Code Is Not Enough

Code Is Not Enough

Communication & Collaboration, Engineering Leaders, Nearshore Software Development, Software Development, Success Stories

Written by: Guillermo Tena  
Developer typing code on a laptop at night, symbolizing the belief that execution alone builds successful digital products.

When Execution Isn’t Enough

For a long time, I believed that building a great digital product was mostly about execution. Good UX. Clean architecture. Clear roadmap. Strong developers. If the product worked, the market would reward it. That’s what I thought. But building KHERO forced me to confront something much deeper — and much more uncomfortable: Technology scales systems. But trust scales movements. And trust is not built in code.

The First Promise I Almost Broke

Before KHERO became what it is today, my first MVP looked very different. It was built on another technological platform. Simple. Imperfect. Scrappy. I had a hypothesis: people are willing to move — literally move — to help a cause. So I invited more than 250 people to join a challenge to support a shelter. The idea was clear: their kilometers would be transformed into $20,000 pesos for the shelter. And they showed up. They ran. They tracked their kilometers. They shared it. They believed. In that moment, I proved something important. People are willing to act. But I failed to prove something else. I couldn’t get a brand to pay for those kilometers. No sponsor closed. No company wired the money. No marketing budget appeared. And I had already made the promise.
Entrepreneur sitting on a couch reflecting on responsibility and trust behind a social commitment
Trust becomes real when leaders are willing to sacrifice to keep their promises.

Paying for Credibility

I remember sitting there with a weight in my chest. Two hundred and fifty people had trusted the idea. The shelter was expecting the donation. And the model in my head — the one where brands would pay for impact — hadn’t materialized. I knew one thing with absolute clarity: I wasn’t going to break that promise. So I asked my wife a question that didn’t feel very “entrepreneurial.” I asked her if she was okay with us using the only savings we had at that time to fulfill the $20,000 peso donation. Not for product. Not for development. Not for growth. For the promise. She said yes. She didn’t fully understand the business model I was building in my head. She didn’t know how it would scale or monetize. She just knew that if I had given my word, we had to stand behind it. We transferred the money. And that night, I didn’t feel like a smart founder. I felt terrified. But I also felt aligned.

When Being Copied Is a Win

That moment changed me. Because what I built that day wasn’t software. It was credibility. You can copy code. You can replicate UX. You can rebuild a CMS from scratch. But you cannot easily replicate the decisions someone makes when no one is watching. You cannot fork integrity on GitHub.
Entrepreneurs are taught to protect their ideas. Guard them. Patent them. Fear competition. But I’ve come to believe something different. The worst thing that can happen to a traditional entrepreneur is being copied. The best thing that can happen to a social entrepreneur is being imitated. If someone copies your features, you compete. If someone copies your worldview, your impact multiplies. That’s the difference. That’s when Shared Value stopped being a business theory for me and became conviction. The idea that a company can generate economic value by solving social problems only works if the social promise is real. Not a marketing layer. Not an ESG slide. Not a campaign. It has to be embedded in the architecture of the business. Otherwise, the first time pressure hits — it cracks. Mine almost did.
Entrepreneur working at a laptop and notebook, rethinking competition and shared value in business
Impact multiplies when ideas are shared and embedded into the architecture of the business.

Technology Is Neutral. Character Is Not.

I’m not technical. I had to learn how to speak to developers. How to translate vision into systems. How to turn “people should feel like heroes” into onboarding logic, data tracking, and scalable infrastructure. But that early failure taught me something deeper than product management ever could: Technology without moral consistency is fragile. If KHERO is just an app, someone will build a better one. If it’s just a donation mechanism, someone will reduce friction faster. If it’s just a CMS, someone will optimize it more efficiently. But if KHERO is a belief — that ordinary people can act, that promises matter, that impact must be embedded in the business model — then copying doesn’t destroy it. It spreads it.

Heroes in Sneakers

We call them “Heroes in Sneakers.” Not superheroes. Not influencers. Not performative activists. Just people who decide to move. People who understand that impact is not a hashtag. It’s a decision.
Team collaborating in a modern office, representing leadership standards and cultural alignment
Competitive advantage comes from standards, integrity, and culture, not only technology.

Your Real Competitive Advantage

To every CEO and founder building something today: Your real competitive advantage is not your stack. It’s your standard. It’s what you are willing to sacrifice to keep your word. It’s whether your product is designed around extraction — or around contribution. The market doesn’t just reward efficiency anymore. It rewards alignment. Code builds platforms. Character builds culture. And culture is the only thing that truly scales. If tomorrow ten companies copy KHERO’s features, I won’t be afraid. If tomorrow ten companies copy the belief that business should keep its promises to society — even when it costs them — that would mean we are closer to the kind of market I want to operate in. Technology will always evolve. But the companies that endure will be the ones that understand something simple: People don’t belong to products. They belong to movements. And movements are built on promises kept.

