>Who needs a PHD teaching me inter-office politics. A PHD for a non-technical management level person trying to lead software geeks stands for one thing in my book: Post Hole Digger................

Jace,

PMFJI, but I agree in theory, not necessarily in practice. I think it depends more on the manager themselves as opposed to what their background is. I have had situations where the non-technical manager was the only one who was able to keep a project afloat because of their business acumen and understanding of corporate processes and financial planning. I think a really good manager is just that; a manager not a programmer. The last thing I need is someone else to have an opinion about the technology and code. What I do need is someone who is smart and able to take care of the other stuff so I can do what I enjoy. Which is something we both seem to agree on. Of course, there's nothing to stop a great developer from also being a very effective manager. Who may even earn their PHD along the way... :-)

Renoir