Skill and will
Before responding to underperformance, separate cannot (a skill gap, met with teaching and support) from will not (a will gap, met with expectations and consequences). This standard adds the conditions gap, where the person was not given what the job required.
Evidence grade: practice A widely adopted practitioner model with clear provenance.
Use it when
The first question in every performance conversation.
Where it stops working
The diagnosis is only as good as the evidence. Managers under pressure fall back on will, because that diagnosis asks less of them.
Where the standard uses it
- PL-4Performance managementExpectations, support, honest consequences, and fair process.
Sources
- Max Landsberg. The Tao of Coaching: Boost Your Effectiveness at Work by Inspiring and Developing Those Around You. HarperCollins, 1996. In the bibliography
Used alongside it
- Calibration practice
- Fair process practice
- Managerial leverage practice
Cite this model
Chicago, BibTeX and licence →Engineering Management Academy. (2026). Skill and will. In Engineering Management Academy Body of Knowledge (Version 3.1, TEC.skill-and-will). https://www.engineeringmanagement.academy/body-of-knowledge/techniques/skill-and-will