I've recently been on a learn-about-economics spree, so I have a handy lens nearby with which to view this advice: you must not allow your gains to grow merely linearly (by constantly learning but not automating). The economic imperative is to allow gains to compound (by automating). Manual workflows cannot compound; automated workflows can.
(I may have been doing a lot of automation recently because, I think, bosses have paid a lot of money for an automation tool and feel the need to use it, and therefore feeling a little cynical about the whole thing)
Sam Altman covers the same sentiment in http://blog.samaltman.com/how-to-be-successful .