The Reformist CTO's Guide to Impact Intelligence

Overview
The article explains how technology leaders can shift their organizations' focus from measuring productivity to measuring business impact. It introduces the concept of Impact Intelligence, describes its components, and offers practical steps for CTOs and engineering managers to embed impact thinking into product development and delivery.

Key Takeaways

• Impact should be the primary metric, not velocity or output.
• Build a demand management process that surfaces high-impact work.
• Reduce measurement debt by establishing clear impact metrics early.
• Use impact validation to test assumptions before large investments.
• Communicate impact in business terms to align with finance and executive leadership.

Who Would Benefit

• CTOs and VP of Engineering looking to align technology with business outcomes.
• Engineering managers responsible for team performance and delivery.
• Product managers interested in impact-driven roadmaps.
• Technical leaders seeking to improve decision-making with data.

Frameworks and Methodologies

• Impact Intelligence framework
• Demand Management practices
• Impact Validation cycles