I think this was covered in "Thinking Fast and Slow", but when our brains encounter a hard problem, we often substitute the answer for an easy question. I think

I think this was covered in "Thinking Fast and Slow", but when our brains encounter a hard problem, we often substitute the answer for an easy question. I think this process is at play in the dynamics you list above. "How does the time spent doing X contribute to the success of the company?" is a hard question. It has incredible value and every company should spend a great deal of time considering it. "How much time do workers spend doing X?" is an easy question, and so we have used its answer as the answer to the hard question.