Oh, happy New Year! We’ve made it through the first couple of weeks of 2026, which is starting to feel a lot like 2025. \ud83d\ude2c<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anyway, in this Clockwork Minute, we\u2019re talking about superpowers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At Clockwork, we talk a lot about empathy \u2014 the greatest superpower of them all. Not the vague, feel-good kind, but the kind that shapes decisions, removes friction, and changes how clients experience technology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Recently, I sat down with Senior Engineer Jeffrey Smith<\/strong> to explore what empathy looks like from a developer\u2019s seat and why it\u2019s one of the most important ingredients in delivering great digital work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For Jeffrey, technical excellence is only half the job. The other half is understanding what a client actually experiences when they show up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI would never want someone to feel stupid or overwhelmed. If I ever made a client feel like they couldn\u2019t ask a question, that would be a failure.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Developers can understand the complex systems behind the scenes, but it is also paramount to recognize how intimidating those systems can be for the people who have to manage them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He puts it simply: If a client walks into a meeting about their website, they shouldn\u2019t feel like they\u2019re on the other side of the table. They should feel like we\u2019re sitting right next to them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Empathy also shows up in how developers communicate their work. With long-running, retainer-based client relationships, progress can feel invisible unless someone takes the time to make it visible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Jeffrey believes developers and engineers have a responsibility to frame the value:<\/p>\n\n\n\n And this isn\u2019t about self-congratulation. Quite the opposite \u2014 it\u2019s about helping clients tell a clear, confident story inside their organizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOur job is to make these people look freaking awesome.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Sometimes that means walking through a project management board together, creating leadership-ready summaries, or simply reminding a client what was accomplished and why it matters. These moments help clients advocate for resources, demonstrate progress, and build credibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Empathy means advocating for clients when they encounter roadblocks with third-party tools or vendors that fail to offer clarity or support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Jeffrey described a time he stepped in to push for documentation, straightforward answers, and transparency, it is clear that the goal wasn\u2019t to be combative. It was to protect the client\u2019s time and reduce frustration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf you\u2019re selling them a promise, I\u2019m going to ask you to show the code. And if you can\u2019t, now my client has what they need to ask better questions.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n This kind of advocacy builds trust and reassures clients that they\u2019re not facing technical challenges alone. It comes from years of hands-on experience with partners like North Memorial Health, Mayo Clinic, and many others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In digital transformation, code solves problems, empathy builds relationships. And when you lead with empathy<\/strong>, clients don\u2019t just get better work. They get a better experience<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Oh, happy New Year! We’ve made it through the first couple of weeks of 2026, which is starting to feel a lot like 2025. \ud83d\ude2c Anyway, in this Clockwork Minute, we\u2019re talking about superpowers. At Clockwork, we talk a lot about empathy \u2014 the greatest superpower of them all. Not the vague, feel-good kind, but […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":9375,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[118,25],"tags":[361,360,359,358,362,307],"coauthors":[104],"class_list":["post-9364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-how-we-work","category-technology","tag-client-experience","tag-developer","tag-development","tag-empathy","tag-technical-excellence","tag-website-design"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSeeing through the client\u2019s eyes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Making the work visible and meaningful<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Advocacy as a developer skill<\/h2>\n\n\n\n