Assess readiness task by task, not person by person

Rate competence and commitment for the specific task in front of them, not the person overall.

Why it works

The same person can be highly capable at one task and a novice at another, so a fixed judgment of "strong" or "weak" misleads. Assessing readiness — ability plus willingness — per task lets you calibrate support to the real gap instead of a stereotype, which is the part of the model with the most face validity.

How to do it

1. For the task at hand, rate the person’s competence (skill/experience) and commitment (confidence/motivation).
2. Notice that the same person may land differently across two different tasks.
3. Re-assess as they gain experience — readiness is a moving target.

Evidence

The general principle that capability is task-specific is well established in skill and expertise research. The model’s specific four-level "readiness" taxonomy, however, is a practitioner construct without strong psychometric validation. (mechanistic)

Task-specific skill is real; the discrete four-stage readiness scale is a heuristic, not a validated measurement instrument.

Sources

• Hersey & Blanchard, Management of Organizational Behavior (readiness/development levels)

Common mistake

Labeling a person globally ("they’re a self-starter") and then under- or over-supporting them on a task that doesn’t match that label.