---
id: "quote-deleting-motivational-mechanisms"
type: "quote"
source_timestamps: ["§ The Hidden Substitution"]
tags: ["incentives", "automation"]
related: ["concept-hidden-substitution"]
speaker: "K. Sudhir"
speakers: ["K. Sudhir"]
sources: ["agentic"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-agentic"
originDay: 6
articleStem: "hbr-new-26-agentic-systems-implicit-rules"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2026/06/how-to-design-agentic-systems-around-the-implicit-rules-that-govern-your-company"
sourceTitle: "How to Design Agentic Systems Around the Implicit Rules that Govern Your Company"
---
# Deleting Motivational Mechanisms

> "When you replace the human, you aren't just upgrading processing speed—you are quietly deleting an entire web of motivational mechanisms."
> — [[entity-k-sudhir|K. Sudhir]]

The verbal signature of [[concept-hidden-substitution]] and the direct support for [[claim-deleting-motivational-mechanisms]]. The hidden cost of automation is the loss of social and career accountability, not just a change in speed.