You're presuming he performed managerial tasks, which presumes further that those tasks are unavoidable. It's difficult to imagine if you've only ever worked in

You're presuming he performed managerial tasks, which presumes further that those tasks are unavoidable. It's difficult to imagine if you've only ever worked in places where this is evidently true, but that is only one way in which a company can work. You can also run a company of _hundreds_ of engineers who are all self-governing. If it can happen at least once (company I worked for), then it's repeatable and therefore a viable alternative.