The Five Essential Questions
Performance System
Organizations invest heavily in employee training, yet many remain uncertain whether these initiatives measurably improve performance or achieve business results. Too often, training is deployed as a default solution for problems that actually originate from unclear expectations, broken systems, misaligned incentives, or leadership barriers. At the same time, L&D teams struggle to evaluate beyond basic levels of reaction and learning, leaving leaders without reliable evidence of impact.
The Five Essential Questions Performance System was developed to address these challenges by adopting a holistic, system-wide approach to performance improvement. Rather than beginning with content design, the system starts with diagnosis, ensuring that training is only used when it is the right solution. When training is the answer, the Five Essential Questions provide a structured process for designing, measuring, and demonstrating real-world impact.
This system equips organizations with the tools and processes necessary to identify genuine performance gaps, define the specific behaviors that must change, link those behaviors to measurable business outcomes, and establish 30–60–90-day evaluation cycles that leaders can trust. It shifts L&D from delivering courses to improving performance, supported by evidence.
