I agree that there are good or even bad managers who have 'wider business goals' that I just didn't see.
But in my experience working for various large corporations, I've found that the sentiment expressed is very accurate. Managers were the bane of our existence.
While we as developers and other areas involved did our best, the managers were with few exceptions absolutely terrible. I was often amazed that anything got done at all.
In smaller companies or startups I definitely learned to respect the concerns that managers had to deal with that I didn't, sure. But in BigCo's it was generally a shit show of, basically, royalty running the show badly: ass-kissers, psychopaths, etc.
But in my experience working for various large corporations, I've found that the sentiment expressed is very accurate. Managers were the bane of our existence.
While we as developers and other areas involved did our best, the managers were with few exceptions absolutely terrible. I was often amazed that anything got done at all.
In smaller companies or startups I definitely learned to respect the concerns that managers had to deal with that I didn't, sure. But in BigCo's it was generally a shit show of, basically, royalty running the show badly: ass-kissers, psychopaths, etc.