I'm confused about was whether my old manager would have been successful in the long term, and whether the company really needed somebody to install process.
A certain amount of process is useful. Most process is bullshit. Sadly, too often a company takes some dumbshit that passed the CSM certification class, and who knows bugger-all about actually creating software, and puts that person in charge of the software process. This is a recipe for failure in basically every regard. And unless you have major political clout (eg, are the son of the company CEO, etc.) your best option is to leave and try to find a less dysfunctional place to work.
A certain amount of process is useful. Most process is bullshit. Sadly, too often a company takes some dumbshit that passed the CSM certification class, and who knows bugger-all about actually creating software, and puts that person in charge of the software process. This is a recipe for failure in basically every regard. And unless you have major political clout (eg, are the son of the company CEO, etc.) your best option is to leave and try to find a less dysfunctional place to work.