The Mirror and the Window

You're good at something.

Good enough that people notice. Good enough that they ask how you do it. Good enough that you've started to wonder if you could help others get good too.

So you try to teach. You show them what you do. You explain your process. You give them the insights that made the difference for you.

And it doesn't work.

They watch you perform and feel inspired—then go do exactly what they were doing before. They understand your explanation—and can't seem to apply it. They appreciate your insights—and nothing changes.

Or maybe the opposite: you're good at diagnosing problems. You can see exactly what someone is doing wrong. You can mirror their situation back to them with precision. They nod, they agree, they see it too—and they stay stuck anyway.

Or maybe you've cracked something. You can help people improve. But it only works when you're there, in the room, hands-on. The moment you step back, progress stops. You're a bottleneck for transformation.

However you got here, you're playing the Performance Game. And you might be holding up the wrong tool.

Let's make it visible.

What Is the Performance Game?

The Performance Game answers one question: How do you get better results?

This is the game of improvement. Coaching. Helping others develop capabilities they didn't have before.

It sounds simple: you know something, you teach it, they learn it. But the Performance Game has a hidden complexity: showing and teaching are different skills, and most people conflate them.

There are two tools for helping someone see:

• A window shows them what's possible. You demonstrate mastery. You reveal a level of performance they didn't know existed. You create aspiration.
• A mirror shows them where they are. You reflect their current state back to them. You diagnose gaps. You create awareness.

Both are necessary. Neither is sufficient. And most people trying to play the Performance Game use only one.