A bad system will break a good person every time.

95% of performance is governed by the system — an individual’s performance makes up the remaining 5%.

Excerpted verbatim from Freedom from Command and Control p126-129, by John Seddon.

To perform well, any individual needs three things:

1. Information related to the performance required. “What have I got to do?”
2. Method. How to use resources, information, tools, and so on. “By what method?”
3. Willingness to do the job. “I like and want to do this.”

Some elements of these requirements are provided by the system, and some elements are supplied by the individual’s own repertoire of behaviour.

Following the questions below will enable you to identify deficiencies in either the system or the individual, and take appropriate action.

Start at the beginning, and work your way through.

The performer’s system

Information

Does the individual know the accomplishments that are expected and what good looks like, in operational terms?

Are the right things being measured, using measures that relate to purpose, and does the individual get feedback directly from those measures? Consequently, are they informed as quickly as possible and with sufficient frequency how well they are currently performing?

Are these measures both accurate and easy to understand?