Technology

I believe it, but in a different scenario

Imagine the worker does some work, but it takes ten hours more of other people's testing to find all the bugs, and ten hours of someone more competent to fix them. Even though he did twenty hours of work, if he never showed up the pace of the work, someone doing it better might not affect others by just being more correct and actually might save others work by organizing the code in a way that is easier to understand.

It is not obvious that people who do a lot of work are actually positively benefiting the overall effort. I've certainly had to go and rewrite terrible code before. If it wasn't there, I wouldn't need to read it to see if it needed to be rewritten in the first place.

People do something, but often it's the wrong thing, and essentially nothing, or worse than nothing

Not into software developing but....I got a project manager and project lead that basically took over my project under my feet because they thought I was working too slowly. Now they got a junior engineer who thinks he's inventing all the things I had to invent to solve a problem....like a painter who thinks he's designed the perfect home. Well they're finding out now where ideas come from and that its not in the paint can or the brush. I love watching them squirm when their shitty design can't pass DFMEA so then ...do they design something different? Nah! DFMEA's can't tell you that your design id dumb as fuck! Its you! You! The engineer has to realize how stupid their design in. Instead, they proceed to apply resources to the ton of action items. Surely the pig will fly if we crush all the bones and reshape him into a parachute! I'll be right here when you guys are done fooling around and getting monthly praises and recognition. Praises and recognition by the way is the best way to get engineers out of your way...they get promoted to project lead or management! Suddenly they cant invent your inventions anymore!