I think there's an important difference between knowing how to do something well (i.e., on a professional basis), and having a basic working understanding of wh

I think there's an important difference between knowing how to do something well (i.e., on a professional basis), and having a basic working understanding of what the process involves; its inputs and outputs, the most significant enablers of success, the most pernicious sources of failure. When it comes to the people I manage, I don't need to be able to do their job, but I do need to be able to speak their language and understand their concerns well enough to see the task from their perspective. I should add that this has always been self-evident to me. And it's always worked very well. But I should also note that it's not the norm, and when people I work with discover how much I know about what they actually do, they're almost always pleasantly surprised. "Oh", they say "you really get it." Nearly everything about management gets easier if you're starting from there.