Not advocating this, just more addressing the mindset on it, but in the game of office politics people don't mention concerns ahead of time because they don't want to give the opposing view point opportunity to research how to defeat their argument in a meeting, not that they "can't" give an intelligent response. They're choosing not to in their own self interest.

"The enemy must not know where I intend to give battle; for if he does not know where I intend to give battle, he must be prepared in a great many places. And when he prepares in a great many places, those I have to fight in any one-given place will be but few."

You generally also get paid with ~10% of everyone else, regardless if you get 3x more done or 3x less done.

So, if like most people, your working to live instead living to work - your employer is doing a terrible job incentivizing you to do more than the bare minimum.

We all know you are far better off doing almost nothing and then all your time trying to get promoted for it, than trying to get promoted by actually doing a good job and thinking you'll get promoted based on merit.

im unconvinced.

id place the reason that its more work to identify and raise those concerns ahead of time, since if they are correct, you did all that work coming up with the happy path and the issues ahead of time, vs if the issues come up later, you can focus on and fix them as they come up.

i dont think the meeting is in focus at all

Anyone who would advocate for this strategy against any SME is a moron anyway.

It's like watching someone who's expecting a knife fight walk in with a concealed handgun only to be immediately confronted with a tank.

The email is usually an attempt to not waste time in the meeting and get shit done. Leadership always favors those who can make it so. Anyone who stalls for time or hides information will always look bad. I don't get why people so desperately try anyway.

Most of these strange gambits in office politics are a losing game for the inept and inexperienced. One can only wonder why we keep pretending like there even is such a "game" of office politics.