Ask HN: How to navigate work environments with no product management?

I am in the industry for around 15 years at this point. I started shortly before SCRUM took off everywhere, and it was apparent that too many meetings and processes killed any creativity and productivity.

Fast forward to a few years ago, I am having the third, very high paying (for my standards) job. I am getting around 250k USD for a remote job. Basically 75% more than I need to survive.

However, these higher paying job have no process for cutting down work or meeting regularly to figure out what to do next. It's mostly coders "seeing something which needs to be improved" and then doing it.

I personally struggle with that mindset a bit. You see young people thinking about the stack day and night, on weekends, and wanting it to look and behave a certain way.

Whereas I have seen so many StartUps and companies fail, I am more pragmatic and think: "If customers want it, we built it, otherwise: What's the point, really? Go out and enjoy the sun!".

I wonder which companies or pay ranges offer a middle ground between "do whatever you think needs to be doing vs. every day meetings with the team to decide what to work on".

Do others feel similar?