What is adaptive workflows?

Adaptive workflows is a concept in personal epistemology: The same type of task may need different workflows in different contexts.

Example: You have a writing task. But 'writing' is not one thing. A quick Slack reply to a colleague needs no outline and no revision pass. A strategic memo to leadership needs structured thinking, multiple drafts, and a cooling-off period before sending. A creative essay needs freewriting, incubation, and ruthless editing. Same verb — write — but three completely different workflows. The person who uses the same process for all three either over-engineers the Slack message or under-engineers the memo.

This concept is part of Phase 41 (Workflow Design) in the How to Think curriculum, which builds the epistemic infrastructure for workflow design.