[icedchai]

100%. The best software company I've worked for had no real managers. You did technically have a "manager" but all they did was gather feedback and give you reviews once a year. Otherwise, they were senior+ engineers that worked on projects just like you did.

On the other hand, I've been at small 20 to 30 person companies with several layers of management. Infact, at one, there were actually more "managers" than individual contributors. It's a big WTF.

[gremlinunderway]

There are a lot of business roles where the "manager" is in fact the main "worker" (as in, they have to be involved in EVERYTHING. CC'd on every email. Approval for anything, etc) and they're just given varying groups of personal interns who aren't actually lead or organized into any projects, processes or initiatives but instead just exist to be at the beck and call of the manager.