I get the same sense of revulsion, but I know exactly why. Because almost everything in that matrix can be learned within a day or two. Take any experienced programmer and pick out one of those concepts in the matrix that he/she hasn't used before. It would take very little time to grasp the concept. This isn't like teaching yourself homotopy type theory with only a calculus background.
VP trees — have you ever heard of them? Neither had I until I needed to quickly search and partition a set of 3D points with periodic boundary conditions. It took about a day to become an "expert" on these trees and implement my own library. Isn't that a much more valuable skill than pushing yet another kind of data structure and its properties onto an "interview-ready" list of useless facts?
You can possibly argue that in this scheme, ability to think about the whole system falls under "systems decomposition" -- but that's just one box of many, and still doesn't quite relate to building things.
Ultimately, I guess I'd be happy to ignore any and all of these things if someone can build what I want or need.
Smart and gets things done is a better measure and harder to BS.
I think it has value as a framework for someone doing hiring, basically just as a memory-jog for what to talk about in an interview. This would be only after going through and editing it - refining a criterion here, redefining one there, adding a row here, deleting one there, to make it fit the situation. But even then, it shouldn't be taken too rigidly. It's an approximation.
... by looking at their accomplishments?
Ultimately, productivity is not about how many tools/frameworks/languages/etc. you claim to "know". It's about what you can do with what you know.
Absolutely agree, but with the caveat that the software world currently seems to be on something of a "teamwork is everything" kick which can sometimes obfuscate what individuals are capable of. So judge results -- but be sure everyone is getting a chance to spread their wings at least some of the time.
(Of course it doesn't. But maybe it should...)
But seriously... In general, "strategic thinking" for junior people is basically understanding your role in the team, the team's long term strategy, the team's collaborations with other parts of the company, and stuff like that.