This does touch on a cultural tendency we have that I actually think is bad. Most people should not be encouraged to "work on what they're passionate about." It makes people feel they need to manufacture passion or inspiring goals whether or not they are inspired. E.g. creating some mission statement about how a grocery delivery app is going to change the world. If you want a good proxy for what will have a positive societal impact, do what makes money. It's an imperfect heuristic, with many obvious exceptions, but generally speaking money is the reward for doing something society deems valuable. One part of this quote I greatly agree with is that the most ambitious projects can't really be planned fully in advance, just directionally. But for most people, work doesn't have to be where your passion, mission, or even ambition primarily live.