Love this article, but I'm not sure the origin of the sloppy practices described there always originates with the VP/Eng, CTO or CEO. I've worked with plenty of engineers who just don't want to write tests, or tighten up code, or expend the effort to socialize their ideas/accept others. The higher ups might not have the visibility, inclination (or time!) to focus on those issues and encourage best practices, but I don't always detect acts of commission from them to subvert best practices.