Interesting set of thought provocations.

"Project managers are facilitators of ideas. This is as far as they normally go in the ‘idea’ space."

I wondered where you were going after reading these lines (above).

You explain further the PM doing and referrals to unclear strategy and outcomes. The inference being PMs are inputs, activities and outputs managers.

In the aid and development industry this is where people are assessed; often on disbursement of funds and the other two elements in terms of scope narrowed to fit inside budget and time, extended with a no cost extension, if not delivering to fit with fund disbursement.

This perhaps is the missing element - How a PM is assessed? What are the performance indicators for the person in their own career path? How to pass the buck or deliver against these indicators?

Interesting to apply your points to further work I am now involved with - Particularly look at how the title Manager is displaced by the term coordinator allowing responsibility and accountability to slip consciously