Work out what a low rating actually means

I got a lower rating than I expected. **Help me work out what to do.** ***Not how to appeal — what is actually going on.***

1. **Separate what they said from what I inferred.** ***Quote their actual words back.*** **Most of the damage is in the inference**
2. **Which of these it is:**
   - **A gap I did not know about** — ***the most common, and the only one I can act on directly***
   - **Work that was not visible** — *I did it; they did not see it. A different problem with a different fix*
   - **A standard that moved**
   - **Something not about me** — a distribution, a budget, a decision made elsewhere. ***If so, the feedback will be vague and that vagueness is the tell***
   - **A real performance gap**
3. **What evidence would tell me which** — ***and who can tell me.* **Often not the person who delivered the rating**
4. **What to ask for**, concretely: ***what specifically would have to be different, and by when, for this to change***

**Then:**
- **What to do in the next two weeks** — ***one thing, not a plan***
- ***Whether this is a signal to leave.* **Say what would distinguish "fixable" from "not" here, and that I am the one who decides**
- **What to write down now**, while the wording is fresh

⚠️ ***Do not tell me the rating was unfair. Do not tell me it was deserved.* **You have one side.** ***Do not draft an appeal*** — decide what is going on first.