yes - but I think the idea was to reduce the perceived level of arbitrariness of their ordering by appealing to mathematical analysis. Technical analysis is used for this purpose all the time.

"The tool you bought said X, I just went with that to get something to you quickly" is a great way to Get Things Done in any political industry. If stakeholders care, they'll override it placing less blame on your shoulders than they would otherwise. And tool makers that optimize for minimizing surprise can be great allies in this.

Definitely. For most on-screen talent, part of the ordering is even contractual. I think this was more of a fun exercise to see if they could come up with a model for how that political process averages out to create a technical one.