> The powers that be typically go out of their way to shield you from this kind of stuff when you're "too valuable on the floor".
Many times, the "glue" person is picking up The Powers That Be's slack, e.g. "Well, this needs to get done and Manager Bob isn't going to do it for reason X, so I'll make sure it gets done".
> Last software shop I worked at, they promoted a guy to "project manager" for being the ineffective programmer that no one had the heart to let go.
This is exactly the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dilbert_principle
Last software shop I worked at, they promoted a guy to "project manager" for being the ineffective programmer that no one had the heart to let go.