Seeking advice from programmers for non-programmers
gdp: From my own experience as a confirmed programmer with little interest in business, here's a couple of observations:Programmers end up knowing a heck of a lot about the business just by virtue of needing to know how it operates in order to turn it into software.  Use this knowledge.  Include programmers in high-level discussions occasionally to get "buy-in" at an early stage of development (before anything like "requirements gathering" happens).  This reduces the possibility for mismatch in expectations between "business people" and "programmers", which is a ready source of unhappiness for programmers and business people alike.I've always been happiest and most productive in situations where the business people above me shield me from the other business people and let me get on with my job.  So many others have observed how detrimental interruptions and rapidly shifting requirements (i.e. more rapid than 1 iteration) can be.  Insulate programmers from the kinds of problems which are really no concern of theirs.  Be the point of contact for other people who need programming things to happen (either as external or internal stakeholders).  That's not to say that a programmer shouldn't be interacting with all areas of a business, rather, they should be able to do it in a structured way, not as a never ending stream of interruptions and fires to extinguish on an ad hoc basis.