I'm not sure if this concept will help you the way it helped me: but I had this idea, that is like immunisation. Immunisation works by exposing the immune system to a virus, that it then resists. It works because the exposure is not enough to be dangerous, but the resistance is able to develop a strong response to the virus, which gives the immune system a chance to overcome it. I think this applies to Evolution too.
I think, when it comes to adaptation, a parent of a child is able to expose the child to a limited shock, which the child then develops a response to, that helps it overcome the threat associated with that shock. This can be done in the cell, in the womb or as a baby - at each stage, the shock is mitigated by the parents protection and guidance, and the child is able to develop a robust response.
It might be starvation, which the child then learns to hunt for; or it might be cold, which the child learns to hibernate for; or it might be being hunted, which the child learns to avoid dangerous areas by. These are just examples; the reason they work, is because they rely on the shock germinating a response, through design. It is the design that links starvation with hunting; the design that links cold with hibernation; the design that links being hunted with finding safety.
The principle is that 'partial' exposure to evolution, with the defense of the pack, grounds change in what helps the species. The idea that Evolution has to get everything right, before it assumes total control is not just wrong, its misleading (I would argue that for our species especially, it is socially misleading). This exposure is what I would call "a strategy for effective micro-evolution".
I wonder what you thoughts are?