[artsyxxx]

All of this is even worse with a distributed team. Don't get me started on what happens when contractors enter the picture.

Edit: and so-called development managers!

[RandallBrown]

I've had some truly great development managers, and some really mediocre ones. It's helpful to have a technical manager that can shield you from certain issues while still understanding your needs enough to actually meet them.

[artsyxxx]

You said it man. But when development managers enter the picture, and when they're also your people managers, and they come into the scrum and start enforcing top-down patterns it's about as toxic as you can get.