A good way to go wrong in a complex system is “focus on the basics” There are no basics. There’s only intertwingled, entangled weirdness. Of those who focus on basics, a few get lucky, succeed, get religion, and start sermonizing. You don’t hear sage advice from the failures.
There’s so much energy being spent applying masking tape and brute force that extraneous energy to prod at mechanisms of serendipity is viewed as indulgently irresponsible.