"Could this be a realistic scenario, in certain cases at least?"
No, the supervisor's primary motivation is to avoid blame while gaining power. If they know how everything works, there is no deniability when their plan fails. The game they play is to promise the impossible to their bosses in hopes of promotion and blame the 90% that didn't go to their plan on the programmers while trying to take full credit for the 10% that was pulled off by heroic coding. To this end, no supervisor will be caught in a 'code' conversation. If they understood software engineering they would be on the hook for the 90% as well.
Where an honest supervisor needs to learn the fundamentals of software engineering is at the school and then later as a software engineer. You can get a BS in software engineering in many places and go on to obtain a Masters in technology management. Also work 5-10 years in deliberate practice as a software engineer. There is no 'sit down for an hour and learn software engineering' just like there is no 'sit down for an hour and learn how a nuclear reactor works'. What you are talking about is remedial training, but none of these guys would go for it. Their philosophy is that people willing to do technical work are simple fools to be exploited. Usually they are very glib about the idea that they skipped all the hard technical stuff.
No, the supervisor's primary motivation is to avoid blame while gaining power. If they know how everything works, there is no deniability when their plan fails. The game they play is to promise the impossible to their bosses in hopes of promotion and blame the 90% that didn't go to their plan on the programmers while trying to take full credit for the 10% that was pulled off by heroic coding. To this end, no supervisor will be caught in a 'code' conversation. If they understood software engineering they would be on the hook for the 90% as well.
Where an honest supervisor needs to learn the fundamentals of software engineering is at the school and then later as a software engineer. You can get a BS in software engineering in many places and go on to obtain a Masters in technology management. Also work 5-10 years in deliberate practice as a software engineer. There is no 'sit down for an hour and learn software engineering' just like there is no 'sit down for an hour and learn how a nuclear reactor works'. What you are talking about is remedial training, but none of these guys would go for it. Their philosophy is that people willing to do technical work are simple fools to be exploited. Usually they are very glib about the idea that they skipped all the hard technical stuff.