[dnadler]

> What is it about tinkerers being put into these positions as a natural progression?

I don't know enough to say whether this is a common pattern or not, but if it is, it could perhaps be that tinkerers tend to gather a vast breadth of knowledge that can be very useful when making strategic decisions. They reach the point where they know enough to understand what questions to ask on many topics, even if they are an expert in only a few (or none) of them.

[convolvatron]

I'm not the worlds greatest manager - but after you've worked with hundreds or thousands of people and seen seen hundreds of projects come and go you start to develop some insight about how things go and how they can go bad.

I don't know how else you pick up the skills to be an effective technical manager