Do the members of this dystopian-sounding promotion committee at Google actively develop software themselves (when they're not promoting or failing to promote p

Do the members of this dystopian-sounding promotion committee at Google actively develop software themselves (when they're not promoting or failing to promote people)? Is this a case where those who can't develop software judge those who can? Or am I reading too much into one ex-Googler's account of their own experience?