> Why didn't he work internally to prevent these issues?
What makes you think he didn't?
> Why are we taking advice from someone who lets others fail so he and his team look better?
From the quote, Fred brooks was clearly the boss of both the architecture manager and the control program manager. He wasn't part of any one team. I don't see the kind of conflict of interest you're hinting at.
> It sounds like he was pleased to let them fail, so he could be correct with no effort.
To me, it sounds like he simply made a bad call, and was saying "oops".
What makes you think he didn't?
> Why are we taking advice from someone who lets others fail so he and his team look better?
From the quote, Fred brooks was clearly the boss of both the architecture manager and the control program manager. He wasn't part of any one team. I don't see the kind of conflict of interest you're hinting at.
> It sounds like he was pleased to let them fail, so he could be correct with no effort.
To me, it sounds like he simply made a bad call, and was saying "oops".