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Resources for chief technology officers, with the emphasis on startups

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Re: Resources for chief technology officers, with the emphasis on startups

#51

Post by [deleted] »

staticautomatic wrote: post #47
yowlingcat wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Perhaps we should add “Don’t say things like ‘The most leveraged way to learn how to CTO’.” to the list. Please leave the unnecessary snarkiness for other forums. I could have said "The most leveraged way to operate as a technology executive" but that's rather wordy. More than happy to engage with any substantive critiques you have with my point of view. It's what has worked for me, and it's based on my own experie…

My comment is both a substantive critique of how you communicate and a commentary on executive communication.

[deleted]

Re: Resources for chief technology officers, with the emphasis on startups

#52

Post by yowlingcat »

staticautomatic wrote: post #47
yowlingcat wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Perhaps we should add “Don’t say things like ‘The most leveraged way to learn how to CTO’.” to the list. Please leave the unnecessary snarkiness for other forums. I could have said "The most leveraged way to operate as a technology executive" but that's rather wordy. More than happy to engage with any substantive critiques you have with my point of view. It's what has worked for me, and it's based on my own experie…

My comment is both a substantive critique of how you communicate and a commentary on executive communication.

> My comment is both a substantive critique of how you communicate and a commentary on executive communication.

Once you strip out the pedantic remark, you haven't actually said anything. I think your actual silence speaks volumes and makes my point for me.

Re: Resources for chief technology officers, with the emphasis on startups

#53

Post by staticautomatic »

yowlingcat wrote: post #52
staticautomatic wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My comment is both a substantive critique of how you communicate and a commentary on executive communication.

> My comment is both a substantive critique of how you communicate and a commentary on executive communication. Once you strip out the pedantic remark, you haven't actually said anything. I think your actual silence speaks volumes and makes my point for me.

If you think that’s how leaders of companies should talk and that people who criticize you for talking like that should be written off as pedants then good luck to you.

Re: Resources for chief technology officers, with the emphasis on startups

#55

Post by bpodgursky »

koonsolo wrote: post #13
dreamer7 wrote: post #2

My biggest challenge as a CTO is that, by nature, I'm singular in focus. If I am developing something I find it hard to context switch and review other developers' work. The best strategy I have found so far is to block certain times in the week solely for reviewing everyone's progress.

Why don't you do it the other way around? Plan in some focus time to work when nobody can bother you, and for the rest be available for the team.

I think these are both valid approaches for different company sizes. If it's a team of 3-4, you're primarily an IC, who also CTO's. If it's a team of 10-15, it's the opposite.

Re: Resources for chief technology officers, with the emphasis on startups

#56

Post by dmichulke »

jb1991 wrote: post #9

What exactly would be the audience for this? I’d be worried about someone coming in as a CTO who would actually need a list like this.

Fixed vs growth mindset.

Fixed = your talent is fixed, you will not learn, challenges will either show your talent or reveal you're a fake, helpful sheets and reminders like this are a proof of your lack of talent, therefore never admit that you're don't know anything

Growth mindset is basically the opposite.

Re: Resources for chief technology officers, with the emphasis on startups

#57

Post by sponaugle »

zingar wrote: post #49
sponaugle wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That is interesting. I'm a CTO, originally a CTO of a startup, now CTO of the much larger acquiring company. It is fascinating to see how different the CTO job can be across industries. I find my time is spent in almost the opposite direction, with the majority of it involving deep technical context switched rapidly.. and that really is the skill that I have need to refine the most - the ability apply high focus quic…

Interesting, how did you develop that skill?

The biggest accelerator, at least for me, was having a child. As anyone who has children know, the first few years are a long sequence of tasks interspersed with small breaks. If you want to get anything done, you have to be able to do it in small increments. On the hobby side for instance, I worked at keeping a running note log with my projects so I could walk in and actually make progress on a project when I only had 10 mins free. I carried a notebook with 'thought areas' that needed some thought applied, and if my daughter was sleeping I might crack it open and look at one of the problems and work on it.

The ability to do real, forward progressing complex work in small chunks has made a huge difference in both my personal life and my professional one. I suspect it will also be helpful as I get older, because eventually great memory skills fade!

Re: Resources for chief technology officers, with the emphasis on startups

#58

Post by Schwolop »

water8 wrote: post #39
ido wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I personally find it to become the case with as little as 5-6 developers under me (assuming they are good and I can trust them to program without needing me to step in and solve their problems of their own making on a regular basis). Also as someone nearing his late 30s I'm sometimes surprised how good some programmers are as young as late teens/early 20s! These rare talents mostly need me to prevent them from going…

Managing a team is just like managing threads. Keep them as autonomous and lock-free as possible

I like this. Hadn't heard it before, but it's succinct and as it happens, I agree!

Re: Resources for chief technology officers, with the emphasis on startups

#59

Post by Schwolop »

sponaugle wrote: post #57
zingar wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting, how did you develop that skill?

The biggest accelerator, at least for me, was having a child. As anyone who has children know, the first few years are a long sequence of tasks interspersed with small breaks. If you want to get anything done, you have to be able to do it in small increments. On the hobby side for instance, I worked at keeping a running note log with my projects so I could walk in and actually make progress on a project when I only h…

I second this. Ok, I'm on the Manager schedule now. How do I still make things? Having kids puts you on the Manager schedule (interruptions are to be expected and blocks of time without pre-scheduled interruptions are rare) whether you like it or not.
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