An artist making a painting owns the IP of the painting[1]. A software engineer working for an employer generally does not; the employer (or client) usually owns the IP, and usually has a larger financial stake in the software than any individual.

I think this attitude is fine if you are the sole stakeholder and IP owner (e.g. a personal project or a small business you own). But not for something you are building in collaboration with other engineers for someone else's ownership.

[1] Artists do often make works for client IP, in which cases, they also do not have full creative control of their output!

Almost every painting you've ever heard of has been commissioned and paid for. If I'm painting the ceiling of the Sistine chapel, for money, and my coworker is fucking up his part, I'm going to be pissed yes. We're supposed to do this 40 hours per week and not care about the output quality? That seems less healthy/ideal than the alternative.

That's really not true. You can have complete ownership of your creative process even if you work toward a brief/goal specified by someone else.

I say this as someone who has edited movie trailers for major motion pictures for 20 years. I have always been able to accomplish my own goals and by whatever means and processes I deemed important and necessary for myself, despite still needing to satisfy the client's objectives.

You do not need to give up your autonomy. The fact that you think so is troubling and speaks to a split in your psyche.