In both my corporate and academic careers, this is always the case — front-line people are individually & collectively resposible for actions & outcomes, while management gets a pass. They couldn’t have forseen x, y, or z supposedly, and all processes are opaque because we’re all so fragile and they don’t want to get our hopes up too much.

And trying to find out what went on after a big decision comes down is like getting a doctor or lawyer to testify against one of their own. Is joining management like joining the Freemasons? Do you become one of the Illumnati?