As a step towards answering my own question I view culture something like a complexity issue or a proof by induction. Call it a question of human calculus.

Given n where n>=1, how can we optimize such that n+1 is maximally effective

The current corporate tropes have utterly failed us but instead of reinventing corporacy in a newer image we seem to have thrown out everything that was good about it and then replaced it with this toxic sludge of performance evaluations and weak, conflicting signalling. Anyway.. Who's reading this in the belly of some beastly code dungeon?