Integrity and transparency

In my years working with teams, both large and small, I’ve seen projects do better or worst and a vital factor was always at play: trust. Trust is what holds a team together, enables productive collaboration, and, ultimately, delivers successful outcomes. But trust doesn’t appear by chance! It’s earned, day by day, through the values of integrity and transparency. Let’s break that down:

What does integrity mean in the context of software development? It means standing by your principles, doing what’s right even when it’s uncomfortable. It’s about owning up to mistakes and raising concerns early, not waiting for the cracks to become too wide to ignore.

Transparency goes hand-in-hand with integrity. It’s about ensuring that everyone on the team - whether it’s developers, stakeholders, or clients - has visibility into what’s really happening. Transparency requires openness, and more importantly, honesty.

Speaking up timely

One of the biggest risks to any project is when people stay silent. A developer spots a potential problem - technical debt building up, a misaligned architectural decision, or a requirement that doesn’t seem right. But they don’t say anything. Maybe they’re afraid of causing a stir or being seen as negative. But by the time the problem comes to light, it might be too late.

This is where a safe space is critical. It’s our responsibility to speak up when we see potential issues, and to do it early. Raising flags before they become fires may not be glamorous, but it saves time and stress. It’s better to ask uncomfortable questions now than to scramble to fix unspoken problems later. In fact, one of the best things we can do as leaders or team members is to normalize speaking up early.

The courage to be honest

Some of the most successful teams I’ve worked with were full of disagreements. The difference? They disagreed honestly and constructively.

There’s a section in Brené Brown’s Dare to Lead that speaks to this, and it’s something I’ve found critical in software development: clear is kind. Being clear and honest with your team. Whether that’s admitting you’re unsure, explaining a risk, or acknowledging a mistake is one of the kindest and most productive things you can do!

Honesty isn’t about pushing your opinion or being brutally blunt. It’s about presenting the facts and asking tough questions in the spirit of improving the project and ourselves. It’s about recognizing that our ego shouldn’t get in the way of transparency. Real courage comes from humility, from being willing to say, “I think I might be wrong” or “We need to reconsider this”.

Transparency builds trust

We often think of transparency in terms of communication between team members. But in my experience, transparency with stakeholders and clients is just as critical or more. Whether we’re in leadership roles or contributing as developers, we owe it to the people we work with to give an honest view of the status quo.

Sometimes that means admitting we’re having issues. Sometimes it means admitting we don’t have a perfect solution yet. But in all cases, it means being honest about the state of the project and the challenges we face.

Clients and stakeholders can handle bad news. What they can’t handle is being blindsided by them. If you’re open and transparent from the start - giving an accurate picture of progress, risks, and the potential roadblocks - you build trust. Even when things go wrong, that trust allows you to work together to find solutions. That’s tightly related to my understanding of how Agile principles are applied in practice.

Humility is a strength. It shows that you’re focused on the success of the project, not on being right. When teams embrace humility, they create an environment where people are comfortable being honest. And when people are honest, the team becomes stronger, more agile, and more resilient.

Integrity as a competitive advantage

Some might think that this level of openness could be risky in a competitive world. But I’d argue that integrity and transparency are competitive advantages. By being upfront about risks, challenges, and solutions, you earn the trust of clients, stakeholders, and your team. That trust creates long-lasting partnerships, enables smoother project delivery, and most importantly: ensures that everyone is working together towards a common goal.

In the end, software isn’t just about working code but about people. And the best way to work with people is with honesty, integrity, and transparency.