I have found that a lot of engineers learn helplessness because they've been burned by reporting issues to bad managers. Bad managers only shift the blame downwards. Why would any sane engineer ever report anything if there is a chance it will be held against them?
Because those bad managers are going to shift the blame downwards regardless and the people around you also see what you do. If you need to add CYA cc's to emails about blockers or bring things up publicly where it will be clear that you were upfront about the issues facing the project. Ultimately bad managers are temporary problems, but a reputation as an unreliable person is permanent.
Oh boy, you must be a decent manager. In my most recent experience, engineers who brought up issues publicly were berated, rated lower and then managed out. Why? Because the goal of the bad manager is only to "look good" for "long enough".
If the company culture is bad enough that you get pushed out like this, almost certainly your good co-workers are or will also be pushed out the same way. Those are the people I'm referring to when I say others will see what you do. They're the ones that make up the network that gets you a better position out from such a dysfunctional organization.
I've left such dysfunctional situations before, and the network of co-workers and other managers I built up in those situations by being reliable and communicating were key in finding multiple subsequent positions. In another case, a skip level manager who I'd probably met in person 2 or 3 times tapped me for transfer to another team out from under a lousy manager in part because of an earned reputation for being honest about what was feasible and then getting that done.
Like I said, bad managers are a temporary problem. Either they're gone or you're gone. But your reputation is what you trade on when you call on your network to help make that problem as temporary as possible.
