Agreed. What I am a little surprised is that some engineers seem to trying to defend something that is knowingly bad just because it is the status quo. BTW, I

Agreed. What I am a little surprised is that some engineers seem to trying to defend something that is knowingly bad just because it is the status quo. BTW, I don’t think catering the upper management as described is the only way to get paid. I ignored many upper management’s preferences because they are plainly stupid and in some situations get fired. But I still made good career growth and so do many of my friends. In fact being in a conflict and holding position tends to give me higher rate of returns, even in case not being able to “ship” as defined in the op.