5 ms·

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.

by jb1991 6y ago

koonsolo 6y ago
I, on the other hand, would be worried when a CTO claims (s)he knows everything already. The more experienced you are, the more you realize how little you know.
- yowlingcat 6y ago
  While that's true, these articles don't teach you that much as a CTO. The most leveraged way to learn how to CTO is to work for a good one and keep the curiosity level high. The next way after that is to cultivate good relationships with CTOs you look up to and develop a mentor-mentee relationship. The next most leveraged way to learn how to CTO is to just do it. Ultimately, reading the material on these lists is a very small fraction of the job. Personally, I've already read most of the items on the last list years ago when I was earlier in my career and wanted to understand different historical organizational models. That's the right time to read this kind of stuff, because you can use it to pattern match and dig into what others around you are doing in an environment where you are not on the hook for their strategic mistakes. By the time you're actually doing it, this material will probably not be that much help. You'll be in the driver's seat, not the passenger's seat. You'll need to use driver's seat tools, not passenger's seat tools.
  - koonsolo 6y ago
    This is my personal opinion, so don't take it too hard. But your post triggers my BS alert. First of all, how many CTO's do you know? And how many of them are good? Second, is this "mentor-mentee" thing real, or just something business coaches and get-rich-quick gurus claim? Never seen it in the real world. I'm an old timer. Most of my experience comes from experience. Most of my intellect comes from books an articles written by people who know what they are talking about. Claiming that the latter is a waste of time seems very wrong advice to me. But maybe your mentor told you differently.
    - staticautomatic 6y ago
      Perhaps we should add “Don’t say things like ‘The most leveraged way to learn how to CTO’.” to the list.
      - yowlingcat 6y ago
        > 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 experience.
        staticautomatic 6y ago
        My comment is both a substantive critique of how you communicate and a commentary on executive communication.
        deleted 6y ago
        [deleted]
        yowlingcat 6y ago
        > 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.
        staticautomatic 6y ago
        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.
    - PragmaticPulp 6y ago
- jc01480 6y ago
  Humility is a dwindling characteristic in modern times.
ido 6y ago
What about someone growing into the role of CTO? I run a tiny company (single-digit number of workers) & am de-facto the only "boss"/executive so I guess you can say I'm the CEO (I'm also an individual contributor - as I said, tiny). But I still need to sometimes also do what a CTO would do in a bigger company, and if things go well and the company grows I may need to incrementally learn more and more of the themes above (up to the point where I hire a CTO to replace me in that role I guess).
- notretarded 6y ago
  >But I still need to sometimes also do what a CTO would do in a bigger company Not really.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
simonw 6y ago
I don't think I've ever met a CTO who wouldn't benefit from a list like this - or who would deny that it would be useful. The secret to getting good at management is to acknowledge that it is a huge, deep and learnable set of skills. The best managers I know are the ones who constantly seek to improve their skills, and "do the work" to improve.
- tpmx 6y ago
  Makes me think of the two Lex Fridman podcasts with Jim Keller. The second one (last week) got quite fun/loose. It's clear that Jim is constantly reading/actively improving, sometimes doing kinda unusual things, like having a specific strategy for priming his REM sleep by thinking a lot about some current problem combined with some kind of meditation exercise.
- sponaugle 6y ago
  "I don't think I've ever met a CTO who wouldn't benefit from a list like this - or who would deny that it would be useful." The most valuable thing for me, and I am a CTO, is exactly the reminder of the breadth of the list. Most of the areas of the list are things I am familiar with, but it is easy to let a few areas fall short. One of the key expectations of a CTO is broad expertise, which is a tall ask.
  - tpmx 6y ago
    > One of the key expectations of a CTO is broad expertise, which is a tall ask. Being a generalist + working in many separate areas will get you there. It does take time to build experience. I guess you can accelerate it slightly by reading books, but really, most of the lessons are best learned by doing, I think.
eatonphil 6y ago
Nobody knows everything. :D I am constantly looking for engineering management resources to learn more or find new ways of thinking.
tylersmith 6y ago
It's not a syllabus for a training program, it's a list of resources you might need at different times, as a refresher or supplement for areas where you're weaker than in other areas.
agy 6y ago
I find CTO title without knowing at least company size ambiguous. Engineering managers, directors are more constant across companies. Is there a big difference between engineering manager with a team of 8 working on a product and CTO with the engineering team of 8? I would say no. I feel that the list will be helpful for those who want to learn more about engineering leadership and soft skills.
dmichulke 6y ago
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.

