"They work because it isn't work; it's a labor of love and intellectual stimulation."
That also happens, or used to, in some large IT organisations. It wrecked my health in old age - but it was 45 years of being surprised when the monthly paycheck came in for doing something that was basically very enjoyable (sometimes only in hindsight).
Thank you for that interesting article - it's the first time I've really understood what those meetings are all about. One oddity of my career is that I didn't risk becoming an alcoholic like some of my colleagues. Once in a while a problem was so obviously stupid that it required a drastic approach. Three shots of whisky spaced over an hour or so - if the third one didn't slow my thinking down enough then I just fell asleep - and the answer often surfaced on waking.