The zero interest in big picture and fiefdoms hits home pretty hard. Even if a subgroup wants to put emphasis on the big picture that's just one more set of hands on the rug. Suddenly you're spending more time arguing and fighting political battles instead of building great stuff. You can win some battles, but you have to have amazing persistence to not burn out or retreat to your subgroup mentality after a while.

I really don't care if I disagree with top level technical leadership. Having no technical leadership is even worse.