[sloxy]

> one of the main tasks of a technical manager is to set conventions

I'd be more inclined to say one of the main roles any manager is facilitation more than anything else. Any manager that "sets convention" is somebody who wants the easy part of technology without the corresponding hard part.

Talking about technical solutions is easy. Implementing it is much harder.

I've come across multiple "technical managers" who were hands on with code greater than x years ago and they always end up talking out of their arse. And that's not to mention the numerous wrong choices they've committed to/spoke about at a high level meeting with zero notion.

[maltalex]

I think that we're talking about two different types of managers. I was talking about a technical manager, as in a tech lead/lead engineer/lead developer/whatever you want to call it - someone who has to manage and coordinate the day to day of people doing technical work (on top of taking part in the said work). I think you're talking about someone more business-oriented.