I don't disagree with any of this. I'm not saying that if an engineer writes software that increases profits by $1MM then they have realized $1MM in value: it's

I don't disagree with any of this. I'm not saying that if an engineer writes software that increases profits by $1MM then they have realized $1MM in value: it's a team sport. But I don't think that prevents us talking at all about the value of the work that is done in a job.