Bloom's Taxonomy as a Coaching Diagnostic
Pinpoint where a struggling PM or manager breaks down along the ladder of critical thinking, then fill that gap.
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Time to result
- ~ongoing to results
- Steps
- 3
- Confidence
- 88%
A coaching diagnostic borrowed from education: the levels of critical thinking — knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, evaluation — form a ladder you can use to locate exactly where a team member is stuck. Do they lack the core knowledge, understand it but can't apply it, or apply it but can't synthesize why it matters for the business? The level of the breakdown tells you what support to give.
Origin
Bloom's Taxonomy, from Kaba's six years in education. He repurposes it as a management tool for diagnosing and coaching PMs and managers of managers.
Core principles
- 01Critical thinking is a ladder: knowledge → comprehension → application → analysis → synthesis → evaluation.
- 02Diagnose the specific rung where someone breaks down rather than vaguely telling them to 'figure it out.'
- 03Meet people where they are and provide the support to climb, instead of just assigning the outcome.
- 04Managers of managers must live at the top of the pyramid — synthesizing and evaluating across every team they own.
How to run it
- 1
Locate the breakdown on the ladder
For a struggling PM or manager, ask: do they lack core knowledge, understand but can't apply, apply but can't analyze across contexts, or fail to synthesize why it matters for the business?
Pro tip A common failure is knowing how to apply something in one way without realizing two or three other approaches exist.
- 2
Attach the gap to a concrete skill
Translate the diagnosed rung into the specific skill to build, so support is targeted rather than generic.
Pro tip For managers, the frequent gap is synthesis — knowing what to do but not tying it back to business context and strategy to know where to prioritize.
- 3
Provide the support to climb
Give people the exposure, examples, or coaching to move up a level — e.g. show a concept applied across multiple scenarios — instead of asking them to figure it out alone.
Pro tip Managers of managers should be held to living at the top of the pyramid across all their teams, synthesizing and evaluating to make bigger-picture connections.
Watch out Too often people are asked to figure things out but given no support and no way to connect the dots.
In the wild
A PM may understand a concept like machine learning but has only applied it against one scenario, so they know one way of doing it that doesn't fit — and don't even realize two or three other approaches exist.
→ Diagnosing this as an application/analysis gap lets the coach expose them to multiple scenarios rather than questioning their knowledge.
Common mistakes
Assigning outcomes without diagnosing the level
Telling someone to 'figure it out' when they're stuck at a specific rung gives no support and no way to connect the dots.
Is it for you?
Best for
Product leaders and managers of managers coaching people who are underperforming and need a precise diagnosis of why.
Not ideal for
High-performers already operating at the top of the ladder who need stretch and autonomy, not diagnosis.
From the transcript
“at the bottom of the period was was knowledge and then it's comprehension and then application analysis synthesis and evaluation”
“do they have the core knowledge that they need do they understand it but they can't apply it are they applying it but they're not…”
“when you're trying to manage managers you're really trying to live the top of the pyramid”
From the episode
Unorthodox frameworks for growing your product, career, and impact
Bangaly Kaba (YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Instacart)