It depends on how you read "non-technical". Your personal example is the story of someone who was extremely sensitive to what they didn't know, made very caref

It depends on how you read "non-technical". Your personal example is the story of someone who was extremely sensitive to what they didn't know, made very careful allowances for it, and in the end found out that picking up some technical knowledge was pretty much an unavoidable side-effect. When I read "non-technical", I don't think of a brand new manager who hasn't yet gone through that process. I picture someone who has managed to stay non-technical by not having that acute sense of what they don't know, not making those allowances for it, and as a result, completely avoided the osmosis of technical knowledge.