CTO Craft Bytes: The Lean Tech Leadership Playbook – Maximum Impact with Minimum Resources

Join us for an evening of insight, discussion, and networking at CTO Craft Bytes in Manchester. Expect great conversations, drinks, and food – all thanks to our friends at Softwire.

We’ll kick off with a talk from Tim Benjamin, Principal Technology Consultant at Softwire, who will share practical strategies for building high-performance engineering teams with limited resources. After the session, we’re adding an interactive twist—an unconference segment, where attendees can propose topics, vote, and take the stage for lightning talks. 

About the session:

In today’s high-pressure tech landscape, leaders at fast-growing companies face a universal challenge: delivering ambitious technical capabilities with constrained resources. 

In this session, Tim Benjamin, Principal Technology Consultant at Softwire, cuts through theoretical approaches to present practical strategies for building high-performance engineering organisations under real-world constraints. 

Drawing from proven lean methodologies, Tim will share specific techniques for maximising team output while maintaining quality and sustainability.

Key discussion points include:

Redefining MVP and implementing true incrementalism through techniques like Walking Skeletons and Elephant Carpaccio

• Flow optimisation strategies that dramatically increase throughput without increasing team size
• Practical implementation of outcome-based development for faster pivots and amplification
• The four metrics that actually matter for lean tech teams and how to use them effectively
• Realistic assessment of AI’s role as a force multiplier in resource-constrained environments