Why 7Factor Pushes Back: Building Sustainable Software with Thoughtful Engineering
When you hire 7Factor to join your team, you’re not hiring us just to complete tasks. You're bringing on a team that’s both boots on the ground and providing a bird’s-eye view of your business goals and software. We're here to improve your software while staying aligned with your long-term vision.
At 7Factor, we’re not just a dev shop. We’re a software engineering consulting firm focused on building sustainable software solutions. Yes, our engineers write code, but they also look beyond the code. They challenge processes, question assumptions, and recommend more sustainable processes. That means sometimes, we push back.
Why We Push Back
Pushback is part of our process and it’s not personal. One of 7Factor core values is curiosity - which often leads us to ask:
- “Why are we doing it this way?”
- “Why is this important?”
- “How does this align with your business goals?”
These questions often lead to pushback when we see an opportunity to improve our product, prevent technical debt, or eliminate unnecessary complexity.
One of the most common areas where we push back is testing. Testing is fundamental at 7Factor. It might slow things down at first, but it saves your team time, money, and headaches in the long run. Without testing, your team spends more time revisiting finished work and what looks like “progress” is reworked.
Having a well-tested system isn’t optional. It’s essential to sustainable software.
Rework Hurts Progress and the Progress Bar
Rework can be hard to track, but it always costs more than you think. You may see your progress bar moving forward, but if tickets keep bouncing back due to bugs or incomplete features, your engineering team is spending time on a ticket that could have been prevented. When we push for testing, it’s not because we want to slow you down. It’s because we’ve seen firsthand how untested code creates downstream problems.
And yes, pushing back on the progress bar can be uncomfortable. But software sustainability isn’t built on completed tasks. It’s built on writing quality code.
It’s Not About Being Right, It’s About Building Right
Our pushback isn’t about saying “You’re doing it wrong.” It’s about offering a new perspective based on what we’ve seen work across industries. Our polyglot engineers have worked with startups and enterprise clients across industries. They bring that broad knowledge into every conversation and use it to help teams build smarter.
We only raise red flags when something could lead to rework, introduce risk, or contradict solid software principles. Sometimes, that’s around testing. Other times, it’s around:
- SDLC structure
- Ticket lifecycle and flow (Scrum vs. Kanban)
- The number and type of engineering meetings
- Or how product decisions impact engineering timelines
Our goal is always to work with you, to collaborate as true partners.
Our Engineering Managers: Pushback Pros
At 7Factor, Engineering Managers (EMs) play a key role in delivering pushback with purpose. They’re not just here to manage accounts, such as traditional account managers, they're technical leaders who understand your product and business and help your team make informed, long-term decisions.
Our EMs are agents of change, not blockers. They’re here to advocate for the best choices that reflect your business’s long-term vision. They give our clients the time, space, and expertise to complete initiatives that otherwise might fall through the cracks. Our engineering managers facilitate these conversations between our team and our client's team.
Curious about the role our Engineering Managers play and why they matter?
Pushback is Built on Trust
The strongest partnerships aren’t built on silence, they’re built on mutual trust, respect, and honest feedback. When we push back, we care about your business outcomes. It's how we help teams grow stronger, write better code, and build software that lasts.