I never implied that working on interesting projects means you can't work in teams, and 'getting pushed into a niche' is quite different from getting yourself i

I never implied that working on interesting projects means you can't work in teams, and 'getting pushed into a niche' is quite different from getting yourself into a position where you can work on projects you actually like and make progress without having to tip-toe around office politics or waste time sitting in useless meetings or making planning spreadsheets based on when your manager promised a delivery to someone higher up in the food chain, instead of how long it takes to get the job done properly. I'm not saying you don't need managers, or that no such thing as good managers exist. I'm just stating my observation that more often than not, who gets into management is based on the Peter principle, rather than how 'smart' or capable someone is.