I spent a long time working in consulting where matrix management is a requirement since product teams spin and down every 6-12 months. It's a pretty solvable p

I spent a long time working in consulting where matrix management is a requirement since product teams spin and down every 6-12 months. It's a pretty solvable problem to have a tech lead per project and separate tech manager per person. Sometimes it's the same person, usually it isn't. You actually get a different perspective as a manager hearing about the drama of projects you aren't working on and you have a lot more discretion to seek project team transfers for reports that are struggling with their teams. Typically (but not always) the career managers were also tech leads on their own projects.