Huh... I think you're actually talking about the Peter Principle, where skilled programmers are promoted to the point where they stop being skilled. The parent

Huh... I think you're actually talking about the Peter Principle, where skilled programmers are promoted to the point where they stop being skilled. The parent topic seems to be closer to the Dilbert Principle - people being placed in management who would never have gotten the job below theirs. Unfortunately, both of those things are pretty common. Promoting "up the ranks" gets you Peter, and hiring "for management skills" gets you Dilbert. Avoiding both at once seems to be an almost unsolved problem.