Lots of places seem to fall into this trap. It's frustrating because most of the time it's simply a matter of politics rather than merit.
In my own businesses, I make it very clear from the start that no amount of brown-nosing, staying late, passing blame or any other political tactics will work with me. In fact, they have a MASSIVE negative effect.
Let's be honest, not everyone can just leave these kinds of places and startup their own company so often they are stuck. I'm on a bit of a mission right now to improve employee's lives and hopefully that will have a positive effect in the long run.
(Not espousing this view myself, just trying to clarify the analogy.)
The talk of getting something done far outweighs the getting something done. People want/need things in certain ways, and at some point someone is issuing the commands that can't be argued with anymore.
I'm often given tasks which I know how to deal with in and out, but I have to dig out all the details prior to implementation and put together specifications, just so someone who doesn't understand the codebase or how A relates to B can ignore me through a meeting and give me the ok. When I first joined the company, before it was sold, and before it increased its workforce 10x, I felt productive most of the week, and more importantly felt happy with my job.
After almost a year of doing this I can't wait for it to be over and just pack a bag and go a-travelin'. I honestly don't believe this can even be classified as work really, as the output from these places is so low or even negative.
These places are weird little cults or oppressive political regimes that you are an insider at. You could enjoy life as part of the politburo, it is objectively the rational way to go.
Startups to me have always been the 101st kilometre: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/101st_kilometre
"And then one day you find ten years have got behind you. No one told you when to run, you missed the starting gun."