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MENTAL MODEL · M9941

Hold the Classic, Reach the Change

Hold the Classic, Reach the Change
BusinessHigh supportStrategic Management
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Updated 2026-08-22

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INTRODUCTION

English translation pending.

CORE DEFINITION

The idea pairs two terms from Chinese political thought: jing, the enduring norm or principle, and quan, the warranted deviation that circumstance requires. It holds that principles define purpose while circumstances determine method, so rigidity and opportunism are both failures. The core claim is that flexibility is legitimate only when it serves the principle, which supplies the test for whether a deviation is adaptation or drift. The qualification is that the boundary must be drawn in advance: if the principle can be redefined whenever convenience demands, nothing is actually held.

SCAFFOLDING EFFECT

psychology

Reduce cognitive load

- Separate the layers: write the principle that must not change and the means that may. - Test the deviation: ask whether the flexible move serves the principle or quietly replaces it. - Review the drift: check periodically whether means have hardened into new principles.

anchor

Anchor fast decisions

A principle that admits no adaptation loses contact with a changing environment, while adaptation with no fixed point becomes drift, so each failure corrects the other. Fixing purpose in advance makes the choice of means a technical question, which is faster and less contentious than renegotiating purpose each time. It also supplies a boundary test: any move that cannot be justified by the fixed principle is a change of principle in disguise.

MINIMUM ACTION

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Source support: Explicit

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    zh.wikipedia.orghttps://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%91%A8%E6%98%93ZH · Explicit
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