[whstl]

At this point "ownership" is just a buzzword thrown around by management types that has no meaning.

If a developer has to put up a fight in order to push back against the irresponsibility of a non-technical person, they by definition don't have ownership.

[cratermoon]

I've seen shops where ownership is used as a cudgel to punish unruly developers. If the task isn't done as specified and on time, the developer is faulted for not taking ownership, but that "ownership" is meaningless, as you note, because it does not extend to pushing back against irresponsible or unreasonable demands.