“I know you want me to press my team, stress test my system,” Naomi agreed, “but what if they are simply not capable in that pressure?”

“When things are calm, wouldn’t now be a good time to find out?” I replied. “Identify the breaking point now, instead of after it is broken.”

Naomi looked reflective. “I can do that. I can run drills, like a sports team in practice. And, I know I am looking for the breaking point, but what about the wobbly point?”

“Capability is much like performance. The best indicator of performance is performance. The best indicator of capability is capability. And, the problems that must be solved, the decisions that must be made have to be within the capability of the team member. When you assign a decision to someone who does not possess the capability for the decision, what happens?”

“That’s easy. First they avoid the decision, deflect the decision, or find a scapegoat for when it inevitably fails,” Naomi said, without hesitation.

“There’s your wobble, that’s what you have to pay attention to.”