Rule 30 of 38 · Chapter V — Complexity Has a Cost
Prefer boring technology
Why this rule exists
Boring technology has had its failure modes discovered, documented, and fixed by everyone who hit them before you. The interesting new tool hasn't, so you become the one finding the sharp edges in production, at night, with no Stack Overflow answer waiting. Novelty spends your innovation budget on plumbing instead of on the problem your users actually care about.
In practice
Default to the mature, widely-deployed option: the database, language, and framework your team already knows. Spend your limited novelty budget on the one or two places where a new tool gives you a real edge, and keep everything around them dull and predictable. When you do adopt something new, make sure someone on the team can operate it under pressure.
When it doesn't apply
Sometimes the boring tools genuinely can't do the job, or a newer one offers a decisive advantage worth the risk. Adopt deliberately, with a fallback in mind, and let the choice be driven by need rather than novelty.