Ownership, decision making ability, technical design, KISS, deeply understanding the system, direct communication with stakeholders, and personal responsibility. Good list! These are the qualities that consistently produce top-notch software. When given the opportunity, this is what good SWEs do by instinct.
What's notable that in each case, the modern ticket-factory approach ("all that bullshit") is explicitly designed to eliminate or dampen these instincts. Diffusion of responsibility, top-down control, eliminating direct connections, everything is decided by committee, treating professionals like replaceable cogs, stay in your lane and do tickets.
It's not just that engineers are very capable of delivering direct business value. It's that many of the "non-technicals" are actively involved in sabotaging the efforts of engineers to do so.
What's notable that in each case, the modern ticket-factory approach ("all that bullshit") is explicitly designed to eliminate or dampen these instincts. Diffusion of responsibility, top-down control, eliminating direct connections, everything is decided by committee, treating professionals like replaceable cogs, stay in your lane and do tickets.
It's not just that engineers are very capable of delivering direct business value. It's that many of the "non-technicals" are actively involved in sabotaging the efforts of engineers to do so.