I had the same experience, the best manager I ever had was clueless about software development and instead trusted us to do what was asked. A part of that trus

I had the same experience, the best manager I ever had was clueless about software development and instead trusted us to do what was asked. A part of that trust was believing when we told him something rather than having him tell us. It became a symbiotic relationship where we'd bring business decisions to him, and he'd bring technical decisions to us. OTOH, there's a certain amount of reassurance when you're working under someone who is much better at what you do than you are. You know you'll always have a resource you can grab if you find yourself up against a wall, and it allows you to respect that person even more. So I understand why the conclusion would be what it is, but I agree with you wholeheartedly about not needing to "understand what the doers are actually doing" to be a good manager.