Ugo points to an essay by Bruce Eckel entitled The Ideal Programmer. An important quote:

… the ideal manager is someone who doesn’t have a project of their own, and is idle (that is, available) most of the time, and thus can stop whatever they’re doing and come review or guide or un-stick your particular part of the project.

I basically have that role in Cocoon, being currently unemployed and jumping from place to place around the world.

But the above will have to end some day… I wonder what impact that would have.