Comment by ryandrake

> the guys and gals that build this stuff may very well be imbibing these products with the kind of attitude that they like to see in their subordinates

Or that the individual developers see in themselves. Every team I've worked with in my career had one or two of these guys: When the Director or VP came in to town, they'd instantly launch into brown-nose mode. One guy was overt about it and would say things like "So-and-so is visiting the office tomorrow--time to do some petting!" Both the executive and the subordinate have normalized the "royal treatment" on the giving and receiving end.