There seems to be a class of problems for which collecting valuable stepping stones (in Kenneth Stanley's terms) or options (in Taleb's terms) is more valuable than having a specific goal and optimizing towards it.
"What matters here is the asymmetry between the cost and the potential benefit. After all, I also have the right—but not the obligation—to go on an online shopping spree, or get McDonald's delivered to my door. I have millions of options at my fingertips at all times. The difference is that there's no positive asymmetry: the rewards are usually modest, and so are the costs. Arguably, many of these trades are asymmetrical in the wrong direction. There is such a thing as negative optionality: if you get hooked on meth or run up a gambling debt to the local mobsters, you have destroyed the right to take certain actions, and imposed an obligation in its place. So: what we're looking for is trades that offer large, unlimited upside with small, fixed costs." - Richard Meadow in "Optionality: How to Survive and Thrive in a Volatile World"