The fundamental fallacy is that there needs to be a hierarchy with managers one tier above the engineers who report to them. If the paradigm were more that the product managers and engineers were both doing their bits to make sure that the product went out properly, and there was no assumption of dominance or hierarchy, there would be far fewer ego issues.<p>And really, sounding aggrieved because people who don't need to put up with your "management" don't do so is rather shortsighted.