From Joel Spolsky's foreword to coder to developer.
There's something weird about software development, some mystical quality, that makes all kinds of people think they know how to do it. I've worked at dotcom-type companies full of liberal arts majors with no software experience or training who nevertheless were convinced that they knew how to manage software teams and design user interfaces. This is weird, because nobody thinks they know how to remove a burst appendix, or rebuild a car engine, unless they actually know how to do it, but for some reason there are all these people floating around who think they know everything there is to know about software development.
Aren't we special! :-) It's the same deal with architects/artists and teachers - everybody has an opinion on what they do, how they do it, and how wrong they are in doing it.
So true.
Which begs the question for the manager/investor - how to tell real (competent) software systems architects, project managers, and engineers from the plentiful fakers.
Perhaps the issue is in part due to the intrinsic anti-bullshut culture of genuine software workers (which doesn't fit well with teh current media and sound bite hungry world, when image counts more than capability).