FAQ: Foundations of Trust and Shared Value

  • Product features, code, and UX can all be replicated or improved, but trust cannot. Features create usability, but trust creates commitment. When stakeholders believe a company stands behind its promises, they advocate harder and offer resilience when things go wrong.

    Technology scales systems, but trust scales loyalty. In early-stage companies, credibility often precedes scale; if the product evolves but trust remains intact, the company survives.

  • A shared value model is one where economic success and social impact are structurally connected, not layered on top of each other. It is not philanthropy after profit or marketing-driven impact.

    Authentic shared value means the way a company generates revenue is directly tied to solving a real social problem. If revenue grows, impact grows; if impact disappears, the business model weakens. This alignment strengthens brand trust and long-term resilience.

  • Yes, but it is a durable, long-term advantage. Integrity creates credibility. When a founder keeps promises even when costly, it builds a mental model of reliability among investors, employees, and partners.

    While you can copy a feature roadmap, you cannot easily replicate a pattern of consistent moral decisions. That pattern becomes cultural infrastructure, reducing friction in negotiations and accelerating high-value partnerships.

  • Short term, the business may survive, but long term, credibility weakens. Internal culture absorbs the signal that values are conditional, and external stakeholders recalibrate expectations downward.

    Once credibility erodes, every future commitment becomes more expensive. Movements and enduring brands are not built on products alone; they are built on promises kept.

Suggested Readings The Fine Line Between Evolution and Disruption How is Value Really Created? The Forgotten Formula
Portrait of Luis Aburto, CEO at Scio

Written by

Guillermo Tena

Head of Growth

Why Software Development Requires More Than Programming Skills

Why Software Development Requires More Than Programming Skills

Communication & Collaboration, Skills, Software Development

Written by: Monserrat Raya 

Software developers collaborating around a computer, representing how development requires teamwork beyond coding.

The Developer You Become Over Time

Most developers start their careers with a clear and understandable focus: learning how to write good code. You invest years mastering languages, frameworks, and architectural patterns. You learn how to debug efficiently, how to refactor safely, and how to reason about performance and scalability. In that stage, progress feels concrete. A function works or it doesn’t. Tests pass or fail. The feedback loop is short, objective, and mostly free of ambiguity. This phase is not optional. Strong technical fundamentals are the price of entry into professional software development. Without them, nothing else holds. Yet as developers gain experience, many begin to notice a quiet pattern. Projects fail even when the code is solid. Teams with smart engineers still struggle to deliver. Systems that look right on paper fall short once they meet real users. What changes is not the complexity of the code. It is the complexity of the environment.

From individual contributor to system builder

At some point, software development stops being about isolated execution and becomes about shared responsibility. Decisions now affect multiple teams. Tradeoffs carry business consequences. Conversations shape outcomes long before implementation begins. This evolution is not about leaving programming behind. It is about realizing that software lives inside systems made of people, incentives, constraints, and expectations. Code remains essential, but it is no longer sufficient on its own.
Hand placing the final step toward a target icon, symbolizing strategic progression in software development
Programming is one step in the journey. Software development defines the direction and the outcome.

Programming Is Not the Same as Software Development

Programming is a discipline within software development, not a synonym for it. Programming answers the question of how to build something correctly. Software development asks a broader set of questions: what problem are we solving, who are we solving it for, what constraints exist, and what tradeoffs are acceptable. Consider a common scenario. A feature request arrives with a detailed specification. A developer implements it perfectly. The logic is clean, the tests are thorough, and the deployment is smooth. Weeks later, usage is low and stakeholders are disappointed. Nothing was “wrong” with the code. The failure happened earlier.

Code is the tool, not the outcome

Software development requires judgment. It requires the ability to challenge assumptions, clarify intent, and sometimes slow down execution to ensure the direction is right. Developers who understand this distinction tend to influence not just how things are built, but what gets built in the first place. This is the real meaning behind the software development vs programming conversation. One is about correctness. The other is about relevance.

