Ability can be present
You can understand, reason, communicate, and know exactly what needs to be done.
Access can still fail
The ability is still there, but it may not be available when it is needed.
One does not prove the other
Being able to do something sometimes does not mean you can access that ability when you need it.
Do any of these sound familiar?
“I know exactly what to do. I just can't start.”
“People think I'm lazy because they saw me do it yesterday.”
“On Tuesday I finished 3 days worth of work, but today I could barely finish 1 email.”
“To you it may have been ‘just a phone call,’ but it broke my concentration, and I couldn’t find my way back to the task for the rest of the day.”
“Everyone keeps pointing to my best day as proof I should always be able to do it.”
Want the formal framework?
Access Architecture develops the research, concepts, and publications behind this idea.
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Want to go deeper?
I Know What to Do. Why Can't I Do It?
A short book about executive dysfunction, unreliable access to action, and the conditions that make ability usable.
Read the book →