Is that more naivety though? Writing, thinking that they have the answer (or some of them) and then hitting something new that was yet to be seen in their working lives?

If I have sympathy for them, I think it would be because I could see myself making the exact same mistakes: writing confidently as my business road a wave of great timing, thinking that emboldened and involved employees were great for company culture, and then deciding that maybe it was a risky distraction.