That's a very interesting train of thought I have found to have been personally "plagued" with ever since I left the atelier a couple of years ago.
In a positive aspect, it is detremental for success to possess the knowledge of the fundamentals. Having an atelier experience for example allowed me to gain the ability to navigate on my own and think critically.
The downside is that I feel that the academic perspective myopically assumes that anything one would want to accomplish and that any problem or future existing problem lies within the narrowly defined parameters of that school of thought. And that the only "remedy" is to de-emphasize the unexplored territory and emphasize what works and what is known.
What I found to be have been completely jarring and vertigo inducing from a creative standpoint is that when one attempts to venture outwards in previously undiscovered realms or attempts to solve new problems, one is confronted with the issue that everything that was previously taught begins to crumble.
Yeah. Whenever it happens to me, it can be disorienting (and sometimes frustrating). But it is a good sign. A very good sign. It shows me that I'm on a tipping point where I will either fail or get a little better, and that eventually I will push past that boundary if I keep going. The fundamentals (rules/constraints) are necessary as they get you to a place of freedom...where you can find out that you don't know anything, and start to truly be creative. I imagine the levels of discarding what you previously thought you knew will be endless.... fun! ;p