In this model of "managers know what their reports are doing" how does one gain insight into overall engineering health from a high enough level (say, engineering manager / CTO)
How does a engineering manager know what their managers are up to in order to get an understanding of what their manager's team members are up to? Even worse if you have a large enough organisation where you may have managers managing leads who manage teams?
Mayhaps the CTO would deign to do their work and ask their direct reports about the status, then compile a report with the desired information? The direct reports would obviously ask their reports, and so forth, until you get to the lowest rung on the ladder.
How does a engineering manager know what their managers are up to in order to get an understanding of what their manager's team members are up to? Even worse if you have a large enough organisation where you may have managers managing leads who manage teams?