Tangent to this idea is the concept of 'back pressure' related to data flow, and the need to have a way to return feedback in a system.

I think reading this and other comments slid something in place for me about “Living Systems”.

What does the individual care more about tho, a chance at affecting change, or potentially getting fired?

Really shows the limits of an individual when their livelihood depends on the source of the problem

The trick to spreading pain upwards without getting fired is to communicate the situation upwards, repeatedly, ahead of time. “Hey I think that artificially imposed 6 month deadline is unrealistic”. “We’ll see”: Closer to the date: “That deadline is coming up fast. As I mentioned a couple months ago, I think we’re making good progress but I don’t think we’ll hit the deadline with the feature set we’re building. I think we need to cut features, push back the deadline or all start working crazy, unsustainable hours. And that’s not a precedent I’d like to start. What do you think boss?”. Etc.

If they don’t change anything, don’t suddenly pull all-nighters to then meet the deadline. A bad timeline was never your mistake to fix. And assuming you’re a productive member of the team, you’re not going to be fired for helping management plan like this.