When Great Code Still Fails

Most real-world software failures are quiet. There is no dramatic outage. No catastrophic data loss. Instead, the system simply does not deliver the value it was expected to deliver. Features go unused. Stakeholders request changes shortly after launch. Teams find themselves reworking decisions they assumed were settled. These situations often share the same root causes. Requirements were interpreted differently by different people. Constraints were not surfaced early. Tradeoffs were made implicitly rather than explicitly. Martin Fowler explores this tension when discussing the real cost of software quality, especially when technical excellence is disconnected from business context.

Why communication shapes outcomes

In many cases, the most expensive bugs are not in the codebase. They live in misunderstandings. Software developer communication skills reduce this risk by making assumptions visible and decisions deliberate. Clear communication does not eliminate uncertainty, but it prevents uncertainty from becoming surprise.
Developer coding on a large monitor representing the traditional code-only mindset
Writing clean code matters. But impact depends on context, collaboration, and judgment.

The Myth of the “Code-Only” Developer

The idea of the lone engineer persists because it once reflected reality. Early systems were smaller. Teams were tighter. The distance between decision and implementation was short. Modern software environments are different. Today, even individual contributors operate within complex ecosystems. Product managers define priorities. Designers shape user experience. Operations teams manage reliability. Clients and stakeholders influence scope and timing. Avoiding collaboration in this environment does not preserve focus. It reduces agency.

Why isolation limits impact

Developers who disengage from conversations often find themselves implementing decisions they had no role in shaping. Over time, this creates frustration and a sense of lost ownership. In contrast, developers who engage early help teams surface risks, clarify tradeoffs, and align expectations. Their technical skill becomes more valuable because it is applied in the right direction.

Soft Skills Are Skills, Not Personality Traits

Soft skills are often misunderstood as innate qualities. You either “have them” or you don’t. This belief quietly holds many developers back, especially those who are thoughtful, reserved, or more comfortable reasoning through systems than speaking in groups. In practice, communication, collaboration, empathy, and negotiation are learned behaviors. They improve through repetition, reflection, and feedback, just like debugging a complex issue or designing a resilient system. No one expects a developer to intuitively understand distributed systems on day one. The same logic applies here. What often gets overlooked is that soft skills are not about being expressive, persuasive, or socially dominant. They are about reducing friction in shared work. Many of the most effective communicators in engineering environments are quiet, deliberate, and precise. They speak less often, but when they do, they bring clarity. Their strength is not performance. It is intention.
Soft skills in software development usually look like this:
  • Asking clarifying questions before assumptions turn into rework
  • Making tradeoffs explicit instead of leaving them implicit
  • Explaining reasoning, not just conclusions
  • Noticing when two stakeholders are using the same term to mean different things
  • Surfacing risks early, even when it feels uncomfortable
  • Confirming alignment before moving into execution
None of these behaviors require extroversion. They require attention.

Learning to Work With People Without Becoming Someone Else

A common fear among developers is that improving soft skills means adopting a persona that feels unnatural. Being more visible. Talking more. Acting confident even when unsure. That is not what effective collaboration demands. Introverted developers often excel in environments that value clarity over volume. They listen closely. They synthesize information before responding. They notice misalignment in conversations that others miss because they are focused on talking. Awkwardness is not a lack of care. Quiet participation is not disengagement. In many cases, it reflects thoughtfulness and restraint. The real skill is not presence. It is awareness.

What Growth Actually Looks Like in Practice

Developing non-technical skills does not mean performing a role. It means engaging honestly with the human context of the work. In practical terms, growth often shows up in small, almost invisible ways:
  • Pausing to confirm understanding instead of assuming alignment
  • Naming uncertainty rather than masking it with confidence
  • Choosing clarity over speed when decisions carry long-term impact
  • Recognizing when silence signals confusion, not agreement
  • Following up on conversations that ended with vague consensus
These behaviors compound over time. They build trust quietly. They make collaboration smoother. They allow technical skills to land in the right place, at the right time. For many experienced developers, the realization is this: you do not need to become more social. You need to become more intentional. That shift does not change who you are. It strengthens how you work with others.
Developers collaborating in front of a screen discussing technical decisions
The developers who generate the most value shape conversations, clarify tradeoffs, and align teams early.

The Developer with the Biggest Impact Isn’t Always the Best Programmer

In high-performing teams, impact is rarely proportional to raw output. Consider the developer who consistently asks clarifying questions before implementation begins. Or the one who notices when two stakeholders are using the same word to mean different things. Or the engineer who stabilizes delivery by making tradeoffs explicit instead of implicit. These contributions do not always show up in commit counts or velocity charts. Yet teams feel their absence immediately when they are missing.

Net contribution over individual output

Teamwork in software development is about complementary strengths. The most valuable developers optimize outcomes, not recognition. Their impact comes from enabling others as much as from writing code themselves.

