I remember using HotJava.

Which really just points to the need for the simple XML format you've proposed!

As with most management things, there’s probably a lot of nuance to how you can approach this.

I’ve had managers make it clear that me and my teams were a distant #2 to the company needs. It was pretty demotivating (as you said).

On the other hand, part of a managers job is to align their teams with the organizational priorities.

Maybe it comes down to how you achieve that alignment?