Another way to describe the actions of an ADF needle would be to compare it to the actions of the magnetic compass.
Both are subject to multible errors and in practice you strive to adverage their errors.
From a practical viewpoint I am making these obversations based on starting my airline flying in the DC 3, as I recall we became quite proficient in out thinking the damn thing and actually did some rather impressive approaches.
Also the old Lear ADFs with a bfo select were great in the Arctic for long range relative bearings.
Then again I am half senile now so don't pay to much attention to my ramblings.( I was told when I was young I would go blind doing what I did , but all it did was ruin my memory. )
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The hardest thing about flying is knowing when to say no.