You mean they were good managers who know how to bring out the best out of their engineers?
Some of the best managers out there today can't code out of a wet paper bag and yet generate billions of value for their companies.
No, I don’t mean that all. I meant that they provided no value on their own. They passed every bit of the responsibility to someone else, while still collecting a hefty salary and stock compensation. Did they actually earn anything? I don’t think so.
If the senior or staff engineers do everything, even down to recruiting, why do we need managers? The manager is a dead weight - letting go of them is actually the right thing for the stakeholders and shareholders of the company.
The general trend I see is that when their lack of management results in things actually derailing, their way of accepting responsibility is simply throwing one or more of their reports under the bus.
Sure, they’re shrewd and figured out a way to play the system. I’ll give ‘‘em credit for that.
Which is why the best managers are phenomenal delegators.