Most people aren't bad actors. Some people are. Almost all bad actors know that they are bad actors, it's not a matter of ignorance or stupidity. The easiest tool of bad actors is manipulating communication. Lying, changing expectations, telling different people different parts/sides of the whole story, weaseling out of responsibility, brown-nosing, etc. A lot of bad actors will strive to put themselves in "lead" type of roles where they don't actually have the responsibility of direct reports, but where they can get their fingers into the communication channels for their team. Then, they use that position to get their fingers into the communication channels of other teams as well. They keep doing this and moving farther away from actually having to produce anything themselves. The manipulative communication becomes their entire output and job function, so they optimize it over time and get really good at it.
