Product Driven Fixing the Language Barrier Between Engineers and Executives with Karell Ste-Marie of The Serious CTO
Sep 11, 2025
Explore the hidden communication barriers between engineers and executives. Learn why innovation stalls in large organizations and how a CTO can bridge these gaps. Discover how introversion affects engineering culture and the crucial blend of product knowledge and technical expertise for success. Delve into the challenges of empathy in engineering and how storytelling can enhance collaboration. Finally, uncover the importance of soft skills and a product-driven mindset for career growth in the tech world.
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Why Large Companies Rarely Innovate
- Large companies rarely innovate because culture resists change and people prefer familiar pain over unknown outcomes.
- Karell Ste‑Marie argues fear of change and institutional inertia block most organizational innovation.
The Language And Culture Gap
- Engineers and nontechnical executives develop different languages and cultures that make mutual understanding difficult.
- Karell says the resulting divide creates mythical coworkers who are left out of business planning and social interaction.
Have A Bilingual Technical Leader
- Bridge engineering and business by having leaders who fluently speak both technical and business languages.
- Karell and Matt emphasize that CTOs or dev leads must translate between teams to move work forward.
