[mattferderer]

> Yeah. sure. Which vendors proposal do you pick based off analyzing their stacks and devops procedures? The one that smells nicest? The consultant that bought you a steak?

> Your tech leads think you should use one architecture, your consultant insists it’s another. Who is right never-made-software-before-cto-jack-wagon?

I think these types of decisions apply to many "leadership roles". Those arguing for different ways should be able to explain pros/cons or cost/benefit/risk for each solution. Ideally you would want all parties to be able to agree on your list of pros/cons or cost/benefit/risks. If you can't get agreement over a majority of the items, hiring a neutral party with technical experience might make sense to help with the decision if it's important enough.

I do think knowledge of your company's technology is important. In my experience, people without an interest or passion for it tend to make poor managers as they're harder to communicate & relate with.

In short, I do think that your people skills & management skills are more important than your tech skills. I do think your team should be making most of these decisions. An exception here would be very small development teams (teams < 10).