[drewcoo]

I don't know your team, so I don't know the skills/views/dynamics, but is there a way to cut through red tape?

Do all of the meetings/emails have to happen serially and in that order? If so, why?

Maybe look up what Amazon does with its 2-pagers and 6-pagers. See if you can do something similar where you are.

If it's really such a simple solution and that's obvious early, can you propose the obvious solution when you see it and get reactions?

If you're the only architect, you may have to define some of this stuff and make your changes part of the corporate culture.

If you have any PM buddies (whichever type of P), ask them for advice. A lot of this is their bread and butter, and if they already know your org, they'll have special insights.