The exam has no intrinsic value. It’s just there as part of the learning process. Most classes you can see a division between people who see grades as an objective (will this be on the test?) and people who see grades as a metric for another objective.

If you see grades as an objective, then the exam is something to study for. If you see grades as a metric, then the exam is there to measure progress and guide your study.

You do not know in advance what problems you need to solve on the test. You know the topics, sure, but you show up to the exam to perform work.

In a well designed meeting with a client, you show up to present work already done - or discuss what work needs to be done. Internal meetings might be more ad-hoc and you can get brownie points for working off the top of your head but its not necessary