One of the points of the talk is emphasis on working on "important" problems. It does make sense to not work on incremental things for merely publications so it is definitely good advice. However once you decide to do so what is "important" becomes a difficult question.
I like this article from Daniel Lemire which explores this further
I like this article from Daniel Lemire which explores this further
https://lemire.me/blog/2010/03/22/so-you-know-whats-importan...