Why This Matters Even More as Technology Gets More Complex

As systems grow more complex, alignment becomes more important, not less. Distributed architectures, microservices, and accelerated tooling increase the number of decisions teams must coordinate. Code can be written faster than ever, but mistakes propagate just as quickly. When communication is weak, speed amplifies risk. When collaboration is strong, speed compounds value.

Complexity rewards alignment

This dynamic is especially visible in nearshore and distributed teams, where clarity and trust directly affect velocity. At Scio, long-term delivery success is built on aligned teams that combine strong technical fundamentals with effective collaboration. Systems scale best when people do too. A practical illustration of this can be found in this piece on improving daily scrums and strengthening team connection: https://sciodev.com/blog/making-daily-scrums-enjoyable-injecting-fun-and-insights-for-your-team/

Programming vs Software Development: A Practical Comparison

Dimension Programming Software Development
Primary Focus Writing correct, efficient code Creating real-world value
Core Skills Algorithms, syntax, frameworks Communication, collaboration, judgment
Scope of Work Implementation Problem framing, decision-making, delivery
Success Metric Code quality and correctness Adoption, outcomes, alignment
Common Failure Bugs or technical debt Misunderstood needs, misalignment

Developing Soft Skills Without Losing Yourself

Developing these skills does not require becoming someone else. It requires intention. Growth often starts with small behaviors. Clarifying assumptions before coding. Making tradeoffs explicit. Explaining reasoning instead of defending solutions. Listening for what is not being said.

Growth without performance

These practices build trust naturally. They expand influence without demanding visibility. Over time, they make technical expertise more effective by anchoring it in shared understanding.

Building Software Is a Team Sport

Software development is inherently collaborative. You do not need to stop being a programmer. You do need to grow into a system thinker. Code lives inside teams, organizations, and real-world constraints. The best developers build trust with the same care they build architecture. That balance is what turns good systems into durable ones.

FAQ: Software Development Beyond Code

  • Programming focuses primarily on implementation and writing code. Software development is a broader discipline that includes problem framing, effective collaboration, and ensuring the delivery of real-world value within a business context.

  • Because the vast majority of project failures stem from misalignment and miscommunication, not from technical inability. Soft skills allow developers to bridge the gap between technical requirements and business objectives.

  • Yes. Professional collaboration depends on clarity, active listening, and structured communication, not on being an extrovert. Many successful engineering environments value the deep focus and thoughtful input often provided by introverted developers.

  • [Image showing the multiplier effect of soft skills on technical expertise] No. They act as a force multiplier. Soft skills amplify technical expertise by increasing its impact across the organization and reducing the risk of building the wrong solution.

Remote Developers Aren’t the Risk — Poor Vetting Is

Remote Developers Aren’t the Risk — Poor Vetting Is

Communication & Collaboration, High-Performing Teams, Outsourced Engineering Team, Software Development, Strategic Digital Nearshoring, Team Culture & Collaboration

Written by: Rod Aburto 
Technical debt represented as financial risk in software systems, illustrating how engineering decisions impact long-term business value
Hiring remote developers—especially from Latin America—has become a strategic advantage for many U.S. software companies. Access to strong technical talent, overlapping time zones, and competitive costs make nearshore staff augmentation an increasingly popular model.

Yet despite these benefits, many Software Development Managers and CTOs remain cautious.

Why?

Because when remote hiring fails, it fails expensively.

Missed deadlines. Poor code quality. Communication breakdowns. Sometimes even discovering that a “senior developer” wasn’t who they claimed to be.

The uncomfortable truth is this:

Remote developers aren’t the real risk. Poor vetting is.

The Real Problem Behind Failed Remote Hires

When leaders talk about “bad experiences” with remote developers, the issues usually fall into familiar patterns:

  • The developer passed the interview but struggled on real tasks
  • Communication was technically “fine,” but context was constantly missing
  • Code required far more rework than expected
  • The developer disengaged after a few months
  • Velocity dropped instead of increasing

Notice what’s missing from that list.

It’s not geography.
It’s not time zones.
It’s not cultural background.

It’s how the developer was vetted—and by whom.

Hand placing a location pin with a check mark on a map while another pin shows a red X, symbolizing that hiring success depends on vetting rather than geography
Location is visible. Vetting quality is what truly determines hiring success.

Why Geography Gets Blamed (But Shouldn’t)

Blaming location is easy. It feels tangible.

