i whole heartedly agree with your statement that "metrics against a bright and shiny object, even the wrong object, are perceived as more valuable than metrics that bring you closer to building the right object".

That was my experience with showing people "designs" that were moving us in the right direction. I got 0 credit for that. I had to show the designs live (i.e., shiny) and with user traffic data (i.e., metrics) as proof.