As most people realize, the average published paper is read by the author, the referee, and perhaps one other person. Classic papers are read by thousands. We are concerned with research that will matter in the long run and become more than a footnote in history. If you are to do important work then you must work on the right problem at the right time and in the right way. Without any one of the three, you may do good work but you will almost certainly miss real greatness.
Greatness is a matter of style.
For example, after learning the elements of painting, you study under a master. While studying you pay attention to what the master says in discussing your work, but you know that if you are to achieve greatness then you must find your own style. Furthermore, a successful style in one age is not necessarily appropriate for another age. Cubism would not have gone over big during the realism period. Similarly, there is no simple formula for doing great science or engineering, I can only talk around the topic.