Approach and Frameworks

Every engagement I lead is built on the frameworks I developed over 25 years of diagnosing performance gaps, building L&D function, and coaching practitioners to lead strategically. Here’s how they work:

OUTCOME Performance Framework™

In the Learning and Development world, there is often heavy emphasis on the “learning” side of the role and not enough on “development”, which creates a disconnect between L&D and the rest of the business.

The OUTCOME Performance Framework™ closes this gap by focusing on human-centered, performance-based workflows that align learning with real-world results.

Using this framework, L&D evolves from an order-taking, content-producing cost center into a strategic partner with operations, delivering measurable solutions that empower people to drive the bottom line.

Outcome – Determine the desired state: We define desired outcomes based on what business success looks like in your context, in terms of KPIs and P&L, not completions or logged learning hours.

Universe – Map the current state: We start with the people by identifying key stakeholders, ranging throughout the organization from executives to the people doing the work. Then we examine the current performance within your current operating context. 

Truth – Identify the true drivers of the gap: Next, we examine the root causes for performance gaps. We talk to your stakeholders, review tools and processes, and observe the work to identify best practices, influences, and constraints, ensuring we understand the truth about what’s holding your organization back.

Concept – Co-design an integrated solution: Working with your stakeholders, we design the most effective solutions, which may include learning experiences, resources, process improvements, and tool refinements as appropriate.

Operations – Activate in operations: This is where we partner with your operations leadership to implement the solutions.

Measure – Measure ROI: We ensure you are achieving meaningful business outcomes by comparing total cost and effort with shifts in results.

Evolve – Evolve continuously: The key to developing effective solutions is constant iteration. We are evolving throughout the process to meet your constantly changing needs.

Want to bring the OUTCOME Performance Framework to your team? Workshops and resources are coming soon. Register to be the first to know when new Outcome Performance Framework workshops open for registration.

The Performance Loop

While my OUTCOME Performance Framework™ focuses on how we diagnose and solve performance gaps, my Performance Loop model maps how people grow from apprentice to innovator and back again across any capability. No matter how experienced someone is overall, their place on the loop depends on the specific capability. When you pair these different ability levels with a culture of curiosity and innovation, you create a continuous learning environment that drives meaningful business outcomes.

• Apprentice – Still learning and building basic capability.
• Professional – Proficient; can perform tasks reliably and independently.
• Expert – Understands the “why” behind the work and can explain what to do to others.
• Master – Can explain both the “why” and the “how” and develops others.
• Innovator – Creates new or improved processes, tools, or approaches.
• Apprentice – Loops back to Apprentice when working with the new process, tool, or skill.

Once someone becomes an innovator, they loop back to an apprentice as they begin working with the new process, tool, or approach. Not everyone will move through all five phases for every skill, but a healthy learning and performance ecosystem gives people the opportunity to do so where it matters most.

How to Apply the Performance Loop in Your Organization

The length of each phase depends on the complexity of the skill set, but the intent stays the same:

1. Onboarding Programs: Focus on the skills new employees need to perform the most common 75-80% of their jobs. Spend more time applying the skills, behaviors, and knowledge for the most likely scenarios they will encounter.
2. Apprentice Phase: Focus on gaining proficiency and learning skills, behaviors, and knowledge needed for the next most common tasks through a blended approach.
3. Professional Phase: Focus on reinforcing and maintaining proficiency.
4. Expert Phase: Focus on moving beyond proficiency and deepening understanding of the bigger picture.
5. Master Phase: Focus on developing and improving others.
6. Innovator Phase: Focus on process improvement and experimentation.

By building L&D functions that not only allow but also encourage people to continuously evolve through the Performance Loop, you can achieve business outcomes and demonstrate human-centered performance ROI, both financially and in employee satisfaction, engagement, and self-actualization.

The ASK Model: Converting Training Requests Into Performance Improvement Solutions!

Often, when business leaders aren’t sure of the root cause of a performance issue, they turn to L&D to request training. This puts our L&D leaders in a tough position if the cause isn’t training-related; they want to offer a better solution without appearing to push back. My ASK model empowers L&D leaders to offer the best possible solution, whether a learning intervention, new resources, a process or tool improvement, or something else.

The ASK model is:

• Assure them we can deliver what they are requesting.
• Share the reason you are probing.
• Keep Asking probing questions until you get to the root cause.

In practice, this may sound like, “Of course, we can put together a training for you. To ensure we get this right, can you describe what you are trying to achieve?”

By using the ASK Model, we transform L&D from order takers to performance partners.

Schedule your free call to explore how my frameworks can turn your L&D function into a performance driver.