Summary: Most performance management systems aren’t working. HR is still using rigid frameworks that can’t keep pace with how people actually create value in fast-moving, AI-enabled teams. The Compass is a practical tool that tracks value creation across four interdependent dimensions: Self (resilience), Soul (meaning), Soft (execution), and Spirit (trust). Instead of asking ‘What skills do we have?’, you ask ‘Where are we creating value right now?’ The Compass helps you diagnose imbalances and redirect energy in real time, turning uncertainty from a threat into a resource for growth.

Technology is evolving much faster than our methods of working with people – and it’s time for HR to catch up. With AI quickly becoming a partner in the talent ecosystem, we need to revise our inflexible performance frameworks and tick-box skills models, which fail to capture how people actually grow and create value. 

The data points on this paint a stark picture. According to Gallup’s 2024 survey, only 2% of CHROs believe their performance-management systems are effective. Trust in the process is low: just 22% of employees say their reviews are transparent, fair or motivating. 

Meanwhile, Deloitte’s 2025 Global Human Capital Trends finds that 61% of managers and 72% of workers lack confidence in their organisation’s performance practices.

Where are the changes leading us?

The future of organisations lies in non-linear, multi-dimensional ecosystems where people and technology interact.

We need to move away from the conventional model of ‘one role, one employee, and one set of goals and tasks’. Our focus should be on value creation – not ticking off a skills checklist.

In this future, operating systems become less hierarchical and more flexible. Transformation is no longer a project to finish – it’s a continuous state of becoming we must commit to.

Meta-adaptation: Ride the wave of uncertainty

Humans fear uncertainty; the systems we build are similarly vulnerable. What if uncertainty were not an enemy but a resource – potential energy available to us? As in the Japanese martial art Aikido, meta-adaptation is about redirecting external force rather than resisting it.

Rather than imposing rigid frameworks on uncertainty, we should design systems in which uncertainty is a natural condition for growth. For organisations, this means a shift from constrained structures towards flexible frameworks.

As a CHRO, I’ve used coaching tools to build capacity and see where value is – and isn’t – created. In distributed, fast-moving, AI-enabled teams, the old routines don’t hold. Annual reviews are too slow. You need something lighter to help you read the room, adjust quickly, and keep value flowing.

That’s why I built the Compass. It’s a simple tool built for rapid leadership training.

The Compass: self–soft–soul–spirit

The Compass is a dynamic tool that shows you where your organisation is creating value and where it’s headed next. It also helps you assess whether the system has the resources and balance to sustain it.

The Compass also helps you steer value creation and diagnose what’s happening in real time, so you can adjust course with minimal friction.

When using the tool, your central question is no longer ‘What skills do we have?’. Instead, you’re asking: ‘In which direction are we creating value right now?’

The four vertices of the Compass

1. Self

The self anchors our mental and physical health. It is the foundation of resilience and energy. Without it, organisations collapse into burnout.

2. Soul

The soul holds meaning and the shared ‘why’ that aligns personal conviction with organisational intent. If we lack it, our motivation drains away.

3. Soft

Soft converts intention into action and material through products, processes, and structures. It is also in this corner that we can interact with external agents such as AI.

When it is missing, concepts are left unfinished and technical progress is thrown off course.

4. Spirit

The spirit creates the trust, support and confidence that enables teams to perform together. Its absence leaves organisations divided, each part retreating into its own silo.

Each vertex is interdependent

• Self without Soul is unsustainable
• Soul without Soft never lands in action
• Soft without Spirit lacks collective force
• Spirit without Self burns out

By ‘reading’ these patterns, the Compass allows leaders to redirect energy and normalise healthier flow.

How to implement the Compass in practice

Reset the system

• Audit existing skills models and performance review frameworks
• Identify what no longer works
• Begin phased Compass adoption, starting with Self as the foundation of resilience

Self: Build resilience

Establish routines for managing distress and cognitive distortions. Encourage micro-rituals that build sustainable foundations, including:

• Conscious breathing
• Proper hydration
• Regular movement
• Meditation sessions
• Gratitude practices

Soul: Align meaning

Align personal and organisational purpose:

• Coordinate meaning through group workshops and one-to-ones, with personal values
• Encourage leaders to ask: Which meanings am I here to channel?

Soft: Strengthen translation

Convert meaning into action:

• Use short delivery cycles, Minimum Valuable Results (MVRs) and visible showcases of outputs
• Maintain a delivery showcase where outputs are visible: prototypes, dashboards, pilot launches
• Ensure every project brief states not only what will be delivered but also how it translates meaning into reality

Spirit: Amplify ‘field of trust’

• Strengthen collective energy through storytelling, recognition and truth-telling practices
• Teach leaders how to build rapport 
• Encourage honesty and sincerity as sources of credibility
• After each project, run a short ‘Resource rain’ session (online or in person). Form circles of up to eight people. One by one, each person tells the others: You were a resource of ___ for me in this project (e.g., clarity, courage, critical thinking, steadines).      

Establish team Compass reviews

Every two weeks, encourage teams to reflect briefly on Self, Soul, Soft and Spirit:

• Self: Energy and resilience – where do we stand?
• Soul: Do we feel the meaning of our work?
• Soft: What concrete results have we embodied?
• Spirit: Do we trust each other and feel collective energy?

Conduct organisational Compass audits

Conduct quarterly reviews to uncover and adjust any systemic imbalances across the entire organisation. Hold a brief, feeling-led conversation for each vertex (Self, Soul, Soft, Spirit). Use one plain prompt:

• Self: Where did our energy feel alive or drained this quarter?
• Soul: Where did the work feel genuinely meaningful and where did our actions add little or none?
• Soft: Where did agreements turn into a visible result, and where did work stall?
• Spirit: Where did shared momentum appear, and what wider ripples did we see?

Capture three to five plain-language observations and agree on three small adjustments for the next cycle.

Reading the patterns:

• Strong Soft but poor Self – good execution, but fatigue and risk of burnout
• Strong Spirit but thin Soul – supportive field, but weak link to goals/meaning
• Strong Soul but weak Soft –  inspiring words, but poor execution
• Strong Self but weak Spirit –  energy present, but low circulation across the system

HR now needs a different stance on uncertainty

Uncertainty isn’t the enemy; it carries energy we can harness to design people development approaches that actually work. In a constantly shifting context, rigid practices and tick-box criteria for assessment and development will not suffice.

Start by shifting the focus from measuring static skills and goals to managing flow and creating value – the Compass is an excellent tool to begin this transformation.

Further resources

• Why 72% of employees don’t trust performance management – and how to fix it – Gaelle Devins explores why trust in performance processes has collapsed and offers a research-backed solution: shifting from tick-box KPIs to people-centric metrics. She outlines three practical actions, including matching challenges to employee strengths and increasing feedback frequency, to rebuild confidence and unlock genuine performance.
• Rethink performance: How overdone strengths cause teams to fail – Quentin Millington challenges the language of ‘development areas’ and introduces the concept of overdone strengths. When risk-taking becomes reckless or being methodical turns rigid, it’s often about context, not character. This reframing opens honest dialogue about performance without blame.
• The science behind what makes or breaks a team – Perry Timms and Kirsten Buck reveal that teams don’t fail because they lack talent. They fail because of the invisible daily choices people make: whether to speak up or stay silent, step forward or hold back. Discover the science behind what really drives team success.