[geofft]

Magic is about management. The most talented ICs can't do much unless management supports them in it. (And I say this as an IC.)

[oh_sigh]

Management is a necessary but insufficient condition for magic.

[m0zg]

Not in research.

[Aloha]

Even in Research.

Xerox PARC is a great example - PARC invented everything, but very little of it was immediately commercially applicable - Good management, is what turns "people producing great things", to "people producing great things regular people can use"

[geofft]

Anyone with a successful research lab is a manager: they're spending a good chunk of their time herding grad students, writing grant proposals, hiring junior faculty, etc. This model works.

[threeseed]

Managers decide on the culture, composition and priorities of a team.

They are just as significant as individuals in the team.