I absolutely agree with you!
After 10 years of work I only realized in the last few ones that those things you listed are the only to care about. Personally I always try to learn and apply to new projects, and not giving over 100% makes me feel quite comfortable even in those difficult relations expressed in the main thread. It's really important when you work for a company for a long time: you may learn all the dynamics between your colleagues but you cannot avoid some kind of behaviours...