It happened at every level - software engineers optimized for career outcomes which meant accumulating the right buzzwords. Managers optimized for their own car

It happened at every level - software engineers optimized for career outcomes which meant accumulating the right buzzwords. Managers optimized for their own career outcomes which meant increasing their number of direct reports. Engineering leaders optimized for their own buzzwords which means org-level complexity and a steady stream of (self-inflicted) problems to solve and brag about on their engineering blog to attract even more software engineers, and executives/founders merely optimize for securing the next funding round (because there is no and was never a viable business there to begin with), which is easier to do if you're seen as solving hard problems (even if they are self-inflicted), and investors happily oblige because they had no other choice in this distorted market. Note that incentive mismatch at the middle-management level happens everywhere to this day and isn't strictly a ZIRP-induced phenomenon, but most real businesses that need to earn a profit thus have a natural cap on how much inefficiency they can support. In ZIRP however, the complete lack of any requirement to make profit (in some cases because the business is never viable and its sole purpose is to give a good lifestyle and resume to everyone involved) exacerbated the problem.