STR.16:4.2 - Distinguish result dependencies from shared demand
Use STR.8:4.2–4.2a to explain the obtaining way for each result. Keep the result beside the proposed action and its grounds. Retain adequate current methods, people and means; propose new work only for a missing contribution or necessary continued availability. An available description does not establish that a performer can use it.
At a proposed connection between branches, make the receiving action explicit:
| Relation being proposed | Question that establishes its practical meaning | Consequence for the portfolio |
|---|---|---|
| A result is needed before another action | What exact result, at what qualification and time, does the receiving operation consume? Could it proceed with a current or alternative result? | Retain a dependency only for the affected action. Provide its result, substitute, narrow the promise or defer that action. |
| One contribution supports several branches | What same operation or result remains usable for each receiver, and what separate adaptation remains? | Construct one supplying effort plus each actual receiving effort. Test its capacity and change obligations jointly. |
| Branches compete for one resource | Which identified person, device, provider window or funding condition is shared? | Combine their demands in that resource’s actual windows; no result dependency follows merely from competition. |
| A result might open a later use | What possible use becomes more plausible or attainable, and what is still unknown? | Retain a qualified opportunity or research hypothesis. Do not put its uncertain result on the current delivery path. |
| Results are pursued together for independent purposes | Why does each belong in the chosen strategic direction even without the other? | Compare their joint resource claim and accepted trade-off without inventing a causal or input connection. |
To test a claimed dependency, remove the supplying result in thought while keeping the other conditions fixed. Identify the specific receiving operation that becomes impossible or inadequate. If existing knowledge still supports the product, the new research is not a prerequisite for that product. Its scientific worth can remain a separate reason to fund it. If an unknown operation is indispensable to the product promise, either construct it, commission an appropriately bounded inquiry, use another way, or narrow the promise. A research schedule cannot guarantee discovery.
For each real dependency, explain why the supplied result meets the receiver’s conditions. A general method account may need a subject model, permitted data, an interpretation and a preparation arrangement before it can be used. Perform that connection on a representative piece of material. A matching title is not enough. Retain a gap when the necessary operation remains unknown, but continue every branch whose grounds do not depend on it.
Distinguish development of content from its first use and its later improvement. An AI-produced explanation might help a practitioner perform a familiar operation immediately. A new reusable method requires its own construction and grounds; a new capability requires evidence about the subject that acquired it. Include the actual context, tools, interpretation, checking and repair needed by the chosen AI use in its demand.