To be honest, I think you are - to an extent - falling into the same trap that the managers fell into at Thiokol: namely, assuming that your view of the situation is complete and that input from other work groups can be disregarded.
In reality, it's a very big problem for companies to disappoint their large customers (as NASA certainly was for Morton-Thiokol at the time), and I suspect that the engineers would have been quite annoyed at management if the ultimate result of a launch no-go was fewer contracts, lower pay and/or job losses.
This isn't to say that management did the right thing, of course, just that "lol management just throws some buzzwords around and never attempts to understand the problem" is basically the same attitude that caused this disaster - just seen from an engineering viewpoint.
I am "management" where I work, and I'd drive my company into the ground and make everyone unemployed, before I allowed my defective product to kill someone.
Duh. You think a single person at NASA would have reported otherwise had you asked them before the Challenger disaster?
Social pressure can influence people into engaging in wishful thinking. They made a horrible judgment call, and we should remember that that tragedy was authored by them. But if you think you NEVER would have fallen for it... you're not being self aware. There's a pretty decent chance you would have.
In reality, it's a very big problem for companies to disappoint their large customers (as NASA certainly was for Morton-Thiokol at the time), and I suspect that the engineers would have been quite annoyed at management if the ultimate result of a launch no-go was fewer contracts, lower pay and/or job losses.
This isn't to say that management did the right thing, of course, just that "lol management just throws some buzzwords around and never attempts to understand the problem" is basically the same attitude that caused this disaster - just seen from an engineering viewpoint.