This isn't sunk cost; the exec chain just has different incentives. They're hired for outcomes. It's their job to make it happen, not make it make sense.

> A bunch of people got promoted. We all breathed a sigh of relief. The 90 work weeks stopped for a few weeks.

When you move up, you move on; issues from then on are the next guy's problem. Exec dynamics are often "gather successes to me and push off failures to others" - sounds like some exec won.