So the conciser version is the program manager is someone who understands software design, usability issues and can communicate with every role in the company?
You must have been daydreaming about Sally in 11th grade. You forgot that The program manager and the developers have to be peers.
I had this experience at KL Group with the marketing department, who owned the requirements and the UI. Marketing and development were peers, which reflected the company's structure: Greg Kiessling and Ed Lyclama (K & L) were co-owners. Greg ran the business while Ed ran the technology. Steve Rosenberg, the VP of Development, used to echo another of Joel's sentiments: Whenever we were depressed, he would remind us that We own the compiler, meaning that nothing could happen with convincing, cajoling, or otherwise making Development a deal they couldn't refuse. Marketing and Development fought like wild dogs over the specs and shipping priorities, and we ended up taking over our market and making Ed and Greg wealthy men when they sold out.
A while later I worked for another company where marketing owned the requirements and UI, and the VP of Marketing executed a coup and got Development to report to him. The company failed shortly thereafter.
