# Skill Radar — Debrief

> A radar is a decision tool, not a portrait — the debrief is where the polygon turns into one invested spoke.
> Use with `skill-radar-guide.md`. The invest phase at minute 15 is the compressed version; this sheet is the full one.

## How to run this debrief

- Keep every polygon on the table, self-shape and target-shape both visible. The argument of this tool is a picture; it dies when the paper gets folded away.
- Ask "what does the shape say" before anyone reads a number aloud. The average is the enemy of this debrief.
- Close on one spoke, one action, one re-plot date. Two is already a wish list.

## Read the shape

- Look at your polygon, not its average. Which spoke is obviously short? That's the finding, whatever the numbers say.
- Did the target-shape surprise you? Many people discover the role needs a very different shape than the one they've been optimising.
- Are two spokes linked — one short spoke only looks small because the other, that feeds it, is short too?

## The six debrief questions

**1. The mismatch.**
"If a peer or your manager plotted your radar too, where would their shape differ from yours?"
→ Targets: the self-awareness signal. The gap between the two shapes is the feedback conversation, without blame.

**2. Capability or confidence.**
"Is the short spoke a real capability gap, or a confidence gap — you can do it but don't rate yourself?"
→ Targets: the fix differs for each — one needs learning, the other needs reps and evidence.

**3. Hard or starved.**
"Is that spoke short because it's hard, or because you've never had the opportunities?"
→ Targets: distinguishing a learning need from an access need; the second is a conversation about work allocation, not study.

**4. The smallest push.**
"What's the smallest concrete action that pushes the chosen spoke out — and by when?"
→ Targets: converting the picture into a decision. A radar without a next action is wall art.

**5. The re-plot.**
"When will you re-plot, and what will you look at first?"
→ Targets: the only proof the investment worked is a moved polygon; the date makes it an experiment.

**6. The uncovered spoke.**
"If you plotted the whole team: which single spoke does nobody cover well — and is that a plan, a hire, or a hand-off?"
→ Targets: reading the team outline from personal shapes; naming the collective hole without naming a culprit.

## Failure modes of the debrief

| Failure mode | Why it happens | The rescue |
|---|---|---|
| Everyone rates 3s across the board | A flat safe circle avoids the read | "Which spoke, if it stayed a 3, would actually cost you this year?" — force the shape. |
| Too many spokes, no focus | Twelve-axis radars are unreadable and hide the gap behind noise | Cap at five or six — the axes the role genuinely lives or dies by. |
| It becomes a ranking of people | Comparisons are lazy; neighbours' polygons are visible | Re-anchor: every radar is compared to the role's target shape, never to each other. Two short spokes in two people are two different next actions. |