Spot on. I know for a fact that it's a need to appear so because the issue was brought on by a change in upper management. The same middle managers had previous

Spot on. I know for a fact that it's a need to appear so because the issue was brought on by a change in upper management. The same middle managers had previously just smiled warmly and told me I was doing important work, never asked to see (let alone influence) architecture diagrams. And I'd like to say I'm surprised and encouraged by the number of people empathizing with this problem; at work it is a lonely predicament. It somewhat dashes my hopes of escaping it by jumping to another firm, but at least I know I'm not the only one.