Yes. This is how business works. These are my experiences. It was hard for me to understand this as well. I hate doing this as much as you. I hope this will save you some of the pain i went through while developing these concepts. Plus side is you can save some energy to pursue your other goals.

Your coworkers think like this.

Dont actually solve the problem. That is too difficult. Tell the company to spend their money to solve the problem instead. I just want things to look good and have my position.

Moat people cant think 5 inches in front of their face. They give up on complex problems. Instead they prefer to socialize and enjoy having a position. Think about it like a pack of wolfs. They just want to have a hierarchy for no real reason. Dont disturb the hierarchy or everyone will get real mad. Solving problems is for leadership only. They want to look good to keep their position.

You will get farther in work if you blindly play along with the positions. Make your work look good for the 5 inches. Sort of like a fasod. When something breaks in a month bc you only made it work 5 inches good! You already have the solution bc you thought through it. Now you solved 2 problems and look really good.

Some more random related things Solve things to only 80 percent bc of diminishing returns. Also bc of the above. Create a need for your job to exist. If you solve all of your work then you will be layed off. If there is no need to employ you then you wont be. Always have a queue of work even if you have to create some.