This, in my view, is quite a utilitarian (dare I say brutal) look on work and the world.
You are technically correct, in the same way "following the letter of the law" can be technically correct whilst missing the spirit.
For what it's worth, the engineers I have worked with in the past who take this utilitarian view of work often produce the poorer quality work and sometimes be really quite difficult to work with. This is because, with this view, "documentation", "design", "planning", "quality", and all those sorts of things tend to take a back seat in their mind as they become totally engrossed by "MVP", "well it works, so?", etc.
Personally, I think nuance is important here - I agree, there's a time for keeping the lights on, getting something to show, appeasing shareholders, and so on. However, there's also a time for taking a step back and taking some time to design, plan, optimize, ensuring quality, long-term stability, and hell, dare I say a bit of craftsmanship; life is short, might as well enjoy what you are doing for 1/3 of it and lavish in the art.
> Software engineers are mercenaries hired to create value for shareholders, and anything else is just delusion.
Value is a sustainable product, not some shovelware piece of crap. If the shareholders don't see that then that's their problem, and it's probably best to part ways and warn everyone you know from working with them.
