"who have agreed to a contract to fulfill business needs in exchange for money, "

Technically, that's true, but in reality not.

Devs go to work, build stuff, and get paid every few weeks.

Their direction really is oriented only towards the goals they are given.

Business needs are often counterintuitive to the natural position of a developer.

The reason I believe this, is because I'm a developer who moved into the business world. I see this utterly and fundamentally different now. Even how I approach writing code is different.

Business needs are very difficult to understand for anyone who has not sat in a true business role: customer facing, selling i.e. direct sales etc.. A few people have a 'natural born' business instinct, but it's rare.

Even people in regular marketing jobs (i.e. not marketing ops, like branding, creative) I find don't have an instinct for it.

I like specific goals, that are attached to timings. They're not always going to be made, but both of those things are important.

Developers moving in the wrong direction is more common in software than not.