---
id: "quote-minor-tinkering"
type: "quote"
source_timestamps: ["§ Get Serious"]
tags: ["strategy", "warning"]
related: ["concept-systems-thinking-ai"]
speaker: "Tom Davenport and John J. Sviokla"
speakers: ["Tom Davenport", "John J. Sviokla"]
quote: "Those that only undertake minor tinkering with the technology are condemned to achieving only minor outcomes."
sources: ["spine"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-spine"
originDay: 1
articleStem: "hbr-cl-95-6-disciplines-genai"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2024/07/the-6-disciplines-companies-need-to-get-the-most-out-of-gen-ai"
sourceTitle: "The 6 Disciplines Companies Need to Get the Most Out of Gen AI"
---
# The danger of minor tinkering

> "Those that only undertake minor tinkering with the technology are condemned to achieving only minor outcomes."
> — [[entity-tom-davenport]] and [[entity-john-j-sviokla]]

The authors' concluding warning against superficial adoption of generative AI. It is the rhetorical payload of [[concept-systems-thinking-ai]] and applies equally to shallow project selection in [[framework-gen-ai-project-selection]].