Some people figure out the utility of this right away. Many don't. Whenever I show my coworkers the 10-command pipeline I used to solve some ad-hoc one-time problem, many of them (even brilliant programmers and sysadmins among them) look at it as some kind of magic spell. But I'm just building it a step at a time. It looks impressive in the end, even though it's probably actually wildly inefficient and redundant.
But none of that is the point. The end result of a specific solution isn't the point. The cleverness of the pipeline isn't the point. The point is that if you are familiar with the tools, this is often the fastest method to solve a certain class of problem, and it works by being interactive and iterative, using tools that don't have to be perfect or in and of themselves brilliant innovations. Sometimes a simple screwdriver that could have been made in 1900 really is the best tool for the job!
But none of that is the point. The end result of a specific solution isn't the point. The cleverness of the pipeline isn't the point. The point is that if you are familiar with the tools, this is often the fastest method to solve a certain class of problem, and it works by being interactive and iterative, using tools that don't have to be perfect or in and of themselves brilliant innovations. Sometimes a simple screwdriver that could have been made in 1900 really is the best tool for the job!