> why would you disobey a direct instruction from you super?
Because the instruction was stupid, based on marketing instead of utility, or otherwise given without any thought to how it impacts the actual day-to-day work of their subordinates.
Why WOULDN'T you disobey a stupid instruction? What's the difference between "stop using this tool you're productive in and switch to this one that you're demonstrably LESS productive in for no reason other than I heard it was a good idea", and "Go strap some rocks onto your ankles and swim the English channel. I heard that was a good idea."?
Depends what country you're in. In the US we have a culture in engineering of doing what we believe is right regardless of what the manager wants. We can afford to do that because of how highly specialized our work is and how few engineers there are (this is probably changing with AI). But in other countries managers are looking for any excuse to replace you with someone who will just nod their head and do whatever they ask.
In my youth, I openly railed against this type of thinking. I was near quitting one gig when the VP said that all work done on our Dec 10 had to be done in batch mode. Fortunately, this dictum was shortly reveresed.
To further answer why I would disobey a direct instruction is that I presume those hiring me expect me to produce solutions to problems--have a problem solving attitude. A direct instruction of that sort is contrary to that.
