It's true this is a problem. It's actually a problem I ran into at another job and one of the reasons I left that job. It goes hand in hand with letting a bunch

It's true this is a problem. It's actually a problem I ran into at another job and one of the reasons I left that job. It goes hand in hand with letting a bunch of a team attrit and then ignoring that fact. I find it often happens when a direct manager doesn't know how to handle their manager or their managers manager. I have also found that in most cases the person requesting the 'critical' item never actually wanted it immediately but after it filtered down from two managers who are desperately trying to look good it became a 'critical' item. It's definitely a problem and while there are some ways to just work around your boss it's often just easier to find another job.