Thank you for the clarity and precision of your writeup.
The organization you described exhibits a fundamental attitude of learned helplessness when it comes down to software development, as opposed to operations (tech or otherwise).
I saw this pattern in various manifestations across the board, and it frequently boils down to an inability to trust engineers and their leaders.
As an engineering leader, I wonder what kind of a culture shift needs to happen around the business-tech interface to make waste of this kind not as frequent.
