I run into this just about every day at work (I’m a cybersecurity architect). It makes perfect sense, and it will never change. People want to look good while doing as little work as possible (especially considering that we’re all overworked). The tasks / issues whose true effectiveness is not immediately obvious and easy to measure will almost always get screwed up because what is immediately obviously will always win (eg how quickly did you get it done, how much money did you save, would an idiot think you did a good job). And there will always be mediocre people there to take advantage of this and work up the chain.

This goes all the way up to the shareholders who want short term results. And these shareholders are even worse. They care about one thing…making lots of money.

Thus mediocre people usually rule. There are exceptions - sometimes there are leaders who are really smart, experienced, principled, are good managers, yet practical. But it’s really hard to succeed if you’re that kind of person as ultimately the winners are those who give the shareholders what they want. Charisma helps as well as patience, empathy, diplomatic skills, and the ability to not scream at lazy dumbasses. Who has all these skills? Very rare.