I’ll chime in a little bit to agree with you. The Germans were top down focused. And we were spongie... We absorbed our Intel and put it to go use. A private or Sgt could point out a weakness. And they were taken seriously.
Rotations of personnel also leads to innovations be used in the field. An example from personal experience if I may. A shore assignment in a repair facility provided hands on use of innovative techniques on piping systems aboard different vessels. Then during a sea assignment an emergency in an engine room lube oil pipe to the engine reduction gears occurred while underway. As an E4 I had the knowledge and confidence to make a temporary fix with the pipe still online as CPO and other E5 and 6s watched and learned. Our services are excellent at adaptation and improvement.