lesson here isn’t about speed or governance alone. It’s about balance. And being willing to reevaluate as you grow.
Keywords: Mailchimp, performance gain, engineering governance, software speed, developer workflows, code standardization, system scalability
