We are right, it's not our problem

In complex products involving multiple teams or vendors, troubleshooting often turns into a delicate dance. Everyone has their priorities. When something breaks, the first instinct is to react defensively and protect your domain. There were occasions where we asked a third party whether there was an issue on their end, only to be met with: “Everything looks fine here.” Internally, the team I worked with reacted quickly: “Of course, it's their fault; we're seeing this error from their API. It's clearly on them.”

They were right, but in our line of work, it's not about who's right. Telling our customers, “It's not our problem,” might be technically accurate, but it doesn't get them closer to a solution, restore trust, or solve the pain they're experiencing.

That's why we should approach every issue as if it were our problem. Even when the logs and traces show it’s not on our side, we should stay engaged. We’re not here to defend our part of the stack. We’re here to deliver value. That means helping move the issue forward, regardless of where it originated.

At madewithlove, we often talk about "pull developers". People who don’t just wait to be told what to do but take initiative and care about outcomes. This mindset extends to ownership in tough moments. When something goes wrong, let's roll up our sleeves. Let's help investigate. Let's offer fixes. Finding out who is to blame won't help our customers; troubleshooting and solving together will.