Those are very fair points. Yes, good management can make projects (and people) function more smoothly, and yes also that it can be a thankless job that only ge

Those are very fair points. Yes, good management can make projects (and people) function more smoothly, and yes also that it can be a thankless job that only gets noticed when something goes wrong, not for all the times it goes right. For all those reasons, it would be nice of the skillset of management could be decoupled from the hierarchy, pay, and prestige of management. Too often the "managers" in an org, and by the extension the CxOs, are there not due to their skill in managing people/projects, but more or less "awarded" the position as a consequence of their connections, founder status, length of employment, whatever. If only "management" could be thought of more as "facilitation" (or mediation, or HR, or similar) in that it's a unique skillset, yes, but no more or less valuable to a group than any other skillset -- not an inherent part of some hierarchical and unaccountable structure. Managers should not be above the people they manage, but be able to offer workflow & worklife improvements, help resolve and mediate conflicts, etc. And there's no inherent reason they should get paid more or less than workers of any other skillset. Top-down control != group facilitation skills, but present-day corporate hierarchies try to pretend they're one and the same, to the detriment of many orgs, and especially anyone under (visibly) bad management. A "seat at the table for all" implies a level of idealistic flatness that's just not there in most hierarchical organizations. I think it's easier to teach a flat organization better people and project management skills than to try and flatten a purposefully-hierarchical organization that uses middle-management not to improve the productivity of self-directed workers, but to corral a disposable workstaff who have miserable lives because they're thought of mere doers-of-tasks, not partners in planning -- a vicious cycle reinforced by the existence of a professional managerial "class" (as opposed to skillset).