The bar you have to clear is not standing still. It is rising while you debate.
In the Epimetabolic Equation, that bar is the competitive threshold: the minimum explanatory reach required to remain viable. It rises with cumulative environmental melt — the disruption imposed by the world through technology shifts, market changes, regulation, and competitor moves.
The important point is simple: ignored change still counts. Every new problem the environment creates becomes part of the standard. You do not get credit for refusing to engage it. The threshold moves up anyway.
That is why “wait and see” is usually misnamed. In a high-melt environment, standing still is not prudence. It is agreeing to be measured against a harder world with yesterday’s structure.