You sort of do; stop doing work above a certain volume, stop meeting deadlines. This will have consequences, which may include a) firing or b) better volume and deadlines, depending on a number of factors.

I've worked roles where our priorities shift with the wind. Many times it is for good reason, like a strategic customer to get a foothold in a market. Other times it is just because management hyped up some effort. All's this to say, nod saying you will do it then just go about your day doing focusing on the actual priorities. Don't let workload mount up bc deadlines are all made up.

It's surprising how often people dig their own grave.

Most software engineers in my experience have quite a lot of control, and a large component of growing in your career is learning to perceive the control that you have.

One common misconception the article touches on, for example, is that Jira tickets represent latent task assignments, such that you should always be working on some specific Jira ticket and immediately pick up a new one when you finish or are awaiting review on the last one. That's not how the most successful engineers work, and often it's not even really what management wants.

Your communication with stakeholders about your work ends up having more of an impact than your rate of work output.

Don’t you? You can always say no verbally or with non-delivery. Are you working under a continuous and immediate threat of dismissal?