[SOLAR_FIELDS]

The problem seems more cultural than you're giving it credit to be - several ex-Googlers have stated or written articles pointing out that the way Google handles promotions heavily incentivizes people to launch new products over working to improve existing ones.

[UncleMeat]

I'm a Googler and have been on promo committees. I've seen this material. I don't think it is entirely without merit, but I feel that it is fairly overblown. My org, for example, is much more focused on debt reduction and efficiency rather than launching products and we have historically had a higher promo rate than the norm.