Diagnostic
Development Pipeline
A five-condition diagnostic — insight, motivation, capabilities, real-world practice, accountability — that finds where someone's development is actually stuck.
Reach for this when someone needs to improve and generic feedback is not moving them. Development flows at the rate of the tightest constraint — and most managers pour effort into training when the real blockage is insight or motivation.
Credit: David B. Peterson & Mary Dee Hicks · Leader as Coach (Personnel Decisions International) · Adapted for Outstride OS
The five conditions
Insight
Do they know they need to improve — and on what, specifically?
Motivation
Are they willing to improve? Are they actually prioritising it?
Capabilities
Do they have the knowledge and skills, or is there a genuine gap to train?
Real-world practice
Are they getting real reps at work — not just courses and books?
Accountability
What holds them to it, internally and externally?
A lot of the time it is the insight and motivation piece. Don't tell — coax: "What is the number one thing you want to improve right now?" · "Have you thought about this?" · "What happens if nothing changes?" Then connect it to their own ambition: "Where do you see yourself in this company — and what is the main gap between here and there?"
This is the happy path of performance improvement. When someone knows, is willing and still does not move, switch to the unhappy path — the Accountability Dial.
Source / credit
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