For the last four years, our development team has been led by two co-Heads of Software Engineering who share all decisions and responsibilities. Our M&A advisor warns us that prospective buyers will reject this dual-headed structure on our Accountability Chart. How do we transition this shared seat to a single point of accountability without causing one of our brilliant engineers to quit?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

Dual accountability is no accountability. Having two people share a single seat on your Accountability Chart is a recipe for operational drag, mixed messages to the engineering team, and a major red flag for prospective buyers during exit due diligence.

Buyers want to see a business that is structured to scale, which requires clear, single-point accountability. You must resolve this before you go to market.

Start by defining the single Head of Software Engineering seat with five clear, non-overlapping roles. One of those roles must be the ultimate accountability for the department's output and budget.

Next, evaluate both engineers objectively using GWC™. You will often find that one of them excels at the strategic, leadership, and management aspects of the seat, while the other is actually a brilliant technical architect who prefers building code over managing people.

Once you identify the right fit for the leadership seat, you must restructure the chart. Place the leader in the Head of Software Engineering seat.

For the other engineer, create a highly prestigious, senior technical seat, such as Chief Technical Architect. This seat should report directly to the Head of Engineering, have its own clear roles and Rocks, and command equal respect and compensation.

Present this restructuring not as a demotion, but as a strategic alignment that allows both of them to focus on their unique abilities. If one of them cannot accept this clean structure due to ego, you must address it openly. Keeping a broken, shared-seat structure to avoid a difficult conversation will only hurt your valuation and team health.