After reading my post Management:  Competency one reader asked the following question:

How much of a weighting do you put on an executive's technical knowledge, or lack thereof? I’m the non-programmer CEO type, and have recently begun teaching myself programming so I can understand better the work of the technical team. I don't intend on spending time contributing to the code, per se, but I have heard from one potential investor that I shouldn't even take the time to learn anything because it will distract me from my real duties: running a business.

It’s generally a good idea for managers to understand what their counterparts are doing. This enables them to manage more effecitvely by supporting and appreciating the efforts of their team. Additionally, this is critical for innovation - having a handle on what's possible is a key to thinking out of the box and creating something special. 

However, this doesn’t mean managers need to be able to do each other’s jobs. If there wasn’t expectation of specialization within a management team, everyone would be doing everything poorly.

VCs are looking for this balance between understanding and specialization in management teams. CEOs don’t need to be functional in the CTO role, but it’s very helpful when they can understand what a CTO is doing, what the challenges and opportunities the CTO faces and ultimately how they can help the CTO.  Note that the level of understanding required to identify opportunities and be helpful likely varies by the technical complexity of the product.

While having an understanding of other people's roles is important, the CEO should also be careful not to invest too much time in understanding the CTOs work.  Time is a finite resource and the CEO needs to be focused on CEO activities.

In sum, you don’t need to have all of the skills required to run the entire company by yourself.  Nobody is superman. The key is to recruit partners and employees that complement the areas where you are not strong.  It's the collective skill-set of the management team that counts.

Comments

[Nate]

Thanks for the answer!

Very useful.

NW

[Mike]

I'm in a similar position to the person asking the question. It's definitely essential to know the problems and be able to suggest solutions, but as far as writing code - I don't do that at all.

I guess a lot depends on how techno-focused the business is.

[Mike]

I'm in a similar position to the person asking the question. It's definitely essential to know the problems and be able to suggest solutions, but as far as writing code - I don't do that at all.

I guess a lot depends on how techno-focused the business is.