This week’s transition of Twitter’s CEO from Jack Dorsey (Twitter Founder) to Parag Agrawal (former CTO) reminded me of a couple of things this week. Firstly how some companies likely think very long-term about succession plans, like Amazon’s CEO transition from Jeff Bezos to Andy Jassy. It also reminded me how digital companies have a strong advantage if their CEO deeply understands tech and isn’t simply a consumer of it. Microsoft’s and Apple’s CEOs are two other examples that come to mind.

But understanding tech isn’t enough.

If you’re a CTO, there are other sides to the business such as developing markets, products and also commercial concerns. But if your CEO understands tech, there’s going to be less arguing around topics like investing in technical excellence, building strong engineering cultures and, investing in R&D.

This reminds me of a lot of the digital transformations many “traditional” companies went through or are going through where the CIO is the only executive who has some background yet IT is still seen as a cost-centre. Change and transformation are hard. I know this, having helped many companies as a consultant, but it’s also worth it. As Deming puts it, “It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory.” If you’re in a digital-first company, you might be luckier with your executive team and their level of tech understanding though it’s still no guarantee.

Enjoy this week’s newsletter and be sure to pass it on to a friend or colleague.

Want to level up your technical leadership skills? Watch out for future dates of “Shortcut to Tech Leadership” in 2022, or take a self-paced course at the http://techlead.academy.