When you get together technical people who understand management goals, and management staff that appreciate technical evaluations and decisions, the result can be really satisfying. It's great work, if you can get it.

More often, time is short, and so is the patientce to listen and understand. Competence comes up short too. We all have things we're not good at. Thus we work with what we've got. Things are often as your "rant" depicts them, and everyone loves reading dilbert because it strikes close to home all too often.

We can lament that things are not better, or be thankful that things are not worse, but either way the satisfaction comes from making some piece of the process work a little better. At least that's what works for me.

I enjoyed reading your thoughts. Thanks for sharing them.