As an engineering manager, my team doesn’t know half the crap I keep off their shoulders. But that’s the part I play these days if we want to get things done.

Yeah, but... isn't that kind of strange? Most managers who didn't know half the things their reports were doing, would conclude that their reports were useless. So is it surprising that developers who lack visibility into the things going on above their paygrade, tend to conclude that their managers are useless?

It is kinda funny. I will admit this is the first time I thought about it in that way.

The classic so good you don't notice them problem.

In work, always selectively take time off when it's somewhat important. So your skills aren't taken as the norm.