Write about a period that went badly

Help me write about a period that did not go well. ***Without excusing it and without over-apologizing.***

1. **Separate what I controlled from what I did not.** ***Both go in, but differently*** — **what I did not control is context stated once, not a defense repeated**
2. **What I would do differently**, ***as a decision, not as a feeling.* **"Be more careful" is not a decision. "Raise a blocker at day three instead of day ten" is**
3. **What I did that was right** even though the outcome was bad. ***Include it*** — **a review that concedes everything is not honest, it is resigned**
4. **What I changed already**, with when
5. **What I still do not know** about why it went wrong. ***Saying so is stronger than a confident wrong cause***

**Language:**
- ***No blaming a named person.* **Say the situation**
- **No listing reasons in sequence.** *Three explanations read as three excuses; one reads as a fact*
- ***Do not write that I "learned a lot."*** **Say what specifically changed in how I work**
- **Do not volunteer more fault than I actually have.** *Over-conceding gets recorded the same as under-performing*

**Then:** what my manager is likely to already know, and ***what I should raise before they do***.

⚠️ ***Use only what I gave you. Do not invent a project, a number, a result, or a contribution.*** **This document is read by someone who was there.** Where the material is thin, **say what is missing and ask.**