Very true. I've always found productive people to be much more useful than smart people.

That's not what he's saying. He said self motivation. So if left to their own devices they'd rather learn more than stick to one task and produce something.

Smart, productive people are what you want when they are being motivated, possibly by others, e.g. boss or peer pressure. I don't care how productive they are if they're not smart and not working in a smart manner.