24–30
Lead with a light touch
Leadership is in place. Keep decisions written down, protect the roadmap and review the two lowest factors each quarter.
Strategy & Leadership · 15 factors
Is your technology direction owned?
Score how clearly your company decides, plans and delivers technology work. Ten minutes, one honest answer per factor, and a clearer next decision.
Before you score
Frame the question first
Score the company as it runs today, not the plan. Think of the last two quarters of technology decisions and delivery.
Optional. Stays in your browser unless you send the form below.
- 0Unknown / absentThe requirement is unclear, unavailable, or unowned.
- 1Partially readySome evidence exists, but material gaps remain.
- 2ReadyEvidence, ownership and controls are sufficient for the next step.
Score evidence, not optimism. If you cannot point to the data, owner, metric or control, score it 0 or 1.
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Business link
Technology priorities trace to named revenue, cost or risk goals.
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Decision owner
A senior person owns architecture and priority calls, and is available to make them.
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Roadmap
A 6–12 month roadmap exists and is revisited on a schedule.
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Architecture clarity
The current system, its boundaries and its main risks are documented.
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Decision record
Major decisions are written down with the options considered.
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Delivery predictability
Commitments are usually met, or slippage is flagged early.
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Technical debt
Known debt is listed, ranked and given time in the plan.
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Team structure
Roles, responsibilities and escalation paths are clear.
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Hiring plan
The next hires are justified by the roadmap, not by pressure.
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Vendor dependence
Critical vendors and agencies are known, with exit options.
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Security baseline
Access control, backups and incident basics are in place and tested.
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Delivery metrics
Lead time, reliability or quality is measured and reviewed.
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Spend visibility
Technology spend is known against plan and budget owners.
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Knowledge spread
No single person holds knowledge the business cannot run without.
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Leadership reporting
Technology status is explained clearly to founders, board or investors.
Turn the score into a decision
What your total means
16–23
Close the leadership gaps
Delivery is happening, but ownership or planning is thin. Fix the lowest-scoring factors before adding people or scope.
0–15
Put someone in charge first
Decisions are drifting. Name an owner for architecture and priorities, then build a short roadmap before the next commitment.
Your weakest factors
Your next three actions
- 1Name the gapWrite down the lowest-scoring factor and what it has already cost you.
- 2Assign one ownerGive each weak factor a named owner and a date, not a committee.
- 3Decide the next 90 daysAgree three technology outcomes for the quarter and what you will stop doing.
Next step
Want an independent read before the next big commitment?
The CTO Strategy Sprint reviews your architecture, team and roadmap in two weeks and hands you a decision plan.
CTO Strategy Sprint$4,500 · 2 weeks
Discuss my score
Your score and weakest factors are added to the message for you.
Get your personal report
Score every factor, then get a PDF of your leadership scorecard built from your answers: your total and result, your weakest factors, all fifteen scores and the next steps. (Before every factor is scored, you get the blank scorecard.)