>> When engineers and other ICs read this article, they tend to assume that these ... mechanisms aren't happening because they don't personally see them

I think you're missing the second point of the article here. Per the article point 1 "Or, if measurement happens, it is done in isolation by the product management team and selectively shared. You have no idea if your work worked"

So the article is also highlighting failure to share as a failure mode. Every good company I worked at, I [the lead engineer] had equal ownership as my product owner. The respected my opinion, learned not to doubt my warnings, trusted my intuitions, and made adjustments based on my recommendations.

That balance of shared ownership is a defining indicator that it's not a feature-factory, whereas a "I call the shots as product" mentality is more feature-factory.

Is it possible you [rightly] worry about this article because you are what it's talking about?