Performance Conversations • Tactical Rehearsal
Frustration Over Shifting Goals — Mid-Level Engineer
Moderate Difficulty10 minYour Role: Manager
Your Strategic Objective
Acknowledge the ambiguity, empathize with the frustration, and realign on clarity
The High-Stakes Context
You’ve seen Harper lose motivation over the past couple of sprints. They feel like they’re being asked to do too many things without a clear success metric.
Harper is a solid contributor but has grown visibly frustrated with unclear goals and shifting direction. Their tone has become short in meetings, and they’re disengaging from planning.
Anticipated AI Pushbacks (Curveballs)
Your counterpart is programmed to test your poise. Expect realistic objections like:
“It feels like the goals change every week — how am I supposed to plan anything?”
“No one’s really been clear on what success looks like.”
Suggested Opening Icebreaker
Unsure how to start? In the simulator, you can pre-fill or adapt this opener:
"Hey Harper — I’ve been sensing some frustration lately and wanted to check in and talk openly about how things are feeling on your side."
Competencies:#performance#team-alignment#motivation#expectations#Empathetic#Honest#Collaborative#Grounded
Counterpart Dossier
Harper Lim
AI PersonaMid-level engineer confused and frustrated by changing priorities
Stance: defensive
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