How many of you know deep down that the team is working on something no one want

OP suggestion is kinda strange, I don't see how it'd ever politically work out for their to be a separate group doing the job that you should already be doing. That group would have to have political cover from way on high, which really just brings us back to, "it starts at the top", no?

To be fair, my org is shares similar problems to his descriptions. But I couldn't imagine the bru-hah-hah amongst not just managers but line engineers if a new group was created to do all the fun stuff basically. People are aware they're on a treadmill but that don't want shoved in their faces.