unexpected results attempting to use texture or noise nodes as drivers for vertex displacement

[trobins78]

example set up:

Here my expectation is that the vertices move further away from object origin (along normal) based on color values of the texture or procedural noise.

Here it is with no multiply:

Multiplied by 30X:

The verts are moved along their normals but the texture seems to have no affect.

**Please let me know if I'm misunderstanding! Thanks!