the idea being that you will learn much more about someone / something if you ask questions that are anchored to a time and place rather than generic “unembodied” questions.

So the first question you list “Do you value code quality?”

is an “unembodied question” and there is no hook for the person to dig into reality and give you an honest answer.

The second, “Who was the last person promoted?” is “embodied” in that it is anchored in time and place. And because of that, a person is going to use their memory, rather than their rehearsed “value system” answers.