Agreed. One of my favourite manager types didn't have the first clue about the actual details of what we did. But he did listen to expert advice from the team

Agreed. One of my favourite manager types didn't have the first clue about the actual details of what we did. But he did listen to expert advice from the team beneath him and act on it. Bring the appropiate expert to meetings where it might be relevant and like you say, it can actually work. Obviously in an ideal world they'd know some basic bits, but if faced with the choice of a micromanager or a clueless person who listens to expert opinion i'll take the latter.