RefactorOps

Michael Smith

I build operating models that make engineering organizations predictable.

Twenty years leading digital delivery at global agencies and enterprise programs. CTO. Author of The Technical Leader's Field Guide and the forthcoming The Quiet Collapse. Founder of RefactorOps.

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Writing

Practical thinking on engineering leadership and digital delivery.

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May 31, 2026

CMS Selection Is an Operating Model Decision

The right CMS isn't the one with the strongest feature list. It's the one that fits how your organization creates, governs, publishes, and evolves digital experiences.

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May 28, 2026

Before You Build: Why Digital Experience Readiness Matters

Design approval feels like a green light. But it's also the moment where most digital programs begin to quietly fail. Here's what readiness actually requires.

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March 11, 2026

AI Coding vs AI Delivery

AI tools have become extremely capable at generating code. But most software delivery failures do not originate in coding. The real opportunity for AI lies in managing the delivery system itself.

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Books

The Technical Leader's Field Guide
Available Now

The Technical Leader's Field Guide

A practical field guide for technical leads, architects, and new CTOs who are tired of chaos, vague requirements, and scope creep. Stop being the firefighter. Start being the person everyone trusts.

  • ◆14+ years of real delivery leadership distilled into a framework
  • ◆Scope control, architecture reviews, Definition of Done
  • ◆Built from client work where being wrong costs money
Get it on Amazon
Coming 2026

The Quiet Collapse

An executive-level diagnosis of systemic delivery failure — why capable teams inside organized systems keep producing the same failure patterns, and the structural model that prevents it.

For CTOs, VPs of Engineering, and executives with the authority to change the systems their teams operate inside.

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What People Are Saying

“This is an excellent book. I wish I'd known this stuff when managing projects in my old IT career.”
Principal Technical PM
“Every manager should have a copy on their desk.”
Lead Software Engineer
“A practical, experience-driven guide full of sensible defaults and real-world lessons.”
Senior Engineering Manager
“A great articulation of how to set expectations internally and externally.”
Solutions Architect

Free Templates

The frameworks behind the book — ready to use today.

Definition of Done

Set standards, stop rework.

Download DOD Framework (PDF)

Scope Starter

Systems and scripts to define, defend, and deliver scope with clarity.

Download Scope Starter Kit (PDF)

T‑Minus Tracker

Prevent indecision from killing velocity.

Download T-Minus Template (PDF)

About

Michael Smith

CTO · Author · Engineering Leader

Twenty years leading digital delivery — from hands-on development through managing 80-person distributed teams across North America and APAC. Most recently as one of four MD-level technology executives at VML, a $4B WPP global agency, before stepping into the CTO role at Imagemakers.

Author of The Technical Leader's Field Guide — a practical playbook for technical leaders in high-pressure environments. Working on The Quiet Collapse, an executive-level diagnosis of systemic delivery failure.

I founded RefactorOps to turn what I've learned the hard way into frameworks and tools other engineering leaders can actually use. Systems scale. Heroics don't.

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PreflightOps

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