But in reality, most hiring failures—local or remote—share the same root causes:

  • Overreliance on CVs instead of real skill validation
  • Shallow technical interviews
  • No assessment of communication style or collaboration habits
  • No validation of seniority beyond years of experience
  • No post-hire support or onboarding structure

These problems exist just as often in local hiring. Remote setups simply expose them faster.

What “Poor Vetting” Actually Looks Like

Poor vetting doesn’t mean no process—it usually means a weak or incomplete one.

Common red flags include:

1. CV-Driven Decisions

Assuming that years of experience or brand-name companies equal competence.

2. One-Shot Technical Interviews

A single call with theoretical questions instead of practical, real-world evaluation.

3. No Communication Assessment

English “on paper” but no evaluation of clarity, proactivity, or context-sharing.

4. No Cultural or Team Fit Screening

Ignoring how the developer collaborates, gives feedback, or handles ambiguity.

5. Zero Accountability After Hiring

Once the developer starts, the partner disappears unless there’s a problem.

When this is the vetting model, failure is a matter of time.

Wooden puzzle pieces with human icons forming a structured cube, representing a multi-layer technical vetting system
Strong technical vetting works as a system, not a checkbox.

What Strong Vetting Looks Like (And Why It Changes Everything)

Effective remote hiring requires treating vetting as a system, not a checkbox.

At a minimum, strong vetting includes:

  • Multi-Layer Technical Evaluation
    Not just “can they code,” but how they think, debug, and make tradeoffs.
  • Real Communication Testing
    Live conversations, async exercises, and feedback loops—not just grammar checks.
  • Seniority Validation

    Confirming that “senior” means autonomy, ownership, and decision-making ability.

  • Cultural Compatibility
    Understanding how the developer collaborates within agile teams, not in isolation.
  • Ongoing Performance Signals
    Continuous feedback after onboarding, not a “set it and forget it” model.

This is where experienced nearshore partners make the difference.

Why Partnering Beats DIY Remote Hiring

Many companies attempt to build remote hiring pipelines internally—and some succeed.

But for most engineering teams, doing this well requires:

  • Dedicated interviewers
  • Consistent calibration
  • Time investment from senior engineers
  • Local market knowledge
  • Ongoing retention and engagement efforts

That’s hard to sustain while also delivering product.

A mature staff augmentation partner absorbs that complexity and de-risks the entire process—if they take vetting seriously.

Digital map of Latin America connected with network nodes, representing nearshore software engineering collaboration across LATAM
When vetting is rigorous, nearshore LATAM developers feel fully integrated.

Why Nearshore LATAM Talent Works When Vetting Is Done Right

Latin America has an exceptional pool of software engineers with:

  • Strong technical foundations
  • Experience working with U.S. teams
  • Cultural alignment with agile practices
  • Time zone compatibility for real-time collaboration

When vetting is rigorous, nearshore developers don’t feel “remote.”

They feel like part of the team.

Where Scio Consulting Fits In

At Scio Consulting, we’ve learned—sometimes the hard way—that better interviews lead to better outcomes.

That’s why our approach focuses on:

  • Deep technical vetting, not surface-level screening
  • Communication and cultural compatibility as first-class criteria
  • Ongoing engagement and performance monitoring
  • Treating developers as long-term team members, not short-term resources

Our goal isn’t to place developers quickly.
It’s to place them successfully.

Final Thought

If your past experience with remote developers was disappointing, it’s worth asking one question before writing off the model:

Was the problem really remote work—or was it how the developer was vetted?

Because when vetting is done right, remote developers aren’t a risk.

They’re an advantage.

Portrait of Rod Aburto, CEO at Scio

Written by

Rod Aburto

Nearshore Staffing Expert

Winning with AI Requires Investing in Human Connection

Winning with AI Requires Investing in Human Connection

AI, Communication & Collaboration, Team Culture & Collaboration

Written by: Yamila Solari 
Digital human figures connected through a glowing network, symbolizing how AI connects people but cannot replace human relationships.
AI is everywhere right now. It’s in our tools, our workflows, our conversations, and increasingly, in the way we think about work itself. And yet, many people feel more disconnected at work than they did before.

AI is genuinely good at what it does. It gives us speed. It recognizes patterns we’d miss. It scales output in ways that were unthinkable just a few years ago. It reduces friction, automates repetitive work, and frees up time and mental energy.

But there’s something important it doesn’t do and can’t do. AI cannot feel and therefore it cannot grasp context emotionally. It doesn’t read the room. And it cannot build trust on its own. That gap matters more than we might expect.