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.

by jb1991 6y ago

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.

koonsolo 6y ago

I, on the other hand, would be worried when a CTO claims (s)he knows everything already. The more experienced you are, the more you realize how little you know.

yowlingcat 6y ago
While that's true, these articles don't teach you that much as a CTO. The most leveraged way to learn how to CTO is to work for a good one and keep the curiosity level high. The next way after that is to cultivate good relationships with CTOs you look up to and develop a mentor-mentee relationship. The next most leveraged way to learn how to CTO is to just do it. Ultimately, reading the material on these lists is a very small fraction of the job. Personally, I've already read most of the items on the last list years ago when I was earlier in my career and wanted to understand different historical organizational models. That's the right time to read this kind of stuff, because you can use it to pattern match and dig into what others around you are doing in an environment where you are not on the hook for their strategic mistakes. By the time you're actually doing it, this material will probably not be that much help. You'll be in the driver's seat, not the passenger's seat. You'll need to use driver's seat tools, not passenger's seat tools.
- koonsolo 6y ago
  This is my personal opinion, so don't take it too hard. But your post triggers my BS alert. First of all, how many CTO's do you know? And how many of them are good? Second, is this "mentor-mentee" thing real, or just something business coaches and get-rich-quick gurus claim? Never seen it in the real world. I'm an old timer. Most of my experience comes from experience. Most of my intellect comes from books an articles written by people who know what they are talking about. Claiming that the latter is a waste of time seems very wrong advice to me. But maybe your mentor told you differently.
  - staticautomatic 6y ago
    Perhaps we should add “Don’t say things like ‘The most leveraged way to learn how to CTO’.” to the list.
    - yowlingcat 6y ago
      > 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 experience.
      - staticautomatic 6y ago
        My comment is both a substantive critique of how you communicate and a commentary on executive communication.
        deleted 6y ago
        [deleted]
        yowlingcat 6y ago
        > 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.
        staticautomatic 6y ago
        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.
  - PragmaticPulp 6y ago
jc01480 6y ago
Humility is a dwindling characteristic in modern times.

ido 6y ago

What about someone growing into the role of CTO? I run a tiny company (single-digit number of workers) & am de-facto the only "boss"/executive so I guess you can say I'm the CEO (I'm also an individual contributor - as I said, tiny). But I still need to sometimes also do what a CTO would do in a bigger company, and if things go well and the company grows I may need to incrementally learn more and more of the themes above (up to the point where I hire a CTO to replace me in that role I guess).

notretarded 6y ago
>But I still need to sometimes also do what a CTO would do in a bigger company Not really.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

simonw 6y ago

I don't think I've ever met a CTO who wouldn't benefit from a list like this - or who would deny that it would be useful. The secret to getting good at management is to acknowledge that it is a huge, deep and learnable set of skills. The best managers I know are the ones who constantly seek to improve their skills, and "do the work" to improve.

tpmx 6y ago
Makes me think of the two Lex Fridman podcasts with Jim Keller. The second one (last week) got quite fun/loose. It's clear that Jim is constantly reading/actively improving, sometimes doing kinda unusual things, like having a specific strategy for priming his REM sleep by thinking a lot about some current problem combined with some kind of meditation exercise.
sponaugle 6y ago
"I don't think I've ever met a CTO who wouldn't benefit from a list like this - or who would deny that it would be useful." The most valuable thing for me, and I am a CTO, is exactly the reminder of the breadth of the list. Most of the areas of the list are things I am familiar with, but it is easy to let a few areas fall short. One of the key expectations of a CTO is broad expertise, which is a tall ask.
- tpmx 6y ago
  > One of the key expectations of a CTO is broad expertise, which is a tall ask. Being a generalist + working in many separate areas will get you there. It does take time to build experience. I guess you can accelerate it slightly by reading books, but really, most of the lessons are best learned by doing, I think.

eatonphil 6y ago

Nobody knows everything. :D I am constantly looking for engineering management resources to learn more or find new ways of thinking.

tylersmith 6y ago

It's not a syllabus for a training program, it's a list of resources you might need at different times, as a refresher or supplement for areas where you're weaker than in other areas.

agy 6y ago

I find CTO title without knowing at least company size ambiguous. Engineering managers, directors are more constant across companies. Is there a big difference between engineering manager with a team of 8 working on a product and CTO with the engineering team of 8? I would say no. I feel that the list will be helpful for those who want to learn more about engineering leadership and soft skills.

dmichulke 6y ago

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.