Hey, they’re just people.
All JWs are under intense pressure to conform to unrealistic behaviors and impossibly high standards. This is by design. It’s part of how cults work. They control their members by setting impossible tasks so that the cult member feels shitty about themselves when they “fall short” (Romans 3:23).
This is Codependent Relationships 101.
And the elders have even more responsibilities for which they are completely untrained, but are nevertheless expected to somehow perform nearly perfectly, often while working full-time, being a husband and a father of a “perfect little model JW family,” handling endless meeting parts, “shepherd the flock,” and of course: “Make sure you spend at least 10 hours a month out in the Field Ministry, Brother!”
It’s overwhelming. I know. I tried to do all this for over 20 years.
Additionally, elders are supposed to be unanimous in agreeing with the rest of the elder body about pretty much everything. Granted, many elders are reasonably intelligent, but even given that—the vast majority have only a high school diploma or less. Generally speaking, they’re mostly an uneducated lot. And many are quite simply fools. It’s frustrating.
Honestly, it’s surprising blowouts like the one described in the OP don’t happen more often.
But it does prove that “Holy Spirit” ain’t got nothin’ to do with this religion.
Let’s review: It’s a cult!