When someone misses a commitment, start with a clear status: the action is not done. Then find out what blocked it and what needs to change.
The curriculum frames action reviews as a way to strengthen the system that helps people complete their priorities. Treat the missed action as information you can use.
Ask whether it still needs doing
A task can be unfinished because it was blocked. It can also be unfinished because priorities changed.
Ask whether the person still wants to do it. If yes, agree on a new date. If not, make that decision explicit so an obsolete commitment doesn't keep reappearing at every review.
Find the actual blocker
Ask what stopped the action from getting done. Listen for something specific enough to address.
Here's an illustrative example. Someone agreed to write a proposal but never found a long enough block of time. “Try harder next week” doesn't change the calendar. Scheduling the writing session does.
Another person may be waiting for access, unclear about the desired result, or dependent on a decision. Those are different blockers and need different next actions.
Create an action that prevents the repeat
The Mochary Method asks for a separate action, with a due date, to prevent the same blockage.
For the proposal example:
- Original action: Write and send the proposal.
- Blocker: No writing time was reserved.
- New commitment: Send the proposal on Friday.
- Prevention action: Reserve a writing session today.
The new date gives the original work a next checkpoint. The prevention action changes the conditions that caused the miss.
Review completed actions too
When an action is done, ask whether there are useful learnings or next steps. Some completed work reveals another commitment. Some reveals a practice worth repeating.
Keep this brief. The review should help the person act, not make reporting feel like a second job.
At your next review, use the same questions consistently: Done or not done? What did we learn? What blocked it? What happens next? Over time, the answers show where the team's operating system needs attention.