Go one level deeper and you'll find the problem with all of academia (source: I have a PhD).
Most of academic science as we know it today is structured so that the output is "publishable" and/or helps future grant applications. Incremental improvements are very publishable, but that doesn't necessarily make good science. Grants are awarded to scientists who are consistently able to deliver results, in the form of published papers. I can only really speak for my little corner of science, but from my view, the entire incentive structure of science is broken.
Most of academic science as we know it today is structured so that the output is "publishable" and/or helps future grant applications. Incremental improvements are very publishable, but that doesn't necessarily make good science. Grants are awarded to scientists who are consistently able to deliver results, in the form of published papers. I can only really speak for my little corner of science, but from my view, the entire incentive structure of science is broken.