Saying No — the Secret to a CTOs Success
Putting a Stop to Big Projects When it’s the Right Thing to Do
The Executive Brief
No
It’s a little word that can have a profound impact. For that reason, some people have trouble saying no. They can get wrapped up in the emotion surrounding the decision rather than focusing on what is right.
We’ve all seen this in our professional careers. Projects that should be shut down continue because it might make someone look bad or because so many resources have already been committed to the project.
CTOs need to be good at saying no, even if it is going to be unpopular.
To help inspire you, I found a montage of the word “no” being used in movies. Enjoy!
Saying No — the Secret to a CTOs Success
Every CTO has been in this position at one time or another in their career: you’re responsible for an important project that key stakeholders are counting on, and you realize at some point that it’s not the right thing to do.
You know you have to stop the project but you’re finding it difficult to say ‘no’ to the stakeholders.
So, why is stopping a big project so difficult for CTOs? Here are several key drivers:
You want to help the business and saying ‘no’ feels like it could harm the company.
You’re worried about our own job security.
You’re worried about letting your peers down. What will other leaders think of you if you stop the project?
You’re worried about letting your teams down. How will they feel if all of a sudden they’re not working on the project anymore?
Maybe you’ve already said ‘yes’ to the project in the past and you don’t want to appear silly in front of others by “changing your mind.”
You’ve already committed to the project and stopping now would feel like a huge waste
But, working through these feelings to ultimately be able to stop the project is exactly what CTOs have to do to succeed in certain situations.
In fact, the best CTOs are constantly reevaluating the feasibility and efficacy of what they’re working on.
In my experience the best CTOs question everything all the time. Not because they are naysayers, but because they know that 90% of software projects never deliver on the business value proposition.
They know most software projects are expensive and complex, and therefore require constant attention, revision, rethinking and focus to get right. They realize that business and market conditions change. That teams change. And that even what the business thinks it values might change over time.
The best CTOs aren’t afraid of stopping a project if they don’t think it will deliver business value because they know that’s a part of their job.
In fact, stopping bad projects is just as important as proposing great new ones!
But here’s another more subtle reason why CTOs find it difficult to stop projects. And its one that CTOs are probably a bit more afraid to admit: CTOs often don’t think far enough ahead to realize which projects actually need stopping before its too late.
There is a lot of acceptance in technology circles for lack of future thinking about business value generation. For a bunch of careful and ordered engineers you’d think it would be the opposite — but the truth is it’s not.
Most technology leaders aren’t that great at predicting the future because they simply don’t spend the time to think things through on a routine basis.
They might be leave that kind of thinking up to Product. Or maybe they are simply conditioned to taking their marching orders and run with them. Or maybe they don’t know how to think about value generation in the right way. Whatever the case may be, thinking ahead about delivering genuine business value isn’t necessarily a strong skillset — but it should be.
For example, let’s look at a comparison: bring in 10 good sales leaders and ask them if they think their team will make a big sale next quarter to a particular client and they will guess correctly 9 out of 10 times. Ask 10 technology leaders whether a big project will deliver business value on time and you’ll get 10 different answers and 9 of them will be wrong.
CTOs need to think ahead about value gen much more than they do. That way they can kill projects that are a waste of both dollars and time for the business.
Remember, there is always opportunity cost to keep top of mind if you’re a good CTO!
The Truth is Paramount
Ultimately, as CTOs we’re responsible to the truth no matter what.
Other types of leaders have other roles & responsibilities. The Sales Leader is used to telling compelling stories. The HR Leader has to keep an entire group of people happy & content. The head of Marketing has to show the company off in the best light possible.
But, for the CTO the truth is paramount, whether good or bad.
The CTO is the dominant technical decision-maker for the company and a great deal rests on their shoulders. CTOs must be relied upon by the CEO and Board to tell it like it is, so that key business stakeholders can make big decisions with the best and most accurate information possible.
If the next big project isn’t going to deliver value you’ve got to speak up. Do it diplomatically. Do it skillfully without hurting peoples feelings. Do it while offering an alternative solution. But it must be done. Or ultimately you will lose the trust of the most important stakeholders in the company.
Go back and think about all those projects that you did just because you were told to do them…knowing they were the wrong thing to do. In the early days of your career maybe it was fine to just get it done and not say anything. But as a big time CTO you have to tell the truth and sometimes that means saying no.
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