When automation grows, connection quietly shrinks

One of the promises of AI is that it frees up space in our work lives. Fewer manual steps. Fewer dependencies. Sometimes even fewer people to coordinate with. But there’s a quieter side effect: as coordination decreases, so does human connection.

Less collaboration can mean:

  • Fewer moments to exchange ideas
  • Fewer chances to feel seen
  • Fewer opportunities to build shared meaning

Over time, this can leave people feeling:

  • Less ownership over their work
  • Less mastery and pride
  • Less visible and valued

And here’s the paradox: the very efficiency that AI brings can unintentionally create a sense of emptiness at work. Because the only thing that truly compensates for that loss is human connection. Being seen. Being heard. Being valued.

Abstract human figures holding hands, representing trust, wellbeing, and the importance of human connection at work
Human connection is foundational, not optional. Trust, wellbeing, and engagement grow where people feel genuinely connected.

Human connection is not optional for wellbeing

Humans don’t flourish in isolation, no matter how capable and independent they are. We are social beings and need connection to thrive.

We are wired for connection. This isn’t sentimental; it’s a biological and psychological fact. Truly relating to other people, feeling understood, appreciated, and connected, is a key pillar of balanced health and wellbeing. It regulates stress. It builds resilience. It gives meaning to effort.

And the data backs this up: 94% of employees say feeling connected to colleagues makes them more productive, four times more satisfied, and half as likely to quit.

AI can support our work, but it cannot replace the experience of being in relationship with other humans. When connection erodes, wellbeing follows. And organizations often notice it only when burnout, disengagement or attrition are already high.

And that’s where leadership becomes more important, not less.

The changing role of leadership in an AI world

One surprising effect of AI is that it doesn’t reduce uncertainty. On the contrary, it amplifies ambiguity.

With so much information available instantly, we’re faced with more decisions:

  • What do we trust?
  • What do we automate?
  • What do we keep human?
  • What really matters here?

And making those decisions requires something AI doesn’t handle well at all: trust. Trust is relational. It lives in conversations, in the way we handle conflict, in the care we show when things are hard. This is where the human touch becomes essential.

When knowledge is abundant and easy to access, leadership shifts away from being the expert with answers and towards:

  • Sense-making
  • Emotional regulation
  • Creating spaces where people think together
  • Coaching and fostering human development

In my experience working with teams, I have learned that most of the time they don’t fail because they lack tools. They fail because they lack connection, clarity, and trust. Human connection is a performance multiplier. Teams that trust each other, that feel seen by their leaders, and that know their work matters, move faster, solve problems more creatively, stay together longer and burn out far less. No algorithm can replace that.

Diverse team collaborating around a glass board, sharing ideas and solving problems together in a modern workplace
Innovation happens between people. When AI is widespread, human connection becomes a real competitive advantage.

The business case for more connection when AI is widespread

There’s also a very practical, bottom-line reason to invest in human connection. Businesses need diverse ideas and these usually are shaped by people with different backgrounds, experiences, cultures, and ways of thinking. Those ideas are richer than anything AI can generate on its own.

When we rely too heavily on algorithms, we risk creating intellectual silos:

  • Narrow perspectives
  • Recycled patterns
  • Less creative friction

Innovation doesn’t come from optimization alone. It comes from people truly understanding and appreciating different viewpoints and working through complexity together. In this age of AI, facilitating human connection in the work community is a necessary skill for innovation.

Connection isn’t a perk. It’s a competitive advantage.

What organizations can do

If remote or hybrid work is here to stay and AI continues to grow, then we have to be intentional about protecting and strengthening human connection. And this does not require big programs or complex frameworks.

A few places to start:

  • Be mindful of how much time we spend interacting with actual people, not just tools.
  • Invest in developing skills that involve human connection like leadership, collaboration and coaching.
  • Institute regular wellbeing check-ins, especially one-on-one. Not to track performance, but to genuinely connect.
  • Encourage more frequent in-person interactions when possible. Even occasional moments together make a difference.
  • As leaders, model the behavior. Reach out. Ask questions. Be present. Connection starts at the top.

A final thought

AI will continue to get better, faster, and more powerful. But as it does, our need for human connection doesn’t shrink — it grows. The organizations that will thrive in an AI-driven world won’t be the ones that automate the most. They’ll be the ones that remember what makes work meaningful in the first place. And that, fundamentally, is human connection.

