Challenge or Contain: Performance Rating Diagnostic

What This Is

A structured decision tool to resolve one specific question:

Given your context, leverage, and risk, is challenging your performance rating rational, or is containing it the smarter move?

This is not coaching, reassurance, or an appeals guide.
It is a diagnostic that produces a clear, defensible conclusion you can stand behind.

What You Get

A complete diagnostic built on the HNP Strategic Decision Framework, applied specifically to performance ratings and calibration outcomes through five sequential sections. Each section produces a concrete output that you carry forward. There is no repetition.

Context Reality
Clarifies how ratings are actually decided in your organization and what this rating reflects systemically.
Output: a verified view of how the system works, not how it is described.

Position and Risk Evaluation
Assesses the downstream consequences of challenging versus containing, including trajectory, financial impact, and reputational risk.
Output: a clear view of which direction compounds risk.

Leverage Verification
Separates evidence of performance from actual power to change the outcome.
Output: a realistic assessment of whether a challenge can succeed.

Decision Synthesis
Forces a clear directional conclusion rather than prolonged analysis.
Output: one of four positions.

Execution Implications
Clarifies what your decision realistically requires and whether independent execution is appropriate.
Output: a go/no-go on independent action.

You also receive a Decision Capture Worksheet to document your reasoning, Execution Support covering framing and signal interpretation, and a Decision Record Protocol to track predictions against outcomes over time

What You Will Have at the End

You will leave with a single documented position, not a set of options reaching one of four conclusions:

• Challenge Now

• Contain and Accept

• Delay and Reassess

• Treat as Exit Signal

You will also have:

• explicit reasoning

• evidence supporting your conclusion

• predictions

• reassessment triggers

This is your decision, recorded clearly.

Time Investment

90–120 minutes, completed in one or two focused sittings.

This Is Right for You If

• You believe your rating does not reflect your contribution

• You are considering challenging it or escalating

• You want a decision you can defend six or twelve months from now

• You can implement independently once you have clarity

This Is Not Right for You If

• You want validation rather than judgment

• You want instructions on how to argue your case

• You want confirmation that the rating was unfair rather than a decision of what to do next

• Execution requires political navigation or senior sponsorship

In those cases, a Decision Brief is the appropriate next step.

What This Does Not Include

• Individual feedback on your rating

• Appeals strategy or negotiation coaching

• Political navigation, execution sequencing, or personalized judgment about your manager or organization

The diagnostic provides the structure.
You apply it to your situation.

When to Escalate

If execution requires navigating calibration committees, managing senior stakeholders, timing sensitive conversations, or interpreting ambiguous organizational signals, a Decision Brief is the appropriate next step. When escalation is appropriate is about execution complexity, not confidence

The diagnostic resolves whether challenging makes sense.
Decision Briefs resolve how to execute under complexity.

How This Works

1. Purchase access

2. Set aside 90–120 uninterrupted minutes

3. Work through five assessments sequentially

4. Document your reasoning in the worksheet

5. Record your decision and evidence

6. Review against predictions at 30, 90, and 180 days

What Makes This Different

Evidence-based: Built on decision science addressing common cognitive biases such as confirmation bias, loss aversion, and illusion of control.

Judgment-driven: Produces clear conclusions rather than open-ended reflection.

Decision-quality focused: Separates decision quality from outcome quality so you can learn over time.

No false reassurance: It will not tell you what you want to hear. It will surface what the evidence supports.

Common Questions

Is this personalized to my situation?
No. You apply the framework to your situation. The structure is designed to prevent common decision failures, but interpretation is yours.

What if I am still unsure after completing it?
Uncertainty usually signals missing leverage or unresolved risk. The diagnostic will show you what is unclear, which is valuable information.

What if my organization is very political?
Decision complexity and execution complexity are different. If execution requires political navigation, escalation is appropriate.

Purchase Includes

• Complete Challenge or Contain Diagnostic

• Decision Capture Worksheet (Notion-ready)

• Lifetime access

• Permission to reuse for future performance rating decisions

Not Included

• Review of your completed assessment

• Feedback on reasoning or conclusions

• Follow-up clarification

• Execution support beyond framework guidance

Refund Policy

No refunds after purchase.
This is a self-directed diagnostic tool. You are purchasing the framework and structure, not guaranteed outcomes.

If unsure, email before purchasing.

Next Step

If this matches what you need, start the diagnostic now.

If you need judgment applied to your specific context rather than a framework to apply yourself, start with a Decision Brief instead.