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CTO day 2: downsizing the team

danlebrero.com

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Re: CTO day 2: downsizing the team

#51

Post by mytailorisrich »

dvfjsdhgfv wrote: post #39
mytailorisrich wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As the CTO he was in charge. It's absolutely fine to face à situation that is new and that you feel you lack knowledge and experience on. But as a leader and the guy in charge you should not refuse to deal with it, you need to find a way and people to advise you. Don't think that CEOs, Generals, Heads of States, etc know everything, no they know how to seek information and advice but the final decision and responsibi…

> you should not refuse to deal with it One the contrary, it is perfectly fine to ask for enough time to be able to accurately assess the situation.

That's not refusing to deal with it, merely saying that you may need some time to do exactly what I suggested (seek information and advice) but you are dealing with it.

Re: CTO day 2: downsizing the team

#52

Post by SMFloris »

dvfjsdhgfv wrote: post #37
SMFloris wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is pretty interesting how this conversation goes. CTO: I can't do that on my 2nd day. CEO: I thought your interests align with the company. It is your job to align everyone under you to our direction. CTO: Yes, of course. Right away.

> CTO: Yes, of course. Right away. If it's the best reply they can come up with, they're not competent enough for the position.

You can come up with a better reply of course. But can you really beat the "are we aligned in the same direction" from the CEO and the other executives? Especially on the 2nd day.

You can spin it however you want, come up with some great arguments, but if the CEO decided to fire people, I don't think he takes that decision lightly so when he/she presents that decision you can count that it really is the last option he has.

It all comes down to trust. Trust your CEO that he has no other choice, maybe explore alternatives. But if he is a really good CEO, even if you fight it and argue for it, you'll wind up at the same conclusion he did. In fact, 9/10 you'll wind up at the same conclusion he did. Remember, it's his job to convince and lead people so he's probably better than you at that.

Re: CTO day 2: downsizing the team

#54

Post by vasco »

SMFloris wrote: post #18

In the beginning, you are on an island, you have an idea to go on an adventure, so you start building a raft with the other guy on the island. The other guy has no building skills, but he procures food, water and wood. The resources on that island are dwindling but you manage to finish the raft just in time. You begin to sail the raft, you start fishing while out in the open seas. You reach another island and sell th…

And through it all I bet you wonder if:

1) It'd all be better or at least the same without any external interference from you

2) The positive outcomes to the business are more a result of external factors like market expansion, word of mouth, a new fad, rather than your own contribution

Re: CTO day 2: downsizing the team

#56

Post by bravura »

_vertigo wrote: post #48
dvfjsdhgfv wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> CTO: Yes, of course. Right away. If it's the best reply they can come up with, they're not competent enough for the position.

What’s a better reply?

CTO: "This is an important and disruptive decision. I feel that we need X more time to gather information and make sure we don't kill the company doing it incorrectly. What do you suggest?"

It's the CEO's job to be able to weigh different kinds of risks and make a decision. So bubbling up your concerns is the correct answer.

Re: CTO day 2: downsizing the team

#57

Post by czbond »

vasco wrote: post #54
SMFloris wrote: post #18

In the beginning, you are on an island, you have an idea to go on an adventure, so you start building a raft with the other guy on the island. The other guy has no building skills, but he procures food, water and wood. The resources on that island are dwindling but you manage to finish the raft just in time. You begin to sail the raft, you start fishing while out in the open seas. You reach another island and sell th…

And through it all I bet you wonder if: 1) It'd all be better or at least the same without any external interference from you 2) The positive outcomes to the business are more a result of external factors like market expansion, word of mouth, a new fad, rather than your own contribution

As an engineer speaking to someone who is clearly also an engineer - you're highly discounting the levered impact proper, high quality leadership makes on a business.

Re: CTO day 2: downsizing the team

#58

Post by alexpetralia »

SMFloris wrote: post #18

In the beginning, you are on an island, you have an idea to go on an adventure, so you start building a raft with the other guy on the island. The other guy has no building skills, but he procures food, water and wood. The resources on that island are dwindling but you manage to finish the raft just in time. You begin to sail the raft, you start fishing while out in the open seas. You reach another island and sell th…

A wonderful parable on engineering complex systems.

Re: CTO day 2: downsizing the team

#59

Post by kqr »

plif wrote: post #44
kettro wrote: post #8

One big point that would be useful is to help the fired engineer find another job. A lot of this is, as Aqua mentioned, an exercise for their conscience. The best way to alleviate it is to "do right" by the fired engineer and help them find another position. Likely would have been about as much work as this whole spiel. Of course, OP has no requirement to do anything for them, but the easiest way to make yourself fee…

> A lot of this is, as Aqua mentioned, an exercise for their conscience. Just as important to build (some...) trust and preserve culture among remaining employees. Imagine this from the lens of remaining employees: A) The new big boss wrote an algorithm to fire our friends B) The new big boss had to make a tough decision to fire our friends but went out of his way to do right by them Which one sounds better? I think…

> Just as important to build (some...) trust and preserve culture among remaining employees.

This reminds me of how Toyota did it: they calculated roughly how many workers they'd need in a plant (counting expected future optimisations), then they went ahead and just said, "This is how many we think are needed to do the job. As you can see, we have been forced to fire 25% of you. The rest of you have a lifetime guarantee of employment with us."

And, critically, they didn't back down on that guarantee. That always struck me as really understanding how important it is to build trust among the ones that remain.

Re: CTO day 2: downsizing the team

#60

Post by Folcon »

SMFloris wrote: post #18

In the beginning, you are on an island, you have an idea to go on an adventure, so you start building a raft with the other guy on the island. The other guy has no building skills, but he procures food, water and wood. The resources on that island are dwindling but you manage to finish the raft just in time. You begin to sail the raft, you start fishing while out in the open seas. You reach another island and sell th…

This makes me wonder, considering the cost of acquisition of talented staff why I don't hear about more large companies with lots of capital on hand requiring that people instead of being fired, just asking them to take a period of paid leave.

It would have to be for a while to shake out issues, but if you suddenly discover you need the person, then they're not gone. You also get to experiment with different team combinations to see if the problem was a management issue, or if they would be better suited in a different role?

Obviously you still need to fire people now and again, but this large scale firing followed by huge hiring cycles always seemed a bit odd.

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