No facilitator required. No scheduled debrief. No waiting for an expert to interpret your results. The tools are designed to be completed independently -- and that is a feature, not a limitation.
The traditional model for organizational assessment involves a facilitator: someone who administers the instrument, interprets the results, and guides the debrief conversation. This model has genuine advantages -- a skilled facilitator can surface nuance, manage defensive reactions, and help respondents engage with difficult findings productively. It also has significant practical constraints: it is expensive, it requires scheduling, it limits scale, and it makes the respondent dependent on someone else's availability and interpretive lens to access their own data.
Self-directed learning -- in which individuals take primary responsibility for planning, executing, and evaluating their own learning -- has a well-established evidence base as an effective development modality, particularly for adult learners (Knowles, 1975).1 Adults bring existing experience, internal motivation, and a practical orientation toward learning that makes them capable of engaging with diagnostic data independently, provided that data is presented with sufficient clarity and specificity to be actionable without interpretation.
The Evans Learning Labs toolkit is designed explicitly around this principle. Every results page includes scored domain-by-domain output, behavioral descriptions of what the selected level actually means, identification of the two priority development areas, and specific recommendations for each. The system is built so that a motivated individual with no external support can understand exactly where they are, why it matters, and what to do about it.
Not all assessment instruments are designed for self-directed use. Many produce output that is deliberately opaque -- requiring expert interpretation to decode -- either because the instrument genuinely requires specialized knowledge to interpret, or because ambiguity in the output creates ongoing dependency on the assessment provider.
A self-directed instrument must meet a higher standard of output clarity. The results must be specific enough that the respondent knows exactly which behaviors are driving each score, interpretable enough that the implications are clear without expert mediation, and actionable enough that the respondent can identify concrete next steps without additional consultation.
This design standard is one reason that behavioral descriptions are essential to the Evans Learning Labs methodology. A score of 2.8 out of 5 on a rating-scale instrument tells a respondent almost nothing without someone to explain what 2.8 means. A score anchored to a specific behavioral description -- "accountability exists in principle but is inconsistently applied" -- tells the respondent exactly what is happening and creates an obvious bridge to what a higher level would look like.
Self-direction is appropriate for most development contexts and most respondents. It is not universally superior to facilitated approaches. The tradeoffs are worth stating plainly:
There is an equity dimension to self-directed assessment that is worth naming. Facilitated assessment programs are, by their structure, available primarily to people whose organizations pay for them or whose personal resources can cover premium coaching engagements. Self-directed tools that produce clear, actionable output are available to anyone who chooses to use them.
The pricing model at Evans Learning Labs -- individual tool purchases at $49, with no ongoing subscription, no per-retake fee, and no requirement for facilitator services -- is designed to make serious diagnostic assessment accessible to leaders at all organizational levels and career stages, not only those in senior roles at well-resourced organizations.
No appointment. No facilitator. Complete any tool independently and receive a full scored results report immediately.
Browse the toolkit1 Knowles, M. S. (1975). Self-directed learning: A guide for learners and teachers. Association Press.
2 Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55(1), 68–78. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.68