Beyond The Build

EP25: One Of The Hardest Parts of Software Development (It's Not The Code)

Uma Abu and Ope Osunkoya

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Writing code is rarely the hardest part of software engineering.

As engineers grow, the real challenge shifts to something far less talked about: coordinating people, aligning goals, sharing context, and synchronizing work across teams.

In this episode of Beyond the Build, we break down why so many engineering projects stall, drag on for months, or ship the wrong thing entirely. Not because of bad code, but because of misalignment.

We talk through:

- Why senior engineers write less code over time
- How unclear goals and moving goalposts quietly kill projects
- The difference between a problem statement and real context
- Why shared documents matter more than meetings
- How technical misalignment shows up before anything breaks
- Why expectation setting around timelines and ownership is a real engineering skill

We also dig into real examples of projects that spiraled because teams weren’t synchronized, and how small habits like writing, async updates, and proactive alignment can save weeks or even months of wasted effort.

If you’ve ever felt like you were doing “everything right” technically but still hitting friction, this episode is for you.

Connect with Ope - https://www.linkedin.com/in/osunkoyaope/

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