Can-Will Performance Matrix
Match coaching, recognition, or exit speed to ability and willingness.
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 6
- Confidence
- 100%
The Can-Will Performance Matrix evaluates an employee on two independent dimensions: technical ability (“can” or “can’t”) and emotional willingness or aptitude (“will” or “won’t”). A can-and-will employee should be celebrated, developed, and replicated. A can’t-but-will employee deserves coaching and a long runway because skill can be taught to someone with the right approach. A can’t-and-won’t employee requires a very short window because their continued presence tells the rest of the team that effort does not matter. A can-but-won’t employee also receives a short window because the missing performance is a choice rather than a skill gap. Making the matrix visible creates shared language, defined action points, and fewer surprise exits.
Origin
California restaurateurs shared the four-quadrant model with Meyer; Union Square Hospitality Group then added action points and timeframes for each quadrant.
Core principles
- 01Technical ability and emotional willingness are separate dimensions.
- 02Willing learners deserve a longer coaching window.
- 03Strong performers need recognition and replication.
- 04Unwillingness shortens the appropriate intervention window.
- 05Shared language makes difficult feedback less surprising.
How to run it
- 1
Define can
Specify the technical performance required and assess whether the person currently demonstrates it.
Pro tip Use observable role standards rather than a general impression.
- 2
Define will
Assess whether the person brings the willingness, attitude, and effort required to contribute.
Pro tip Use repeated behavior across pressure and routine work.
Watch out Do not label a temporary personal difficulty as permanent unwillingness.
- 3
Place the quadrant
Classify the current situation as can/will, can’t/will, can’t/won’t, or can/won’t.
Pro tip Describe the evidence directly to the employee.
- 4
Apply the action
Celebrate can/will, coach can’t/will, and set short corrective windows for either won’t quadrant.
Pro tip Invest heavily in willing learners because taught skill can create deep loyalty.
Watch out Leaving can’t/won’t unresolved undermines everyone else’s effort.
- 5
Set a timeframe
Agree on what must change, what support is available, and when the assessment will be revisited.
Watch out An undefined window turns accountability into drift.
- 6
Follow through cleanly
Reassess against the stated standards and take the promised next action.
Watch out The final conversation should not be the first honest conversation.
In the wild
Meyer described roughly a six-month coaching wick for an employee who lacks skill but shows willingness and the right hospitality attitude.
→ The employee has time to learn and may become unusually loyal because the organization invested in them.
Meyer said a person who cannot perform and will not engage needs a very short window because teammates otherwise ask why they should keep trying.
→ The matrix protects the effort standard of the wider team.
Common mistakes
Treating skill and will as one issue
A skill gap calls for a different response from a refusal to apply existing ability.
Surprising the employee
The matrix works only when expectations, evidence, and consequences have been discussed before an exit.
Is it for you?
Best for
It is best for managers deciding whether to celebrate, coach, warn, or exit an employee.
Not ideal for
It is not ideal for isolated mistakes or decisions requiring formal investigation beyond performance.
From the transcript
“You basically have someone's technical abilities, the can and can't, and then you have somebody's emotional willingness or aptitude, and that's will and won't.”
“If you have someone who can't but will, I'm going to coach them”
“The hardest one I find is the can but won't.”
From the episode
#665: Danny Meyer, Founder of Shake Shack — How to Win, The Art of The Graceful “No,” Overcoming Setbacks, The 6 Traits of Exceptional People, The 4 Quadrants of Performance, Lessons from Hospitality Excellence, and More
Danny Meyer