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If the CTO isn't technical, how do they know what to delegate? Who to delegate to? How do they determine who to listen to?
by mruniverse 4y ago
If the CTO isn't technical, how do they know what to delegate? Who to delegate to? How do they determine who to listen to?
- codingdave 4y agoThink about it via an analogy - do you know how to fix your own plumbing? If not, how do you know who to hire to repair your home? In short, you look at what they have done, listen to people who have worked with them, and react accordingly. Once you have hired someone, you have your own direct experience with them and can judge for yourself whether or not their work met your needs. If they meet your needs, then the relationship is working. If not, it isn't so you let them go and find someone else. Technical people looking up from the bottom often expect some type of meritocracy where being good at your job earns you promotions and responsibility, but that isn't really how leadership works. When you are trusted, you get promotions. For exactly the reasons stated above - leaders delegate to people they have worked with before and trust that the needs will be met. So as a leader, decide who you trust. As someone lower down the chain, work to build that trust.
- mruniverse 4y agoHow to decide is the question. If you're a CTO, do you trust your person A or B? If you're not technical what do you base it on? What are you judging? Are you judging based on their personality? The number of brownbag talks? The feedback from peers? What you want is for someone to know how things work. And if they don't know, know what to ask. You want someone who's done it before. They have to be technical. You want your chief of plumbing to know how to plumb. You don't want them to just be familiar with plumbing. If so, the next thing you know a good salesperson will talk them into replacing all the pipes with new wonder-pipes with space-age wonder-clamps.