Any individual at any level can make an impact. My issue is that this article emphasizes how to go with the flow of an existing system. It also implies that c

Any individual at any level can make an impact. My issue is that this article emphasizes how to go with the flow of an existing system. It also implies that changing the system is outside the reach of ICs. Not only do I believe partially changing the system is not outside of the realm of ICs, I've rarely seen successful engineers who didn't do it when necessary. If an engineer only feels comfortable changing the system when they're promoted into an official title, they are still operating on the tracks laid down by others. They'll be incapable of altering fundamental flaws or making fundamental improvements. More specifically here, I think the apologia for this very specific (and exhausting!) list of procedures for how to navigate company politics indicates not just a specific career on autopilot, but a whole company on autopilot. I can't imagine an environment like this that is high performance.