The Google-style interview (not just Google but big tech in general) selects for a very specific kind of tactical narrow-focus intelligence. Thinking big picture or strategically doesn’t come up at all in an algorithms interview. And thinking big picture really is a detriment to succeeding in a leetcode grind unless the only picture you’re looking at is total comp.

The type of person who works at Google probably isn’t well equipped to make good products, even if they’re great at writing software.