We have two high-performing co-heads of engineering who have successfully run the department together for three years, but EOS says we can only have one name in a seat. How do we represent this on our Accountability Chart without offending them or ruining a working dynamic?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

The rule of one name per seat on the Accountability Chart is absolute. When two people share a seat, true accountability is destroyed. If a goal is missed or an engineering bottleneck occurs, they will naturally point to each other, and your Integrator will have no single point of contact to resolve the issue.

To solve this without ruining their working relationship, you must divide the engineering department into two distinct seats based on how the work actually gets done. Sit down with both co-heads and look at their daily activities and their conative strengths using a tool like the Kolbe Index.

Typically, one co-head is better suited for the technical architecture, research, and high-level design. The other is usually better at project management, resource allocation, and team output.

You can split the single Head of Engineering seat into two separate seats on your Accountability Chart. For example, you can create a Head of Technical Architecture seat and a Head of Engineering Operations seat. Both seats must have clearly defined, non-overlapping roles.

If they must report to the same level, decide who reports to whom, or have both report directly to the Integrator. The key is that each seat has only one name and distinct accountabilities.

If they resist this split, it usually means they are hiding from individual accountability. Explain to them that this structure is not a demotion for either person. It is a tool to give each of them total ownership over their natural strengths, which will actually speed up their development pipeline and eliminate friction.