Portrait of Yamila Solari, General manager at Scio

Written by

Yamila Solari

General Manager

Recognition That Matters: How Small Wins Keep Developers Engaged

Recognition That Matters: How Small Wins Keep Developers Engaged

Communication & Collaboration, Human Capital in Tech, Team Culture & Collaboration

By Helena Matamoros 

Two coworkers high-fiving in a modern office, representing collaboration and teamwork

Introduction

Keeping developers engaged isn’t about grand gestures or onceayear awards, it’s about recognizing the steady stream of small wins that make great software possible. In the years I’ve been working with software development teams, I’ve seen firsthand how the right kind of recognition strengthens collaboration, trust, and longterm engagement. At Scio, a strong theme shows up repeatedly in our internal practices and public insights: engagement grows from the everyday culture developers experience, especially within distributed teams where recognition often happens across screens as much as in person. Consistency, clarity, and intentional culture shape how seen and valued people feel. In this blog, I want to share why small wins matter so much, and practical ways any software organization can build a recognition system that genuinely motivates developers.

Why Small Wins Have a Big Impact

1. Small Wins Reinforce Clarity and Progress

Developers work in complex environments where progress can be incremental and sometimes invisible. Acknowledging small achievements: closing a tricky ticket, improving test coverage, mentoring a teammate, helps people see the impact of their daily work. At Scio, daily standups and retrospectives reinforce transparency and give space to highlight small but meaningful contributions.

2. They Build Trust in Distributed Teams

Remote and nearshore environments rely heavily on relational trust. When managers recognize developers consistently, it sends a clear message: I see your work, even when we’re in different cities or time zones. Peer recognition and shared rituals contribute significantly to this sense of connection.

3. They Reduce Disengagement Before It Starts

A lack of recognition is one of the most common drivers of low morale. A simple “thank you,” delivered in the moment, can prevent small frustrations from growing into bigger problems.
Symbolic blocks representing recognition, achievement, and collaboration in software teams

How to Make Recognition Work for Developers

Here are practical, people-centered ways to embed meaningful recognition into your engineering culture:

1. Build Recognition into Existing Rituals

You don’t need new meetings or processes, just intentionality:
  • Use daily standups to call out helpful actions or behaviors, not just task status.
  • This mirrors Scio’s emphasis on rituals that prioritize psychological safety and collaboration.
  • Add a “wins of the week” moment during retrospectives.
  • Use Slack or Teams channels dedicated to praise or shoutouts.

2. Celebrate Collaboration, Not Just Output

Developers value recognition for technical achievements, but they also value acknowledgment for how they work.
  • Highlight pair programming support.
  • Recognize someone who documented a process that helped others.
  • Appreciate teammates who unblock others during crunch times.

This aligns with Scio’s focus on soft skills: empathy, adaptability, accountability, as essential to team success.

3. Make Recognition Specific and Timely

Generic “great job” comments fade quickly. Recognition that names the behavior and context is far more impactful.

Examples:
  • “Your refactoring work made the module much easier for the team to extend.”
  • “Thanks for stepping in to support QA before the release deadline.”

Timeliness also matters: the closer to the action, the more meaningful the acknowledgment feels.

4. Give Developers Opportunities to Recognize Each Other

Peer-to-peer recognition is powerful in technical teams because developers understand the complexity of each other’s work.

Ideas:
  • Create lightweight digital badges or emojis for different types of contributions.
  • Rotate “team appreciations” in sprint meetings.
  • Encourage developers to call out colleagues in shared channels.

5. Don’t Forget Private Recognition

Not every developer wants public attention. Some prefer a quiet message, a quick call, or a personal note.

Offering multiple recognition channels (public, private, synchronous, asynchronous) ensures everyone receives appreciation in a way that feels natural to them.

Remote one-on-one conversation representing human-centered leadership and recognition

6. Encourage Managers to Look Beyond Metrics

Metrics show results, but recognition should also honor the behaviors and attitudes that build a strong engineering culture.

Remind leaders to notice:
  • initiative
  • thoughtful code reviews
  • mentoring
  • proactive communication

These are the qualities that strengthen distributed teams over time.

7. Keep It Human

Tools help, but culture does the heavy lifting. Recognition is most powerful when it reflects genuine care and awareness, not automation or checkboxes.

Scio reinforces this consistently: meaningful culture is intentional and continuously refined.

