Now, just as an honest corporate peon, maybe even an optimistic one: If I didn't have a manager I'd totally absolutely get nothing done, at all, ever, besides writing and hubski and reddit and every single interesting thing you can think to look up on Wikipedia and then all the summations of all the basic plots and then every single short story of any note you can read free online and then all the interesting lit journals and then their archives and oh did I mention yet I once read the entirety of HPMOOR on work time at a shitty job? In like maybe a month? And did I mention all those pictures of cats? It would be so great, not having a manager. And then it would be boring and then it would be terrible. And then, maybe then, I'd give you more than half-invested work. So no. Don't get rid of the managers. Someone needs to manage me.
A good manager's job is to figure out where the team needs help and push resources in that direction. A great manager keeps the higher ups off the back of the team. Good managers also make doing shit work bearable, if not fun. Steam is a great example of why you need someone in charge. Their Customer Service sucks because there is nobody in charge to force someone ANYONE to step into the crap work of dealing with angry people and fix the end user experiences of their customers. My boss knows when I am frustrated and need a break by the way I pound on the keyboard. She then gives me something to do so that I have to step back for a few. I'm the type of person who gets in a zone and digs a tunnel of focus that I tend to not look around me and forget other duties. Without a good manager, I'd be a bad employee. Nice way of putting it. Bravo.If I didn't have a manager I'd totally absolutely get nothing done
So no. Don't get rid of the managers. Someone needs to manage me.