The CTO's Field Notes

What Are Field Notes?

When I discovered the Zettelkasten method, it completely transformed my approach to note-taking and knowledge management. But there was always this gap between my fleeting notes—those quick, unstructured thoughts I jot down throughout the day—and my permanent notes that make up my knowledge base.

That's where field notes come in.

Field notes are the intentional observations and reflections you capture in the moment, on the ground, in the field of action. Unlike fleeting notes, which can be chaotic and disconnected, field notes have just enough structure to be immediately useful but don't require the deep processing time of permanent notes.

For a CTO, field notes are those critical observations about:

• Team dynamics during a heated architecture debate
• The frustration on a developer's face when explaining a persistent bug
• That sudden insight about how to solve a system design challenge while walking to lunch
• Patterns you notice across multiple customer interactions

Field notes bridge the raw capture of ideas and the structured knowledge you build over time. They're the perfect middle ground between chaos and order.

So What? Why Field Notes Matter

Most CTOs I know are drowning in information. We have meeting notes, Slack messages, emails, docs, and architecture diagrams coming out of our ears. But we're missing the critical observations and connections that happen between formal documentation.

Field notes matter because:

1. They capture context, not just content. When that senior engineer seems resistant to a new framework, your field note captures not just their objection but the underlying anxiety about timeline pressure you noticed in their body language.
2. They preserve the freshness of observation. That brilliant idea you had in the shower about refactoring your authentication service? A field note preserves it with the original spark intact, rather than the watered-down version you'll remember three hours later.
3. They build a record of patterns over time. Individual observations might seem minor, but field notes collected over weeks reveal patterns about your team, your product, and your own leadership that formal documentation misses entirely.
4. They ground your strategic thinking in reality. The best CTOs don't just operate in theoretical architecture diagrams—they maintain a direct connection to how technology and people actually interact on the ground.

Without field notes, I found myself making the same mistakes repeatedly, missing the same patterns, and losing the most valuable insights that came from being in the trenches with my team.

What Now? Creating Your CTO Field Notes Practice

Here's how to implement field notes into your CTO practice:

The Tools

Keep it simple. Field notes need to be accessible anywhere, anytime:

• A small pocket notebook (I like Field Notes brand—appropriately named!)
• A dedicated notes app on your phone (I use Obsidian's mobile app)
• Voice memos for when you're driving or walking

Whatever you choose, it should be frictionless. The best field note is the one you actually capture.

The Structure

Each field note should contain:

1. Date, time, and context (e.g., "Tuesday 10:15 AM, Architecture Review Meeting")
2. Observation (what actually happened, as objectively as possible)
3. Reflection (your thoughts, feelings, and initial connections)
4. Tags or links (quick references to related ideas, people, or projects)

Here's an example:

May 6, 2025 | 2:30 PM | Standup with Backend Team

Observation: Sarah mentioned struggling with the new event bus implementation. Three other devs nodded but didn't speak up. Lead architect Mark immediately defended the design.

Reflection: There seems to be hesitation around critiquing Mark's designs. This is the third time I've noticed this pattern. Could be affecting our ability to identify issues early. Related to our conversation about psychological safety last month?

#team-dynamics #architecture-review #psychological-safety @Sarah @Mark

The Practice

1. Capture daily: Aim for 3-5 field notes each day. They don't need to be lengthy—a few sentences is plenty.
2. Review weekly: Spend 20 minutes each Friday scanning your field notes from the week. Mark any that deserve promotion to permanent notes in your knowledge system.
3. Process monthly: Once a month, convert the most valuable field notes into permanent notes in your Zettelkasten system, creating proper links and connections.
4. Act on patterns: When you spot recurring themes or issues, create a separate note that synthesizes these observations and plan concrete actions.

Integration With Your CTO Notebook

If you've implemented the CTO Notebook system I wrote about earlier, field notes slot perfectly between your fleeting/ and permanent/ folders:

fleeting/ → field-notes/ → permanent/ → topics/

Field notes become the crucial middle step—the refining process that turns raw ore into something valuable enough for permanent storage.

The Field Notes Mindset

The most important aspect isn't the format or the tool—it's developing the mindset of an observer. The best CTOs aren't just technologists; they're anthropologists studying the complex culture of their engineering organizations.

Start seeing yourself as a researcher in the field. Notice the subtle interactions, the unspoken tensions, the moments of breakthrough. Document not just what's said but what's unsaid.

This practice builds your intuition over time. You'll start noticing patterns faster, predicting team dynamics more accurately, and developing that seemingly magical ability to be one step ahead that the best CTOs possess.

Your field notes become your competitive advantage—the record of thousands of small observations that compound into deep wisdom about technology, people, and how they interact.

What field notes practices have you developed? I'd love to hear about your systems for capturing observations in the field.