In the absence of at least some reasonable system (despite its flaws) to recognize a software engineer’s contributions, you’re likely to have a situation where the team as a whole is falling short. Managers will be under pressure to turn up the temperature on the whole team, and the environment will risk becoming more akin to a sweatshop. I’ve seen it firsthand more than once.
So I’d wager the contrary to what you suggest here. The measurements are what enable management to keep some greater distance without being a distraction. Creativity might even become inevitable if the right system is in place, but such a thing is not easily accomplished no matter the approach you try. I feel that data trumps the lack of such in this case though.
Though this is a nice topic for debate and I’d love to see some more literature or studies on it.