"Passionate problem solvers also know to pick their battles. Arguing with you is a distraction to them. For new people, it feels risky. So when given fluffy goals, they immediately translate them to specific goals in their mind. If you're lucky, they'll ask some qualifying questions, but unless the ambiguity threatens their job (or ability to do their job), they will not push the topic. At some point, they'll show you their roadmap, you'll have a discussion, and everything will be (hopefully) fine. By that point, those slides from annual planning will be but a memory."