There are about 30 - 40 developers in my office and everyone browses the web whenever they feel like it. Our group has super tight deadlines (consumer electronics) and our boss' focus is always on making sure we hit all our deadlines no matter how tight our parent company makes the deadlines. That being said, all of our leadership (in house) are promoted Software and Electrical Engineers. This is true from our VP down to our team leaders and project managers.
I suspect it's different for someone working in an office with a lot of business people but I think it's important to find an employer that recognizes doing work on complicated problems isn't a linear process... It will often times now be something you can sit down and just DO. I can't even count the number of times I've spent 3 hours of over time in the office trying to solve a problem only to have the solution come to me in the shower the next morning. The mind must rest and be allowed to shift focus to something unrelated to the immediate activity at hand if someone wants creative solutions to tough problems.
I suspect it's different for someone working in an office with a lot of business people but I think it's important to find an employer that recognizes doing work on complicated problems isn't a linear process... It will often times now be something you can sit down and just DO. I can't even count the number of times I've spent 3 hours of over time in the office trying to solve a problem only to have the solution come to me in the shower the next morning. The mind must rest and be allowed to shift focus to something unrelated to the immediate activity at hand if someone wants creative solutions to tough problems.