http://www.inc.com/magazine/20080901/how-hard-could-it-be-how-i-learned-to-love-middle-managers.html
Surprising piece by Joel Spolsky in which he: (a) admits to being surprised that his Fog Creek employees—despite their private offices and dual monitors and free lunches—were unhappy; and (b) rather timidly argues that sometimes middle managers might be a good idea.