> All I know is that The Daily WTF is *replete* with examples of companies 
> where the MD or something wrote the original version of the company's 
> product, but he can't actually code his way out of a paper bag, but he 
> still likes to "show the beginners how a real expert does it" from time to 
> time. And the real programmers end up going to extraordinary lengths to 
> keep the bosses away from the build system.

Hehe yeh, but it's not like every company where things Just Work write to 
the WTF and say "hey, here's one more company that's running fine thanks". 
The boss of my department has a PhD and numerous papers published on the 
exact subject we work on, and is usually involved directly in some of the 
more important customer projects as the expert.

> It's not always due to expansion. There are any number of reasons why a 
> company can end up with employees who think they know what they're doing 
> when really they don't. The problem is especially acute when those people 
> end up in management. (Who's gonna fire them?)

People don't just "end up in management", they either are promoted or 
recruited.  I presume the sort of people you talk about are directly 
recruited, so I guess that's a failing in the recruitment process if they're 
not very good.  And of course you don't fire them, you just don't give them 
any pay rise until they leave ;-)

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