The way I've heard it phrased is the CTO should be able to code, but the CTO shouldn't code.
This is idiotic. Practically nonsense
Care to explain yourself? Or just having a bad day? : - )
A CTO should be technical
231–240 of 367 posts
Re: A CTO should be technical
#232Earlier quoted context omitted.
I personally believe it's easier for a technical person to become reasonably competent at process, cost and other management stuff vs a management person to become reasonably competent at technical things. When I was contractor I saw terrible decisions made by CTO and CIO in several companies because they didn't have any technical taste and ran everything by numbers and processes. I definitely believe a CTO should be…
> I saw terrible decisions made by CTO and CIO While a CTO needs to have grown up in the technical trenches to have credibility, a CTO should not be making any technical decisions anymore. If they are, that's a red flag for a CTO who can't let go and keeps micromanaging.
It depends on the company size. On a small startup with 10 people and a company with 1000 people have different CTO definitions and roles.
Re: A CTO should be technical
#233Microsoft employee here. I really appreciate CTOs who are technical. They understand certain challenges of delivering products and they are often more sympathetic of last-minute issues. But Microsoft is a different company than maybe startups or smaller companies. So, I am not really sure.
Re: A CTO should be technical
#234Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've reported directly to good CTOs and really bad ones. The shitty ones: - Either never built trust or broke trust. - Were impulsive and reactionary. - Didn't rely on the expertise and skills of their reports as much as they told them what to do because they already knew everything. Didn't ask questions. Gave orders. - Literally used the words, "because I said so". - Believed that they were the only one doing any re…
This comment may have been the tipping point into seriously considering quitting. Deep down I already felt it coming on but seeing it laid out like this hit home. The person currently in that leadership position fits every one of these bullet points and somehow remains in that position. All their direct reports just seem to accept this lot in life, everyone else does their best to avoid drawing their ire. I imagine t…
> Maybe they'll read this.
Be proactive, send them a link.
Re: A CTO should be technical
#235[deleted]
Re: A CTO should be technical
#236I've been a CTO for 5+ years and have grown a company from 1 to 15+ engineers. I agree that a CTO SHOULD be technical but it shouldn't be their only skill. The CTO's skill actually varies depending on the stage of the company and being technical, helps in making decisions in every stage. A core part of being a CTO is to set the technical direction of the company, you are a Chief Technology Officer after all. A part o…
Good comment.
Re: A CTO should be technical
#237Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've reported directly to good CTOs and really bad ones. The shitty ones: - Either never built trust or broke trust. - Were impulsive and reactionary. - Didn't rely on the expertise and skills of their reports as much as they told them what to do because they already knew everything. Didn't ask questions. Gave orders. - Literally used the words, "because I said so". - Believed that they were the only one doing any re…
This comment may have been the tipping point into seriously considering quitting. Deep down I already felt it coming on but seeing it laid out like this hit home. The person currently in that leadership position fits every one of these bullet points and somehow remains in that position. All their direct reports just seem to accept this lot in life, everyone else does their best to avoid drawing their ire. I imagine t…
Sounds like me 10 years ago, and I wish I took this advice.
If you love technical work, QUIT being an exec, a VP, a manager... do the work.
You WILL have a crazy time getting back into tech work, after 10 years, even if you were hands on the whole time.
Management / CTO and everything in between is best served by people who are technical, and are ready/aware/willing to move into a deeply political and financial driven domain.
I hated it, but it took me a years to really let that sink in and feel it hurting me.
If you can short circuit that wasted time. Do.
Re: A CTO should be technical
#238Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've reported directly to good CTOs and really bad ones. The shitty ones: - Either never built trust or broke trust. - Were impulsive and reactionary. - Didn't rely on the expertise and skills of their reports as much as they told them what to do because they already knew everything. Didn't ask questions. Gave orders. - Literally used the words, "because I said so". - Believed that they were the only one doing any re…
Because bad organizations conflate leadership and dominance. Raw dominance is the dynamic governing primitive social animals. Chimps are a bit smarter, and would collaborate as a group to beat up alphas that they hate.
Let me rephrase that.
The group is smarter, than an individual's dominant strategy.
They'll collaborate as a group to embarrass and undermine and quit that scene.
Re: A CTO should be technical
#239I just became a CTO. So, let me bear my thoughts. Since July of this year I've been CTO for a small games company, I've worked in this industry before in a more specialised role but this is much broader scope. I've gone from being responsible for 1 person to 10 which will likely become 50 by the end of next year. I'm terrified. I'm terrified because I feel like I will let my reports down. I'm terrified because a lot…
This reads like a LinkedIn post.
The real CTO was the friends we made along the way.
Re: A CTO should be technical
#240I just became a CTO. So, let me bear my thoughts. Since July of this year I've been CTO for a small games company, I've worked in this industry before in a more specialised role but this is much broader scope. I've gone from being responsible for 1 person to 10 which will likely become 50 by the end of next year. I'm terrified. I'm terrified because I feel like I will let my reports down. I'm terrified because a lot…
Is this your first time managing people as well?
No, but first time for so many, I’ve had 3 direct reports before and in my last company I had 1