> In my opinion, for such a situation it would make sense for the management to apply a more hands-off approach with respect to managing the technical employees

> In my opinion, for such a situation it would make sense for the management to apply a more hands-off approach with respect to managing the technical employees. If you don't understand what they are doing, employ great people that you trust and let them do their technical things in a rather hands-off way. This never works. I work in a place with a bunch of very competent people (not perfect, but good), and there are still so many people trying to "dig the moat" -- own a project where they can do whatever stupid shit they want. They leave years later and senior managers are told about the mess they left behind. Can you imagine what happens where most people are average or less?