It entirely depends on the culture. In my career I've worked in test centric environments, and I've worked in places were testing was nearly forbidden. You can

It entirely depends on the culture. In my career I've worked in test centric environments, and I've worked in places were testing was nearly forbidden. You can guess which ones generally run smoother. Some places just really care about cranking code out the door, and the people in charge don't realize how badly they're shooting themselves in the feet. It's more common than you'd think. But I agree with everything you're saying, which is why I try to get into more test centric cultures when job hunting.