The Big Picture
I agree that you can't use the soldier analogy when in your first bullet, you mention that it's "just work". Soldiers die; employees don't. So that's just a miserable analogy.
That said, there would be little need to question some moves if managers would not manage their people like you grow mushrooms (i.e.--keep them in the dark, shovel manure on them), and show them the Big Picture. That's how you get subordinate buy-in.....at least as a subordinate, that's how I'm most likely to buy-into something when the answer to the question "why" is answered. Some managers aren't always compelled to answer "why" because of various reasons; the biggest being their own shortcomings.
