I was a code review skeptic. I changed my view after seeing the impact it's having on my current project. We've prevented a lot of bugs, improved how we communicate and actually trust each other more as a result.

Yes, it's slow at the start but the review process made sure there's context and a common pattern emerging, which over time pays off in velocity. We have little tech debt. I wish I could say the same about merge first. It's really not about trust at all.