If that's true (and I think it's becoming obvious that it is), then Google's leadership is going to have increasingly bigger clashes with its own developers in the future, as I imagine most of them believe in the exact opposite principle.

No wonder they're removing mentions of Don't be evil from their work of conduct. They're starting to train a "new generation" of developers that follow commands and don't question the company's leadership, even when it breaks the company's own promises and rules.