🧱 The Project Was Flying… Until It Wasn’t
Everything was going great. The team kicked off the project with energy. Within the first week or two, they already had a working prototype. Then the progress slowed down. Tasks piled up. Deadlines slipped. The momentum vanished.
One manager thought the solution was simple: fire one or two people to boost team performance. Maybe you’ve worked with someone like that. I have. But firing people isn’t a solution. Understanding the real problem is.
🧠The Advice That Changed My Mindset
Let me share a key insight I learned from Joel Spolsky. This is something that helped me deal with non-technical bosses and unclear projects.
Read these three situations carefully:
The client kept changing their mind. First, they wanted a desktop app. Then a website. Now they’re asking for a mobile app.
We built everything exactly as they requested. It was all in the contract. But when we delivered the product, they hated it.
We agreed on a fixed price for a vaguely defined project. Now the client refuses to pay until they approve the final version.
What do these all have in common?
âť“ Clients Rarely Know What They Want
That is the truth. Stop assuming they do. The idea that the client knows their exact needs is one of the most dangerous assumptions in software development.
Instead, your job is to discover the problem. Not just code the first thing they ask for.
🧪 Your Role Is to Investigate and Solve
Think like a problem-solver, not an order-taker. Clients hire you to deliver a solution, even when they can’t describe what that solution looks like.
Imagine you just got rich and decided to renovate your kitchen. You want it big, modern, and beautiful. But in reality, you have no idea how that should be done. So you hire an engineer to figure it out.
It’s the same in software. Clients may have a vision, but they rely on you to bring clarity, structure, and expertise.
🧊 Most of the Work Is Invisible
Like an iceberg, most of a software project lies beneath the surface. The visible features are just a fraction of the total effort.
In fact, only about ten percent of the work is visible to the client. And since half your time is probably spent debugging, the part they see is even less—maybe five percent.
This isn't a secret. But non-developers rarely understand it.
âś… Final Thoughts
If you’re working on a team or dealing with difficult clients, remember this: your job is to identify the actual problem, not blindly build what’s requested. The key to better software isn't faster coding. It’s better listening, better questioning, and better understanding.
The most important secret in programming is not technical.
It’s human.