Comment by ethbr1

Soft skills, in the context it's used here, include communication skills.

A key part of communication is being able to communicate ideas with someone not like you (different expertise, background, touchpoints).

Imho, a lot of software developers suck at that. (Obligatory: 'I talk to the customers so the engineers don't have to')

To the article's point, this becomes an increasingly valuable and critical skill the closer software development moves to the original requesting users. Or the closer the ability to code moves to people who were already talking to users.

Personally? I view myself as a problem solver: whether I solve a problem with code, a new technology, a conversation with a colleague, a deep dive discovery session with a SME, or a month-long series of political meetings with conflicting stakeholders, I don't care.