You're conflating the "do what they say" aspect of authority with the "drive them off a cliff without saying anything, when they tell you to drive forwards" aspect of authoritarianism. Too many times have I heard people say, "yes we know this isn't what he wants, and yes, we know that he would change his orders if we provided him with the information only we have, but he told us to do this and nobody will be able to blame us for the resulting fallout."