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Differences that change the conversation

He’s unreliable

Person and situation

Anna sees a delay as proof that Olek is unreliable, while Nia looks at an overloaded process. A fair assessment requires checking both the person and the working conditions.

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Anna assesses a late task at Olek’s workstation while he sits in his wheelchair looking disappointed.
Late again. He’s simply unreliable.
Nia shows Anna a chain of project delays and blockers on a screen.
He waited three days for client access.
He could have anticipated that.
Nia points to a lack of access, a requirement change and an implementation dependency on a board.
No access here. Requirement change here. Dependency on implementation here.
Anna asks Olek about his responsibility, and he explains what he could have done earlier and what he could not control alone.
What was your part, and what was the blockage?
I could have escalated earlier. I couldn’t remove the rest by myself.
Anna discusses a board that separates the person’s contribution from conditions and process blockers.
So this is not only about reliability or only about the system. We need to check both.
Em, the Empatyzer coach
Anna sees a late result and quickly explains it through Olek’s character, while Nia first sees the situational blockages. As a result, only combining both perspectives separates what Olek owned from what he could not control. When assessing a delay, separate the person’s contribution, the conditions and the escalation point. Gather evidence from both sides before labelling someone.