Some of that is on developers, famous for overpromising and under-delivering and generally not managing expectations. There is a real skill to effectively explaining a job’s requirements to non-developers, and it’s something I think a lot of us suck hard at.

Plenty of it is also on managers who simply aren’t competent to manage, of which there is a tragic abundance. If that really bothers you, move up to management and start doing the job better or go find a new job. Otherwise, not your circus, not your monkeys.† Just make sure to keep your papertrail.

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† Whereas the liabilities for screwing with production code outside your scope of work def should be. Though again, that assumes a management that actually understands what’s going on in its own shop, and isn’t just running around with its hair on fire 24/7.

Doesn't leadership hold a lot of stock?