The Become CTO System
A proven methodology for aligning technology leadership and team capability with the stage your business is actually at.
Five core frameworks and proven operational tools working together to deliver one complete transformation path.
Why This System Exists
Every business has a technology leadership stage. The System helps boards and executives identify where their technology function sits today, where it needs to be next, and how to align leadership, team capability, and operational maturity with their current business context.
When a technology function isn't delivering, the instinct is to blame the leader. But underperformance typically signals one of three realities: the function lacks the capability for this business stage, it's capable but mismatched to the context, or leadership is unwilling to evolve the function beyond what's comfortable. The third is the most common and the hardest to diagnose. Many technology leaders keep their function anchored to what made them successful, hands on technical delivery like coding or architecture, rather than transforming it into the strategic capability their business stage now demands. What looks like dysfunction is often resistance to necessary evolution.
The System provides a structured, evidence based approach to diagnose which situation you're facing and chart the transformation path. It addresses leadership identity, team capability, and operational systems together, because changing one without the others fails. The right function at the wrong maturity level will still underdeliver. A capable function that refuses to evolve will fail faster.
The 5 Stages of Business Maturity
Technology leadership requirements change dramatically as businesses evolve. Here's the progression most organisations face:
| Stage | Business Context | Leadership You Likely Have | Leadership You Actually Need |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stage 1: Founding | Vision and prototype. Centralised leadership. | Founder CTO: visionary, hands on, product first. | Structure and discipline without killing speed. |
| Stage 2: Growing | Product market fit emerging. First team forming. | Startup CTO or Fractional CTO: delivery focused, defining early process. | Repeatability and accountability, not just output. |
| Stage 3: Scaling | Rapid growth. People and systems under strain. | Scaleup CTO: systems builder, managing teams. | Leader development, embedded process, commercial alignment. |
| Stage 4: Stabilising | Maturity, reliability, consistency required. | Shepherd or Alchemist CTO: steady, operational, risk aware. | Stability maintained while seeding innovation and resilience. |
| Stage 5: Transforming | Business reinvention, technology led strategy. | Maverick CTO: disruptive, visionary, transformation led. | Orchestrated renewal balancing innovation with delivery. |
The System provides the frameworks to close these gaps, stage by stage, with proven tools that work for both leadership development and team transformation.
What's Inside the System
Five core frameworks that address leadership transformation and team evolution, supported by operational tools that embed the change and make it stick.
The Five Core Frameworks
Technology Function Maturity Framework
Identifies the leadership you have and the leadership you need by measuring maturity alignment, capability coverage, and cultural readiness. Maps how well your current leadership matches your business stage across the 5 stages and 7 CTO archetypes (Founder, Startup, Scaleup, Fractional, Shepherd, Maverick, Alchemist). Reveals what type of leader you need next.
22 Point Diagnostic
Pinpoints exactly what's blocking your technology function at its current stage and what needs to change to progress to the next level.
TMSD Framework (Technology Leadership Readiness)
Assesses readiness to step into technology leadership across Time, Money, Skills, and Data. Reveals whether you're truly ready, understand what leadership requires, and have shifted your mindset from Technologist to Technology Leader.
LIT Framework
Develops balance across Leader, Innovator, and Technologist dimensions. Helps you shift left from the T to build complete leadership identity.
Technology Team Transformation Triangle
Builds High Performing Teams through three interconnected elements: Intent (clear direction and aligned decisions), Momentum (predictable delivery rhythm), and Ownership (distributed accountability). When all three work together, teams shift from Order Takers to Impact Makers.
Operational Tools That Make It Stick
Playbooks and Cadence Tools: Rituals, templates, and scorecards that embed new behaviours and create operational consistency. These turn framework insights into daily practice and ensure the transformation becomes permanent.
Built on Proven Results
The Become CTO System is the foundation of every engagement we deliver. Technology leaders using the System report faster decision making, improved team performance, and stronger alignment between technology delivery and business objectives.
Built on Decades of Experience
Our founder has spent 40+ years as a technologist and 25+ years in technology leadership roles. Every framework in the System is grounded in real experience navigating the exact challenges it addresses.
Since 2011, the System has been refined through real engagements with CTOs across founding, growth, scale, and transformation stages. It's not theoretical. It's what actually works when you're in the role, facing the pressure, and need to deliver results.
What the System Delivers
Leadership Alignment
Your CTO develops the capability and identity required to lead effectively at your current business stage and prepares for the next transition.
Team Performance
Your technology team shifts from reactive execution to proactive ownership, building momentum and delivering measurable business impact.
Operational Consistency
Embedded frameworks and rituals create predictable delivery rhythms and reduce the firefighting that drains leadership capacity.
Start With a Strategic Assessment
We'll assess where your technology leadership and team sit relative to your business stage, identify the critical gaps, and map the transformation path forward.
Book Your AssessmentBecome CTO
Building High Performing Technology Teams
We embed to fix how teams operate while coaching CTOs to lead at that level.
