Engineering oversight becomes difficult when managers cannot understand the work their teams are doing. The consultancy example concerns explaining an engineering team's plans to company leadership and assessing whether the plans are sensible. The suggested remedy is a manager who can communicate with both engineers and directors, whether that manager comes from the engineering team or has acquired sufficient technical understanding. A management qualification alone is criticized as an inadequate substitute for that understanding.
Notable Point · 37:43-38:44
Why engineering management needs technical understanding
A manager who understands engineering can assess a team's plans and explain them to directors; a general management qualification alone does not supply that understanding.