We live in a time when achievement must be visible. We share sports achievements on Strava, celebrate successes on LinkedIn and measure work output in dashboards. Not because we are all strivers, but because our society is strongly focused on results.

Behind this focus on performance is a deeper mechanism. Social psychologists show that people are naturally inclined to explain others’ behavior by their attributes. If someone does well, we attribute it to his or her talent or effort. This helps us make sense of the world and gives us a foothold: those who perform well are apparently competent.

But here is a risk. Because performance is never the result of individual qualities alone. They are also influenced by context: circumstances, opportunities, chance. By not paying enough attention to this, we can unintentionally draw the wrong conclusions – about who is suitable for a position, who has potential or who has the “it” to grow.

For HR, this means: be aware of the trap of performance fixation. Look not only at what someone has done, but also at how and under what circumstances. Only then can we truly do justice to potential and talent.