{
  "schema": "vedokrok.public-item.v1",
  "release_id": "MHC-RPUB-20260920-75ad787a",
  "url": "/knowledge/switch-when-the-evidence-changes-not-when-novelty-appears",
  "id": "MHC-D-RESEARCH-9048",
  "version": "0.1.0",
  "title": "Switch when the evidence changes, not when novelty appears",
  "summary": "Persistence and flexibility solve different problems.",
  "kind": "principle",
  "body": "Keep the current focus while its assumptions remain true and progress evidence is plausible. Switch when a meaningful premise changes: the target no longer matters, a prerequisite disappears, a time-sensitive opportunity dominates, repeated representative tests show the bottleneck moved, or constraints make the plan infeasible. Require a reason stronger than boredom.",
  "limits": [
    "Cognitive flexibility is not constant switching. Equally, cognitive stability is not refusal to update."
  ],
  "topics": [
    "union-skill-acquisition-career-dominant-focus"
  ],
  "intents": [],
  "source_ids": [
    "RS-A99D57B59D372E5E",
    "RS-3FD08B5174C6CD5E"
  ],
  "evidence": [
    {
      "claim": "A review of cognitive control argues that adaptive behavior requires both cognitive stability for task focus and cognitive flexibility for switching when goals or circumstances change.",
      "source_id": "RS-A99D57B59D372E5E",
      "role": "contextualizes",
      "note": "This is a conceptual synthesis rather than a trial of a personal goal-prioritization system.",
      "locator": "Abstract, introduction and conclusion"
    },
    {
      "claim": "An integrative review reports decreased performance in many dual-task and task-switching conditions compared with appropriate single-task controls.",
      "source_id": "RS-3FD08B5174C6CD5E",
      "role": "supports",
      "note": "Switching can still be necessary and adaptive; the review does not imply that uninterrupted work is always optimal.",
      "locator": "Abstract"
    }
  ],
  "use_when": [
    "When stable focus is valuable but the environment can change enough to make the original priority wrong."
  ],
  "avoid_when": [
    "Cognitive flexibility is not constant switching. Equally, cognitive stability is not refusal to update."
  ],
  "example": "A planned certification loses relevance after the target role changes; the learner switches because the market/task premise changed, not because a new course looked exciting.",
  "check": "The switch can name the changed premise and the new evidence, and unfinished work receives an explicit disposition.",
  "sources": [
    {
      "id": "RS-A99D57B59D372E5E",
      "title": "Principles of cognitive control over task focus and task switching",
      "url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11409542/"
    },
    {
      "id": "RS-3FD08B5174C6CD5E",
      "title": "Cognitive structure, flexibility, and plasticity in human multitasking—An integrative review of dual-task and task-switching research",
      "url": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29517261/"
    }
  ],
  "relations": [
    {
      "from": "MHC-D-RESEARCH-9048",
      "to": "MHC-D-RESEARCH-9044",
      "type": "useful_with",
      "url": "/knowledge/protect-the-dominant-edge-from-attractive-adjacent-work"
    }
  ],
  "collections": [
    {
      "id": "RC-EA04F47374E04549",
      "title": "Learn new skills, turn them into career evidence, and protect the main development edge",
      "url": "/collections/learn-new-skills-turn-them-into-career-evidence-and-protect-the-main-development-edge"
    }
  ]
}