The puppet CTO

…has all the blame with none of the authority.

And most small and medium companies get this wrong.

The Chief Technology Officer is a strategic and executive role.

However, in most organizations, the role lacks executive power and is rarely strategic.

At best, you’re the most experienced engineer, a technical team lead, or a software architect.

At worst, you’re holding the master AWS login, assigning JIRA access, and fixing tech stuff that breaks, like MS Teams, for your non-technical coworkers.

But…

Can you hire a freelance DevOps engineer without approval?

Do you have access to a company credit card to try out a SaaS?

Can you fire a bad hire without weeks of company-wide negotiation?

Yeah…

If the answer is no, you’ve found yourself in the puppet CTO role.

It’s pretty easy. Let’s look at one of the job ads advertising a CTO role:

You will handle:

  • Technical Leadership
  • Team Management
  • Architecture & Design
  • Hands-on Development
  • Decision Making

The thing is…

This is a catch-all role, and someone who finds themselves in it will likely spend most of their time writing code, fixing bugs, managing JIRA issues, and feeling overwhelmed.

The leadership thinks they’re saving money by getting someone who can do everything, including code development, IT, software architecture, and hands-on team management.

Some people who step into the role can redefine it, slowly take ownership, and hand over the tactical things to their team to focus on the strategy, but plenty can only with help.

There’s no one answer that works for everything. Many of the problems stem from the changing requirements of the role as the company scales.

It will be way different with 3 engineers and 100.

But the decisions you make at the start, could influence the entire trajectory of the company.

So, a company without a strategic and executive technical leader is betting on luck to make the right choices.

And luck is not a method.

…

If you’re applying for a puppet CTO position, it’s important to address the limitations and present that you can’t do your best work without executive power and the space for strategic thinking.

Redefine a role you’ll be comfortable stepping into.

If you’re a company that has a puppet CTO, it’s time to think about how you can relieve some of his responsibilities so that they can evolve into a strategic executive role.

And get them the help they need.

P.S. What’s your take on the puppet CTO role?

Best regards,

Taj Pelc

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