Final Thoughts

In software development, the most significant breakthroughs often come from sustained, incremental progress. Recognizing those small wins is one of the most effective tools we have to keep developers engaged, connected, and motivated. From my experience, when recognition becomes part of the everyday rhythm of work, not an afterthought, it strengthens trust, improves team communication, and boosts longterm retention. And in a world where great engineering talent is constantly in demand, that kind of engagement isn’t optional, it’s a strategic advantage.
Portrait of Luis Aburto, CEO at Scio

Written by

Helena Matamoros

Human Capital Manger

Moving Beyond the Screen: How Physical Activity Supports Wellbeing and Team Connection at Scio 

Moving Beyond the Screen: How Physical Activity Supports Wellbeing and Team Connection at Scio 

Communication & Collaboration, Team Culture & Collaboration

By Isleen Hernández, Human Capital Administrator at Scio
Physical activity as part of Scio’s wellbeing culture, highlighting movement beyond the screen for healthier software teams
In today’s technology environment, long hours in front of a screen are part of the job. Developers move between deep focus, problem-solving, meetings, and asynchronous collaboration across time zones. Over time, this constant mental load can affect both physical and emotional wellbeing, especially when there is little space to disconnect.

At Scio, we support in wellbeing because our collaborators’ health, balance, and quality of life matter. Supporting people intentionally—inside and outside of work—is part of who we are.

That belief shapes how we approach culture and wellbeing. Physical activity plays a meaningful role in our developer mental fitness strategies, as a way to support healthier, more balanced lives.

Mental Fitness as Part of Overall Wellbeing

Software development is mentally demanding. Developers navigate complexity, ambiguity, and constant change. Without proper balance, this can lead to mental fatigue, emotional exhaustion, and disconnection—not only from work, but from personal life as well.

At Scio, we approach mental fitness first and foremost as a health topic. Physical activity supports emotional regulation, mental clarity, and stress management, helping people feel better in their daily lives.

When collaborators feel healthier and more balanced, positive outcomes naturally follow—but those outcomes are a result, not the goal.

Movement as Space for Recovery and Balance

Encouraging movement is not about routines, metrics, or expectations. It’s about creating space.

Physical activity gives people a chance to step away from the screen, reconnect with their bodies, and clear their minds. For many, it becomes a moment to breathe, reset, and create healthier boundaries between work, personal time, and social life.

From a people and culture perspective, this is about prevention and care. Supporting movement helps reduce burnout risk and promotes more sustainable rhythms—where work fits into life.

Scio Active: Moving Together, Wherever We Are

Scio Active is one of our core wellbeing initiatives and a reflection of this people-first mindset.

Twice a year, we run Scio Active as a 12-week challenge open to all Scio collaborators, regardless of role, location, or fitness level. Each participant defines a personal goal that fits their own life and circumstances. Walking, running, yoga, cycling, gym workouts—any form of movement is valid.

What matters is not intensity or performance. It’s participation.

By sharing the same challenge timeline, collaborators across different countries and cities become part of a shared experience. This creates distributed team connection through movement, helping people feel included and connected even in remote and nearshore environments.

Engineering leader reflecting on empathy, wellbeing, and the human side of leadership in software teams
Engineering leadership often carries invisible emotional weight that impacts wellbeing, clarity, and decision-making.

Team Sports: Connection Beyond Work

In addition to individual initiatives, Scio supports weekly football and padel activities. These spaces are intentionally informal and human.

They are not about competition or results, but about:

  • Spending time together outside of work
  • Building genuine relationships
  • Encouraging teamwork, support, and camaraderie

These activities help people connect beyond job titles and responsibilities, strengthening trust and creating a stronger sense of belonging.

Wellbeing as a Foundation for Feeling Good at Work

Physical activity also supports mental wellbeing by offering a healthy way to disconnect from work pressures. Moving the body, socializing, and sharing moments with teammates help reduce stress and support emotional balance.

By focusing on health, mental wellbeing, and social connection, we aim to improve quality of life first. When people feel better in their lives, feeling better at work becomes a natural outcome.

Cultural Alignment in Nearshore Software Teams

At Scio, wellbeing initiatives are not isolated programs—they are part of our culture.

Whether someone works onsite, remotely, or as part of a nearshore team, they experience the same commitment to care, balance, and human connection. This consistency strengthens cultural alignment in nearshore software teams, ensuring that everyone feels supported and included, regardless of location.

Human-centered leadership in software teams, highlighting the emotional demands and responsibility of engineering managers
Sustainable engineering cultures recognize empathy as a strength—but also understand the need for structural support.

A Human-Centered Perspective for Technology Leaders

For technology leaders evaluating nearshore partners, culture and wellbeing reflect how a company treats its people.

At Scio, we believe great software is built by people who feel healthy, balanced, and connected. By fostering physical activity and genuine human connection, we support our collaborators as people first—and that care naturally reflects in the work they do.

Isleen Hernández

Isleen Hernández

Human Capital Administrator