I'm not disagreeing on your overall point, but it can be done (I've done it with 130+, so there's a lot of incumbent process and numerous senior managers to align).
The key is having a champion who can tie change in with higher level desires.
In these orgs there's often an external (as in stakeholders external to prod eng) perception that "engineering is slow, product doesn't deliver, they're preventing us delivering our OKRs", and that can be used as leverage for change.
You can't go dark and stop delivery, but you can usually carve out a 10 - 20% allowance for change (that doesn't sound much, but is 1 - 2 days every 2 weeks, which quickly adds up). Start small, show success in impacting metrics that external stakeholders care about, then next quarter push for more.
I've focused myself in a similar area as you, but actually lean into processes and people, whilst still guiding tech - maybe we should chat!
The key is having a champion who can tie change in with higher level desires.
In these orgs there's often an external (as in stakeholders external to prod eng) perception that "engineering is slow, product doesn't deliver, they're preventing us delivering our OKRs", and that can be used as leverage for change.
You can't go dark and stop delivery, but you can usually carve out a 10 - 20% allowance for change (that doesn't sound much, but is 1 - 2 days every 2 weeks, which quickly adds up). Start small, show success in impacting metrics that external stakeholders care about, then next quarter push for more.
I've focused myself in a similar area as you, but actually lean into processes and people, whilst still guiding tech - maybe we should chat!