That situation sounds to me like the problem of the development org not being trusted by the company's leadership when they say "this will slow down short-term initiatives but speed up long-term ones".
Yes, it's pretty common in my experience. Of course executive bonuses are granted based on short-term initiatives more so than long-term ones. When they finally reap what the sow, just blame dev. You don't get to be an executive without knowing how to politic.