I think Pioneer is at the, "Beginning of the End." Corporations like nations have a rhythm to life, they fail from within. There is a birth, growth, rapid growth, plateau, and death. The GEOs would call it a bell shaped curve, you have a beginning and an end. The cause I suspect several reasons for the decline: the stated goal 1mmbtu/day caused ballooning of costs that didn't come out of cash flow, growth pains from growing small to large, everything needed to be upsized, new digs for Corp Office, and finally how wall street investors look at oil companies more based on immediate profits and not future growth. In many ways it was the perfect storm, and as anyone that has worked when money gets tight, it is the employees that pay the price.
Really good point, posted by @10zP6P4B-cpzb.