Frankly it seems entirely plausible the government might intentionally punish them for solving a problem they couldn't solve. I know someone who works at a com

Frankly it seems entirely plausible the government might intentionally punish them for solving a problem they couldn't solve. I know someone who works at a company that used to be government-run until it was privatized and still internally operates along the same structures. Because there is little incentive to fundamentally change things, new ideas must always come from the top. People in the lower ranks are not just not incentivized to come up with new ideas, any new ideas that may be successful enough will be shot down and buried. The only way to implement new ideas without climbing the ranks yourself is to make your superiors believe it is their idea and allow them to claim the laurels if you succeed. In other words: you can't just go out and do things. There is a process. And the process is more important than the effect, even if that process is defunct or fails to achieve the outcome.