Who says anybody's doing that? If I come to work for you, that doesn't imply I'm not doing anything else for money. And, nobody's saying to accept pay for work you haven't done. The article is simply saying to set expectations low. If expectations are met, then, by definition, the agreed upon work is being done.
I say most people would be doing that, and the article suggests you do that, because the majority of FTE software development positions require you work exclusively for that company. Most even have IP control over everything you do, work or not.
Further, if you set expectations low and you work for me, you will be fired. I expect it’s similar many other places. I’m an engineer, I know what 40 hours of effort looks like.
