5 ways CTOs lose credibility in the CSuite/boardrooom

1. Not understanding value vs price, or strategic technology building that makes business sense. eg. using only engineering tools/approaches they like, which might cost less but not add enough value considering the market the company is operating in or customer base they have, thus limiting customer acquisition, retention or upselling.

2. Talking about DORA metrics in the boardroom when asked about engineering delivery.

3. Not having clear delivery metrics for engineering. Not having a clear product delivery process, not being strict on entry requirements for change to be brought into the delivery process but expecting everyone in the board-room to trust engineering that the product “will arrive when it arrives”.

4. Not collaborating with the other departments within the business, creating siloes and encouraging their reports to “fight it out as a way to keep power”.

5. Asking for money for more engineers but saying to the board “trust me, we need more people” instead of making the business case for why they need more engineers.

What else could make the CTO lose credibility in the CSuite/board room?

#cto #ceo #board #csuite #elt #reengineeringleadership

Post partly inspired by Richard George’s comments some weeks ago.