Plotted from Google Search Console data across multiple deployments, average position does not describe a smooth curve. It describes a staircase: long flat treads, then a sharp riser. Impressions frequently jump on a day when nothing was published, which is the signature of a scheduled re-assessment landing rather than of anything you did that day.
The standard practice — publish, wait seven days, evaluate — has a high chance of landing entirely inside a flat tread. The conclusion drawn is 'that content did nothing,' and the content is abandoned days before the riser arrives. This produces a systematic bias against exactly the slow-compounding work that eventually moves.
Step timing, not daily position. Record when risers occur and how far apart they are. The interval is the useful number, because it tells you the minimum honest evaluation window for your own site — which is almost certainly longer than seven days.