Crucially, each lever only goes so far — you (usually) can't adjust expectations to the point where you're expected to do zero work, and you can't deliver on impossibly demanding expectations solely by working extra hard.
While you're absolutely right that the "keep shipping" lever is very important, the article provides an example of where you need to pull the other lever early.
I've had MANY frank conversations with both product and engineering leadership about the current state of the world. The VP of engineering is onboard and understands the pain of what we're going through. Product is a bit harder to convince, but just as important -- probably more important. They understand that my team is having to spend 20%+ of our time just bringing the code into this decade, because I set that expectation early and reinforce it often.
I argued AGAINST a from-scratch rewrite because I knew it would never be ok to stop shipping. But I have been able to convince them that slowing down now will let us move faster later.
The problem if you think about it is that you will tell him just that every time you see him. In other words, how do you show that you know how to make a good framework other than by beating deadlines? Beat deadlines, again and again, and then you will be granted the right the make a framework yourself. One that. among other things, actually beat deadlines.