Obstacle Identification & Solutions

Client knows something is not working — productivity is down, energy is low, progress has stalled — but cannot identify the specific behavioral source. They experience the stuckness as a general condition rather than a set of specific behaviors they are and are not doing. The six-direction audit (Start/Stop/Continue/Do More/Do Less/Do Differently) provides a behavioral taxonomy that makes the problem diagnosable.

Frame this as a behavioral map, not a reflection exercise. 'Rather than trying to figure out what's wrong in general, let's identify what you're doing and not doing in each of six categories. By the end, the pattern should be visible.' The resistance here is from clients who want to understand before they inventory. Name it: 'I know it feels like we need to diagnose the root cause first. The inventory often reveals it — sometimes it shows you the root cause in a way that analysis alone doesn't.'

Watch for sections that are conspicuously sparse. A Start section with nothing in it — a client who cannot name a single thing they should begin — often reflects learned helplessness or an absence of forward agency. A Stop section with nothing in it often reflects defensiveness. The Do Differently section is the most diagnostic: if it is well-populated, the client knows what needs to change but has not committed to changing it. The knowledge-action gap is the coaching issue.

Start with the most populated section, not the problem section. Understanding what the client sees clearly is the foundation for examining what they see less clearly. Then move to the sparsest section: 'This one has the least in it. What makes it harder to generate content here?' Then look for themes across sections — items that appear in related forms across Start and Do More, or across Stop and Do Less. The theme is usually the leverage point.

Client has a performance review coming up — either giving one to a direct report or receiving one from their own manager — and wants to prepare. The six-direction audit applied to their own performance gives them a self-assessment that can either be presented directly or used to anticipate the feedback they will receive. Used in advance of the review, it prevents the defensive posture that makes feedback conversations unproductive.

Frame this as self-assessment before someone else assesses you. 'Before you walk into that conversation, let's do the assessment yourself — in six categories. If you can name what you should stop and what you should do differently before your manager does, the conversation changes character.' Clients preparing for feedback often resist this because self-assessment before external assessment feels like preemptive self-criticism. Name it: 'This isn't about being hard on yourself. It's about making sure you're the one with the fullest picture of your own performance when you walk in.'

Watch for Stop and Do Differently sections that are vague or short. If the client cannot identify their own performance gaps before a review, they are likely to be surprised by feedback and respond defensively. The specificity of these sections tells you how well-calibrated the client's self-assessment is. A client who writes genuinely self-aware, specific items in Stop and Do Differently is likely to navigate the review productively. One who cannot is more at risk.

After completing the six sections, ask: 'If your manager saw this list, what would they agree with? What would they add?' The question shifts the client from self-assessment to imagining how they are perceived, which is often more accurate than direct self-report. Then: 'Which of these would be hardest to hear them say out loud?' That item is usually where the most important conversation will happen.

Client is moving from one role, organization, or life phase to another and is treating the transition as a clean break — new chapter, new habits, new identity. The risk is carrying forward dysfunctional patterns invisibly because they have not been named. The six-direction audit applied to the previous chapter reveals what is worth preserving (Continue, Do More) and what should not make the transition (Stop, Do Less, Do Differently).

Frame this as an intentional transition inventory. 'Before you start the new chapter, let's map what you want to bring with you and what you want to leave behind — deliberately rather than by default. The six categories give us a complete picture.' The resistance pattern is clients who want to treat the transition as a complete reset and find it uncomfortable to examine the previous chapter. Name it: 'I'm not asking you to relitigate the past. I'm asking you to be intentional about what you carry forward, because some of it will come with you whether you decide it does or not.'

The Continue section is the most important in this context — it reveals what the client has identified as genuinely worth keeping. If the Continue section is sparse or generic, the client may be making the transition without a clear picture of their own strengths. The Do Differently section often surfaces patterns the client has been attributing to the environment ('I had to be that way because of my team') rather than to themselves. Watch for items that are actually structural patterns rather than situational responses.

After completing the six sections, step back: 'Looking at Stop and Do Differently — which of these do you think will show up in the new role if you don't actively work on them?' That question is more productive than asking the client to commit to changing everything on the list. Focus the energy on the two or three items most likely to replicate in the new context.