“The manager is the dynamic, life-giving element in every business” At best this self-glorification applies to physical work like an Amazon distribution center

“The manager is the dynamic, life-giving element in every business” At best this self-glorification applies to physical work like an Amazon distribution center, where one indeed needs direct people skills of a certain kind. It applies less to intellectual endeavors in general. It does not apply at all to software development, where a plethora of successful projects proves the direct opposite. It happens, of course, that projects succeed despite the manager, who still gets the credit. Fred Brooks' works apply to software, not Peter Drucker's.