I think Product Managers are extremely valuable. I believe the author must have worked with PMINO or Product Manager in Name Only. AKA, when companies hire Pro

I think Product Managers are extremely valuable. I believe the author must have worked with PMINO or Product Manager in Name Only. AKA, when companies hire Product Mangers (let's call them PM uppercase) and make them program managers (pm, and please this isn't me demeaning program managers by using lower case- just a differentiation). A PM is in charge of setting product vision and realizing it. A pm is in charge of ensuring that happens by aligning resources. Both are really valuable parts of the team, but they are different roles. I don't believe it is good to mix the two because they are two distinct set of skills. The PM is the war strategist who understands opponents' weakness and opportunities to strike for the campaign's success, while the pm is in charge of staging the battlefield to ensure those tactics can be carried out by keeping the battalions equipped for success. I know military analogies aren't everyone's cup of tea, but just using what I know. The best PMs I've worked with were purely product focused. They didn't engage in resource alignment and dealing with middle managers. The best pms were purely managers. They engaged in working with engineering managers/directors to ensure the right people were working on the right initiatives. They kept schedules on track and helped everyone stay sane with the work that had to be done. Maybe I am wrong too, but this is what I believe is the right approach that I plan to employ at my company. When the company is small and only a single engineering team (like 5 people total) I don't think there's any reason to have a pm. When there are multiple teams and distinct organizations, you really need pm so the PM can stay focused in their role.