Isn't the idea to be a minimally-functional programmer, rather than an awesome one?

I ve had a product manager guy trying to do that. Didn't help; his ideas were mostly irrelevant. The problem is he grew an attitude and tried to interfere with my work.

I generally hate analogies, but it's like a real estate agent trying to work with architects.

The point is not that they have to become great programmers, but that just a basic level of knowledge would help them in many ways.