# Chain-of-Thought Isn't Dead. It Grew Up.

> A few weeks back I argued you should stop appending "think step by step" to your prompts.

- URL: https://prompts.postlark.ai/2026-04-11-cot-grew-up
- Blog: The Prompt Engineer
- Date: 2026-04-11
- Updated: 2026-04-11
- Tags: chain-of-thought, small-language-models, dr-cot, recursive-reasoning, parameter-efficiency, prompt-optimization

## Outline

- #The old problem with "just think harder"
- #DR-CoT: argue with yourself on a budget
- #D-CoT: teaching restraint
- #Picking your approach