Thinking Like a CTO (2nd Edition): Establishing and Managing an Engineering Team

by Umut Gökbayrak, .

"Thinking Like a CTO" (2nd Edition) is a comprehensive and insightful book that delves into the mind of a Chief Technology Officer (CTO), providing a wealth of knowledge and practical strategies to navigate the complex world of technology leadership. Authored by Umut Gökbayrak, a seasoned CTO with extensive experience in startups and large enterprises, this book offers a deep understanding of the challenges, responsibilities, and opportunities that come with the role. Throughout the book, Gökbayrak shares his expertise and real-world experiences, guiding readers through key areas of technology leadership. Starting with understanding the business, readers will gain insights into analyzing the company's vision, business model, competition, and culture. The book then delves into exploring one's own management style, providing valuable frameworks and self-assessment techniques to develop an effective leadership approach. With technology strategy as a central theme, readers will learn how to align technology initiatives with business goals, identify market trends, and make informed decisions about the company's technology stack. The book also emphasizes the importance of building and managing a high-performing technology team, offering guidance on attracting top talent, fostering innovation, and creating a collaborative and inclusive work environment. Measuring success is a crucial aspect of technology leadership, and "Thinking Like a CTO" provides practical frameworks and key performance indicators (KPIs) to track progress and drive continuous improvement. Readers will also gain insights into effective communication strategies, conflict resolution, and giving constructive feedback to empower their teams and foster a culture of growth and collaboration. With its comprehensive coverage and practical approach, "Thinking Like a CTO" serves as a valuable resource for aspiring and current CTOs, technology executives, and professionals looking to enhance their strategic thinking, leadership skills, and overall effectiveness in the dynamic world of technology. By embracing the insights and strategies shared in this book, readers will be equipped to thrive in their roles, drive impactful results, and lead their organizations to success in the fast-paced and ever-evolving technology landscape.

The Table of Contents
- Is Management a Skill to be Taught?
- 3 stages of a Fast Growing Startup
- Understanding the Business
- Analyzing the Competition
- Engaging with Key Stakeholders
- Evaluating the Technology Stack
- Understanding the Culture and Values
- What Does the Leadership Expect from a CTO?
- Building Up Your Personal Brand
- Understanding Different Management Styles
- Identifying Your Own Management Style
- Developing a Technology Strategy
- Understanding Business Goals in 6 Steps
- Financial Reports and Statements
- Identifying Technology Trends that can Impact the Business
- Staying Relevant and Identifying Trends
- Seven Phenomenons of Courage
- The Authority and the Responsibility Duo
- On the Subtle Art of Saying “No”
- Understanding 4 Different Engineering Personas
- Attracting the Best Talent
- Convincing the New Generation to Work With You
- Motivating Your Team
- A Self-Taught Software Developer vs. a Scholar
- Should CTOs Write Code?
- Treating Everyone Equally (or Not!)
- Building a Successful Employee Referral System
- Creating an Upskilling Program
- Remote Engineering Teams
- Fostering an Innovation Culture
- Determining Whether to Purchase or Do a Project In-House
- Cultivating the MVP Culture
- Embracing the Failures
- Building Cross-Departmental Collaboration
- Handling Conflicts
- Difficult Giving feedback
- Measuring Performance
- OKRs (Objectives and Key Results)
- KPIs
- SMART Goals
- Balanced Scorecard
- Metrics for Measuring Productivity

233 pages, ebook

Published January 27, 2021

Reviews

[Ivan Korneliuk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Безперечним плюсом є те, що в книзі всьго 47 сторінок. Саме те що мені було треба, щоб хоч одну книгу дочитати нарешті. Тепер як попре!

Схоже на нарізку блогів. Загалом читати досить цікаво і є речі що резонують. Але далеко не все маатчиться з саме моїм досвідом.

[Ignas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short book and as expected it does not go deep into the topics. Although it is quite good summary (and we’ll written) for the new CTO or someone who might be interested to understand CTO role.

Personally I found some interesting thoughts, notes and some if the things confirmed my own views and ideas. As this was like a good refresher or reminder, nothing ground breaking.

If you can get this on sale, might be good to skim through.

[Reme Le Hane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite a good read, having read most of the other books on the topic (there are very few), I found this one not all that informative in the context of new information, but it did dive deeper into certain and added more depth and a different perspective to the information so definitely add value to the subject at hand.

As someone preparing for this roles, I can definitely say it’s something worth reading some someone in my shoes, but I cannot speak for its value to those already performing the role.

[Jeevan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably the shortest book I read. If you are expecting technical advise you will not find it here. However, the ideas in the book read like what you hear from a mentor distilling their personal experiences. While there was nothing ground breaking, the directness of the content and simple categorization of the topics, makes it worth the 20-30 mins reading time.

[Ross Demirel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Book for first time CTOs

This is a great book and example of less is more. Short but powerful messages that I could understand and remember.

[Kemal Ogün Işık · Rating 4 out of 5]

Umut Gökbayrak'ın kendi tecrübelerini, gözlemlerini ve yönetim şeklini anlattığı ve bunları bir araya topladığı bir kitap. Bu kitabı okumak benim için, beraber çalıştığımız süre zarfında Umut'un aldığı kararları bir de onun gözünden görebildiğim için değişik bir tecrübe oldu.

Kitap içerisindeki her fikrin genel kabul gören fikirler olduğunu düşünmüyorum. O açıdan başka bir sesin kendi yaşantısından tecrübelerle birlikte bu fikirleri savunuyor olması değişik bakış açılarını görmek açısından da önemli.

Okumaya başladığınızda hızlıca okuyabileceğiniz, akıcı bir anlatımı var.