Most programmers are just code plumbers. It's not like most of you are some research scientists breaking into the unknown. In fact for most jobs I've held programming has been by far the easiest part of the job. Understanding the 'real' requirements from the client (not what they think they want but what they actually want) and many other things are on a completely different level of complexity. Computers are the most basic parts of a business. I've also noticed that most software people are horrible at understanding the business that they are operating in. And think that management is the one that doesn't understand things. Except it's the other way around. Engineers are optimizing the parts that don't need optimizing and don't focus on bringing value to the business.