Thanks Mingtian! No, it doesn't sound too cynical.

As with anything to do with working in a team there's a level of trust, but trust is also paradoxical because it often needs to be fostered-earned. It doesn't just happen.

I also think your example actually strengthens the case for being a generalists - the more you understand coding and development (not necessarily to the extent of writing code yourself) the more you'll be able to know when you're being mislead ;)