Managers as COOs?

As CEOs focus on the long term direction, health and wellbeing of the organization the COO focuses on helping the CEO in meeting Wall Street’s short term expectations.

The COO is also instrumental in driving alignment and influence across the middle management to ensure communication of the CEOs plans.

Middle managers drive innovation, plan, organize and coordinate to meet departmental goals. They play games, make adjustments/shifts and tweak the internal controls to stay the course so as to meet and beat the expectations.

So where is the difference in the role? Is it just the scope? Is it responsibility? Is it breath across functions? Is it the experiences?

Seems like the CEO is strategy focused, while the COO is action focused but so is middle management when it comes to their departments and functions.