Executives create the organization itself. A company has many moving parts, each with their own constraints, their own goals, and their own limitations. We talk

Executives create the organization itself. A company has many moving parts, each with their own constraints, their own goals, and their own limitations. We talk about building a company because all these parts need to be shaped in such a way that they work together towards a common goal. This is not just difficult and cross-disciplinary, it's also intellectually challenging work, and as real a form of creation as writing software. Companies don't create themselves, and people don't automatically organize themselves. You need people who specialize in this, if you want it done well; you need executives. Sure, we roll our eyes at the nonsense language executives spout, and at the political games they play. And yet good executives create functional companies with a good corporate culture, where good engineering can take place. You might ask yourself: if everything is running smoothly, what do we need the executives for? Much like the IT guy who doesn't get appreciated for preventing disasters, the work executives do is invisible when done well. Besides, the line between creation and facilitation is a blurry one. Without salespeople there is no budget for programmers to create things. Does that mean salespeople as non-creators are deserving of our disdain? Or should we just appreciate them for fullfilling a vital role within the company? Suppose that executives were non-creators (and they're not), why does it matter? They're nonetheless vital for the company's success.