Our head of engineering has been with us since the beginning and is a technical genius, but as we scale, his seat now requires managing a team of ten people. He gets and wants the technical work, but completely lacks the capacity or desire to lead, manage, and hold people accountable. How do we address this GWC issue without losing our best technical asset?

Question

Tyler Smith · Accepted Answer

This is a classic structure versus people conflict. As organizations grow, technical seats often morph into management seats, which requires a completely different skillset. Your head of engineering has a high G and W for the technical aspects of the work, but clearly lacks the capacity for the leadership, management, and accountability, or LMA, portion of the seat.

To solve this, you must separate the technical expertise from the management responsibilities. Do not leave a genius in a seat where they are failing at LMA, as this will lead to team turnover and operational bottlenecks. At the same time, you do not want to lose their invaluable technical brainpower.

The solution is to redesign your Accountability Chart™. Split the existing engineering department into two distinct seats. Create a Chief Technical Architect seat that focuses purely on high-level technical work, system design, and coding, with zero direct reports. Then, create an Engineering Manager seat that is strictly accountable for LMA, project management, and team delivery.

Move your veteran engineer into the Chief Technical Architect seat, where they can thrive and deliver maximum value. Hire or promote a strong leader into the Engineering Manager seat. This structure honors your veteran's strengths, ensures proper management for the team, and keeps your operations running cleanly.