This is an interesting point and may be part of the factor. I.e. There are two variables, and chances are that playing with either affects the outcome - experie

This is an interesting point and may be part of the factor. I.e. There are two variables, and chances are that playing with either affects the outcome - experience and self sufficiency of the hands on person, and experience and self sufficiency of the manager (plus, I'll argue, other variables like maturity of processes, and client relationship / management state, etc). There is an inclination to focus on one variable only. Fwiw. I've been a hands on techie for 20 years, then ops manager for 5. I've certainly been an Inexperienced/been a bad manager at times (especially as for a while, highly functional specialized vols reported to me as well), and I'd like think I'm becoming a decent or even good manager. But even still, there are definitely teams and individuals that I will feel the need to manage and focus ; vs others that I feel I can let prioritize and self manage. (In the ops, of course, establishing formal urgency levels and resulting comms expectations and paths, can reduce stress on EVERYbody)