Time was when your boss actualy knew his arse from his elbow because he had worked his way up the ranks rather then because he has an MBA and he is the managing directors golden boy.

... I dug out some old HR records (from the mid-80s), and lo and behold, the highest-up person (basically a VP of the company) in the hierarchy at the plant where I work was actually a R&D engineer back then.

And all the people on the ladder between me and him were also engineers when they started out.

One of the nice things about working at that place.