Spite buildings are constructions specifically intended to irritate others or to protest against something.

Scenario

Consider the case of two teams: Oldie but Goldie and *Cool UI *. Team Cool UI were writing a new interface to interact with the Oldie but Goldie product.

While working together to modernize an old product, the Cool UI team encountered issues with the Oldie product’s data output.

The Cool UI team, who were responsible for the new interface, was getting frustrated with the data provided by the Oldie product, which was impacting the new UI’s performance. They wanted the Oldie team to provide them with more data so that they can provide a better interface.

The Oldie team, however, was wary of this request for more data. They felt they were being blamed for the Cool team’s performance, and were concerned about any potential impacts to their current system.

Instead of addressing the concern, the Oldie team decided to limit the data they were providing, citing technical difficulties as an excuse.

As I thought about this, I couldn’t help but think of the Oldie team’s stubbornness as a spite building.

• [?] What are the ‘spite buildings’ we see in our lives?
• [?] Are we also guilty of making spite buildings to annoy others?