I once thought as you do that this story or the hundreds of others like it were just exaggerations or failed comic sketch scripts. I once couldn't even comprehend where the humor came from in Dilbert.
Then I worked in government, health care, and big business as an employee and a contractor which allowed me to the great opportunity to meet these very people. This type of behavior is particularly common in companies that like to see managers move around so they can get experience in many parts of the business. In many companies it is actually regarded as a plus to supervise technical people without understanding anything about the technical process or some failed programmer becomes a manager.
Then I worked in government, health care, and big business as an employee and a contractor which allowed me to the great opportunity to meet these very people. This type of behavior is particularly common in companies that like to see managers move around so they can get experience in many parts of the business. In many companies it is actually regarded as a plus to supervise technical people without understanding anything about the technical process or some failed programmer becomes a manager.