Switching between business and academia several times I am really struck by this.
Meetings where the elephant in the room is not mentioned, because nobody wants to loose face. Really bad practice not commented on because (I guess, I am bad at this) some form of "mutually assured destruction". I will not point out your mistakes so you do not point out mine.
That, in case you are wondering, is from business.
I am really pleased to see people commenting here about business experience that go against my experience. And in my little group (of two, we could easily be five) we are straight with each other. But in the wider group? Rank incompetence, and dreadful mistakes that could be corrected if someone would point it out.
The point is technical excellence, good scientific practice, that is not required for being successful at business. It is al about "people skills". I.e. convincing somebody that they got what they were promised when they did not.
The university system in my country (Aotearoa) has been hobbled by people with business fetish. The meme was in the 1990s that "business is the most efficient". I believed it, until I saw the waste, inefficiency, downright lying and dishonesty, aghh I am triggered, that is business.
The same thing happens to some degree in academia (especially in commerce. My academic experience is science in the 1990s and commerce in the 2010s) but only "some degree". I see it at every nearly business meeting I attend.
I said before, I will say again, how pleasing it is to see comments here from people with different experiences than me.