The point about non-developer managers is especially telling for me. While I've been blessed to always be a coder among coders (or coder-like people), I've rarely had managers (let alone directors!) who had a developer background.

For example, my previous position had developer-type managers, but the directors were non-developers. So, they had no compunctions in moving up our due dates without conferring with us. Then, they got mad when we didn't deliver on their schedules after they wouldn't authorize overtime. Big surprise, huh?

Education is important. I'd even say it's the most important thing, except that willingness to change is more important in a manager.

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We are the carpenters and bricklayers of the Information Age.

Don't go borrowing trouble. For programmers, this means Worry only about what you need to implement.