How a Caterpillar Director of Analytics Defines and Drives Team Success
When it comes to goal-setting, Charlie Wood likes to look ahead — while moving backwards.
Rather than rely on an opaque long-term vision, the director of analytics at Caterpillar prefers to work backwards from a specific goal and break it down into phases and actions, as this helps his team move forward more easily.
“As they say, every race is won one step at a time,” Wood said.
According to Wood, everyone plays a part in driving success for both their division and the business as a whole. That’s why when Wood sets goals for his team, he considers how these actions will fit into the bigger picture and finds reliable ways of measuring their efforts.
Last year, Wood’s team developed internal dashboards that track their active pipeline of prototypes and operational metrics. This solution allowed them to compare their efforts to their ideal resource plan while sharing their success with external teams.
“This created broader visibility to our performance but also demonstrated our commitment to quality,” Wood said.
This is just one example of Wood’s leadership style in action, which is defined by collaboration, accountability and a growth mindset. As Caterpillar builds the next generation of digital tools, he’s leaning on this philosophy to guide his team as they help customers get work done faster, easier and more safely.
Read on to learn more about how Wood drives and measures success on his team, how he celebrates team members’ achievements and what he’s most eager to accomplish over the next year.
About Caterpillar
Caterpillar is the world’s leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, off-highway diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines and diesel-electric locomotives.
How Charlie Wood Sets and Measures Team Goals at Caterpillar
In your current role, what — and who — do you lead?
I lead AI and data product management, which defines the strategy and roadmap for generative AI and data-enabled solutions. We are responsible for the entire lifecycle, from use case identification with stakeholders to the delivery of back-end services in production.
How do you set goals for your team and track progress?
I am a firm believer that we all play our part in the overall goals of the division or company. When setting goals for my team, I look at my boss’s goals and try to identify where we can play a role in contributing to that goal. What responsibilities do we have? How do we measure success? This series of questions helps me think through how we set the right goals to drive the outcome, which is the ultimate goal.
Share a recent decision that reflects your management style.
I try to use metrics wherever possible to measure success. This past year, we developed internal dashboards that track our active pipeline of prototypes and operational metrics. Not only did we measure the number of tasks we completed, but we also compared that to our ideal resource plan and published our on-time delivery to external teams. This created broader visibility to our performance but also demonstrated our commitment to quality.
The 3 Pillars That Define Wood’s Leadership Philosophy
- “Collaborative: I start with this one because I think it’s one of the most critical in a big business. Particularly in product management, to make a big impact, we need to learn how to work with and through our talented coworkers.”
- “Growth Mindset: One of my responsibilities as a manager is to help my team members reach their full potential. That means finding the right roles for the right people and working with people to learn and grow.”
- “Accountability: Do what you say, and say what you mean. If people see that you take ownership, they will trust you with important work. From a team perspective, we’re all in it together and accountable to one another.”
How Caterpillar Teams Stay Motivated, Recognized and Aligned
How does your team celebrate wins or recognize contributions — formally or informally?
At quarterly all-staff meetings, leaders recognize team members for achievements like project milestones, training and anniversaries. We also use weekly staff meetings and Microsoft Teams channels to celebrate and thank colleagues, knowing that small acknowledgments can really make a difference.
How are company-wide goals and team expectations communicated and reinforced throughout the year? What helps employees understand where the company is headed?
At Caterpillar, we’re focused on solving our customers’ toughest challenges. Caterpillar provides strong visibility into company goals through regular updates. Quarterly executive town halls and Cat Digital all-staff meetings review progress, objectives and key results, allowing direct feedback from leaders. This ongoing communication keeps everyone aligned and focused.
“At Caterpillar, we’re focused on solving our customers’ toughest challenges.”
What’s Next for Caterpillar’s Analytics and Digital Teams
How do you balance short-term delivery with long-term vision?
Long-term visions are great, but they can also seem scary and intimidating without a tactical or operational plan. I like to work backwards from that overall goal and break it down into phases and actions that get us moving. As they say, every race is won one step at a time.
What excites you most about the team’s roadmap for the next year?
What makes Caterpillar so unique is our profound impact around the world, and digital continues to serve as a differentiator for us. These are machines that our customers depend upon every day to do their work, from small landscaping businesses to large mine sites and data centers. There are many things we can’t discuss publicly, but I’m excited to work on the next generation of digital tools that help our customers get their work done faster, easier and more safely.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Charlie Wood lead at Caterpillar?
He leads AI and data product management, defining the strategy and roadmap for generative AI and data-enabled solutions and overseeing the full lifecycle from use case identification with stakeholders to delivery of back-end services in production.
How does Caterpillar set and measure success on analytics and digital teams?
Wood sets goals by aligning them to broader division/company goals and then asks what responsibilities the team owns and how success will be measured, using metrics wherever possible.
What tools or methods does Wood’s team use to track performance?
The team developed internal dashboards that track an active pipeline of prototypes and operational metrics, compare work to an ideal resource plan, and publish on-time delivery to external teams.
What is Caterpillar’s leadership culture like on Wood’s team?
Wood describes a leadership philosophy built on three pillars: collaboration, a growth mindset and accountability, with an emphasis on taking ownership and helping team members reach their full potential.
How are wins recognized and how do teams stay aligned at Caterpillar?
Team achievements are recognized at quarterly all-staff meetings, and weekly staff meetings plus Microsoft Teams channels are used to celebrate and thank colleagues; alignment is reinforced through regular company updates, quarterly executive town halls and Cat Digital all-staff meetings reviewing progress, objectives and key results.
