This has less to do with agile and more to do with the company culture, processes, and probably the people involved. Agile isn't a cure to these problems, it's

This has less to do with agile and more to do with the company culture, processes, and probably the people involved. Agile isn't a cure to these problems, it's a tool used by people who "get it" to communicate effectively and to empower everyone to do their jobs. Thanks to agile I am directly involved in evolving the product I work on and providing information back to the product owner and anyone else involved. I regularly make suggestions that are listened to and I get feedback on my work several times a week. The changes I make are released to users rapidly and regularly and we gain insight from that to make our next decisions. I also openly discuss the compromises I make in terms of technical debt and I'm given the freedom to clean it up when it makes sense for the business. The business would not be able to innovate as quickly if it weren't for agile. I would be less empowered and performing suboptimal work if it weren't for agile. Tech debt "just get it done" style management with egos too sensitive for candid feedback will always exist and the way the work is defined will have little effect. It's unfortunate that you work for such managers, but please don't blame it on agile.