Why you do that
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Figure out why someone isn't performing

Managing PeopleFundamental Attribution ErrorLearned helplessnessPygmalion effect

When to use

Someone on your team consistently isn't delivering and you're not sure whether to have a tough conversation or make a structural change.

What you'll get

A structured set of diagnostic questions to ask yourself, followed by an assessment of the most likely root cause and the right response for each.

The prompt

Someone on my team — [ROLE] — has been underperforming: [DESCRIPTION].

My current explanation: [YOUR CURRENT THINKING].

Before I act on that explanation, help me rule out the situational causes that are often the real issue. Ask me diagnostic questions across these areas:

- Clarity: does this person know specifically what good performance looks like, and have they received clear, direct feedback when it's been missing?
- Support: do they have what they need — tools, information, authority, time?
- History: has this person been in situations where effort didn't seem to affect outcomes — where things were out of their control regardless of what they did? That kind of experience can teach people, below conscious reasoning, that trying harder won't help.
- Role fit: is this a job they can realistically do well, or has something changed that has made it a poor match?

After my answers, give me your honest read on the most likely root cause and what the right response looks like for each scenario.
Why this prompt works
Learned helplessness is worth specifically screening for. It doesn't look like laziness or attitude — it looks like passivity and low initiative, and it doesn't respond to pressure. It responds to a restored sense of control.

The psychology behind this

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