My issue with being evaluated very often is that I find myself fixing small things so I have something to show rather than working on bigger issues.
However, the "just do it" idea of the post is great.
However, the "just do it" idea of the post is great.
On the other hand, if you're presenting to people who really don't have a sense of the big picture (and who are often insecure about their position and judgement), you tend to anticipate their tendency to (a) fixate on small, rough bits and (b) issue VERY specific instructions about those elements (often, while ignoring the rest). This is the exact mechanism by which incompetent managers paralyze creative talent, reducing any project to a derivative effort that hews as close as legally possible to "whatever worked before." In this case, management IS the obstacle, and good luck getting them to remove themselves.
In these situations, you're no longer focused on the work. You're thinking about dodging bullets and managing up, hoping to find the best 'compromise' between a great creative solution, and the need to placate the fragile egos of people who probably don't belong in their jobs. The awesome thing about Pixar is that they really seem to get this, and invest considerably resources in creating and staffing the kind of environment where people CAN iterate freely.