It seems that the problem was not that these people didn't WANT to create products for Google, it's that they tried and failed. Obviously the reason they failed

It seems that the problem was not that these people didn't WANT to create products for Google, it's that they tried and failed. Obviously the reason they failed wasn't that they couldn't make their products work. So that leaves that they weren't allowed to create these products, which is the same as saying that they were forced to work on other people's ideas ... ideas that mostly didn't pan out. Or that Google didn't pay them what they were worth (by the ultracapitalist definition of worth: you're worth what someone is willing to pay). Perhaps a combination of both: that they were forced to work on unsuccessful products and couldn't get raises/promotions as a result of that. That management had it's own ideas they really, really, really needed to succeed, and when it failed they dragged a lot of people down with them. I must say, that sounds exactly like what you'd find happening in large companies.