Yes, in so far as he needs to be that actor -to keep the creatives from having to context switch.-
To borrow Spolsky's yacht analogy, the captain has 40 people running around below deck to ensure that the engine keeps running, the beds get made, and the meals show up on time. You don't want your customers (your developers and your designers) to have to think about anything besides where they want to go and what to have for lunch.
But it'd be a pretty inefficient boat captain who tried to rebuild the engine and cook a 5-star meal at the same time.
To borrow Spolsky's yacht analogy, the captain has 40 people running around below deck to ensure that the engine keeps running, the beds get made, and the meals show up on time. You don't want your customers (your developers and your designers) to have to think about anything besides where they want to go and what to have for lunch.
But it'd be a pretty inefficient boat captain who tried to rebuild the engine and cook a 5-star meal at the same time.