Hypnotized by doing iterative goal subroutines and losing sight of the actual goal

Describing a concept several ways: toward a specific long-range goal, adopting an efficient iterative subroutine heading in the general direction of the goal, but without reference to the actual goal so as to check validity of efficiency of the subroutine for achieving the actual goal, the adoption of the easy iterative subroutine could carry one past the goal and never reach it.

Or, as in taking a long trip to a small town way across country, and getting on freeway system, setting goal for maximum distance per time and focusing down to that subroutine of taking fastest road, unable to think of getting off the freeways at an optimum point to go on slower roads that actually can get to the small rural town far off the freeway system, but instead they just keep going, fixated on choosing the freeway that enables them to go the furthest in the shortest amount of time, but which never arrives at the goal.

Much of the country seems to have opted for the iterative subroutines, without also checking before each iteration's start, that it indeed gets to the goal.

For example, the automobile system's car manufacturers, are they guided by the goal of the most fully efficient means of people getting from the locations chosen by the consumer, or are they guided by making the most profit for the least effort, without reference to the actual transportation goal... even using the advertising industry to waylay the consumer from attention to the real goals but instead be fixated on style, prestige or other dazzle?

Or in the medical system, is it guided by minimizing down-time of people, maximizing up-time for the people of the country; or is it endlessly guided by the easier-seen goal of making the most money for the least effort? Losing sight of the goal of maximizing up-time of the people of the nation, and instead focusing down on the easier-arranged goal of ensuring maximum income for the health-providers, it is likely that the short vision is seen that it is chronically sick people who provide the income, not well people. Health territorial control by licensing those who are allowed to provide health care, without actual guidance of maximizing the up-time of the population, the system is locked into whatever is provided by the above-mentioned system, substituting the much different goal of maximizing profits for least effort, instead of the goal of full functional dynamic health for the interdependent population. (Or are we not interdependent?)

The fixation on the lesser subroutines, without reference to the actual big picture goal, rarely can get us to the real goals. In fact, we are at risk of losing sight of the real goals; perhaps only vaguely realizing that things are not going well, having forgotten what our real goals were.

How to fix that problem? Or have we become too fixated on the subroutines that have rewarded us with paychecks and goodies, to be able to be flexible enough to adopt the means for getting out of the subroutines when they are no longer the most efficient path to the goals of the people so they can long-term thrive?