Your post reminds me of this excellent post on metagames. https://www.epsilontheory.com/too-clever-by-half/ https://www.epsilontheory.com/too-clever-by-half/

Your post reminds me of this excellent post on metagames. https://www.epsilontheory.com/too-clever-by-half/ https://www.epsilontheory.com/too-clever-by-half/ The naive employee you mention who strives towards OKR completion wins the game, but loses the metagame of corporate ladder climbing.