Some things are just stronger than other things, if you "play different each time", then that does not sound like a strategy for me. ^^ But yeah, if you meant that you don't have to stick 100% to what is the most efficient stuff and instead have more freedom to also do some inefficient stuff (or to just make mistakes), then sure, that's a different story.
However, in that case I don't really see what exactly is so "funny" about this thread. Obviously, nobody is suggesting that there's only one way how this game should ever be played and I think most people like to vary things up in their games, too. But when a person tries to actually improve and asks for tips to get good victory times, then of course people will explain what is generally considered to be the most efficient way of doing things.
Although of course there is "variation" and there is "doing something inefficient for no reason other than not knowing how to do it properly". For example using the first trade route as an external trade route without having an exact and direct goal in mind and instead just doing it because "Hey, that's a huge yield!" is just playing inefficient. For a decision to be meaningful it has to be fueled by information - either those one made himself, or information that one has gotten from other people. Otherwise it is indeed not much different from just doing random stuff.