This is so true. I used to think that my ex-employers were totally incompetent. Now that I’ve been in management, I realize that it’s always a mixed bag. Now, I’m so glad that I worked at these other places. Upon reflection, I’ve learned so many good things along the way.
Also, back to the original post, people respond to incentives. Some places will reward being on time and on budget more than having a successful product. Early in my career, I thought this was just stupid. Now I realize it’s still stupid, but it’s one of the easier things to measure, so it ends up being the target out of default.
Also, it’s a challenge to align a team within a company. It’s even hard to align internally and with consultants. You would hope that your employer would reflect on these client’s feedback and try to see if they can work on that alignment, but they are busy entrepreneurs who are successful enough to bring you in. It’s hard to find time to improve when you have a lot of business to keep you busy.