What’s a Say:Do Ratio?

The Say:Do ratio isn’t a new concept and is delightfully simple. It’s the relationship between what someone says they’ll do and what they actually do, on a regular basis.

The “Do” isn’t about rote execution. If priorities shift and they proactively communicate that? Great Say:Do ratio. If they realize a better approach mid-stream and adjust the plan with their stakeholders? Still great. If an unexpected problem emerges and they flag it early? Excellent.

Issues with low Say:Do aren’t about changing direction. The issue is when expectations are unmanaged and trust erodes. When Friday comes and goes with no update, or when “I’ll get that done” becomes ambiguous radio silence.

A high Say:Do ratio means someone makes clear commitments, keeps you in the loop, delivers what they commit to (or tells you early when they can’t), and generally makes planning possible. These are the people who become the backbone of high-performing teams.

Why It Actually Matters

High Say:Do ratio people are force multipliers.

When someone consistently delivers on their commitments (and let’s you know about it), awesome things happen:

  • Planning becomes easier - You can actually trust estimates and timelines
  • Cognitive load drops - Everyone else isn’t mentally tracking who needs following up
  • Trust compounds - Other team members start raising their game to match
  • Execution accelerates - Less time chasing, more time building

On the flip side, low Say:Do ratio team members are drag multipliers. You start building in buffer time for their work. You second-guess their updates. You spend 1-on-1s trying to figure out what’s really going on. It’s exhausting.

The gap between high and low Say:Do performers in terms of actual team impact is much larger than it might initially appear.

Spotting Say:Do Patterns

Let me give some hypothetical examples of what different ratios look like in practice:

High Say:Do Ratio

Alex says they’ll review your PR by end of day. At 4:47pm, you get a thoughtful review with three solid suggestions. When they flag that they’re taking on a refactoring project, they actually finish it, with updates and expectations set along the way. When they say “I’m not sure I can commit to that,” they mean it, and they help you find an alternative. When priorities shift mid-sprint, they proactively let people know what’s getting deprioritized and why.

Medium Say:Do Ratio

Jordan is optimistic. They say they’ll have something done by Wednesday. It’s usually done by Friday, with some pieces still rough and “not quite finished yet”. They talk about writing documentation but it’s always just about to be started. They’re not unreliable exactly, just… optimistic. Frequently.

Low Say:Do Ratio

Sam has great intentions. They volunteer to take on tasks and commit to delivery dates with confidence. Then things go quiet. When you follow up, there’s always a reason - the requirements weren’t clear, there were some complications, they were helping with an incident. The reasons are usually valid! But the pattern is consistent - they don’t proactively manage expectations, so you’re always chasing them and never quite sure what’s actually happening.

You want your team full of Alexes, because they boost the performance of everyone around them.

Using Say:Do as a Coaching Tool

Introducing the Say:Do concept explicitly, gives you a clear, objective framework for feedback conversations that can be used as a short-hand for follow-up conversations and ongoing feedback.

“Hey, I want to talk to you about something I think about as Say:Do ratio - basically, does what someone says they’ll do match up with what actually happens. I’ve noticed a pattern where your commitments and delivery aren’t lining up. The refactor task you promised was meant to be done two weeks ago, the documentation hasn’t been started, and I’m generally not getting updates when things slip. This makes it hard for the team to plan and meet our goals. What’s happening from your perspective?”

This is direct, names the pattern, and opens the conversation to understand root causes. No need to tiptoe around it.

For high performers, you can use it to recognize and reinforce:

“One of the things I really value about working with you is your Say:Do ratio. You commit to things, and I know it’s going to happen. That reliability makes my life much easier and sets a great example for the team. Everyone knows they can count on you, please continue this!”

People often don’t realize this is their superpower, and naming it helps them understand what makes them effective.

Improving Say:Do Ratio

So what do you actually do if you’ve got team members (or let’s be honest, yourself) with a low Say:Do ratio?

For Individual Contributors

1. Stop overcommitting The easiest way to improve your ratio is to say less. Before committing, pause and ask: “Given everything else on my plate, can I actually deliver this?” Saying “I need to consider my workload and get back to you” is vastly better than saying yes and then missing the mark. (Note - saying “I’ll get back to you” is also a commitment, so only say it if you will do it!)

2. Make commitments clear and explicit Instead of “I’ll try to get to that,” say “I’ll have this done by Thursday COB” or “I can’t commit to that this sprint, but I can do it next sprint.” Clarity eliminates wiggle room and makes it easier to deliver and measure your success.

3. Manage expectations proactively If priorities shift, timelines slip, or you find a better approach mid-stream, communicate it immediately. “Hey, that PR review is getting pushed to tomorrow because of the incident” or “I started on the refactor and realized we should approach this differently - can we sync?” keeps trust high even when plans change.

4. Track your own commitments Keep a simple list of what you’ve committed to (and with who), and review it daily. It sounds basic, but most low Say:Do ratio issues come from people genuinely losing track of what they said they’d do.

5. Do a retrospective on misses When you miss a commitment, ask yourself: Why did I think I could do this? What got in the way? Was I too optimistic? Did I not account for something? Pattern matching your own failures is incredibly valuable.

For Managers Coaching Others

1. Make the pattern visible People often don’t realize they have a low Say:Do ratio. Keep notes over a few weeks and then present specific examples. “In the last three weeks, you committed to X, Y, and Z. X landed a week late, Y is still in progress, and Z hasn’t been started. Do you see this pattern?”

2. Dig into the root cause Low Say:Do usually comes from one (or a combination) of these:

  • Chronic optimism about timelines
  • Difficulty saying no
  • Lack of awareness of current workload
  • Lack of a system for managing workload (they haven’t realized this is a problem that requires conscious effort and a system to solve)
  • Poor stakeholder management (they are making good decisions, but not communicating it)
  • External blockers (dependencies, unclear requirements, etc.)
  • Skill gaps they’re not aware of, or not admitting to

Understanding which one it is changes your coaching approach. Often it’s simply not realising that it’s a problem, or that keeping people updated is part of the commitment.

3. Create forcing functions Have them estimate with you, walking through all the tasks required. Make them say out loud what they’re going to de-prioritise to fit in new work. The forcing function of explicit thinking often reveals the mismatch.

4. Start small and build confidence If someone’s ratio is really low, have them commit to smaller things and build up a track record of delivery. Small wins create momentum and help them recalibrate their sense of what’s achievable.

5. Consider if it’s a critical, ongoing issue Sometimes, despite your best coaching and feedback efforts, someone’s Say:Do ratio doesn’t improve. This might indicate they’re in the wrong role, or they lack self-awareness that’s difficult to develop. Not everyone is going to be a high performer, and that’s okay - but you need to be honest about whether that’s acceptable for their role.

Wrapping Up

The Say:Do ratio is one of those concepts that seems almost too simple to be useful. But in practice, it’s a powerful lens for understanding team performance and a practical tool for coaching conversations.

High Say:Do people make everyone’s life easier. They make planning possible. They raise the bar for everyone around them.

As a manager, your job is to recognize and reinforce high Say:Do behavior, and coach low Say:Do team members toward improvement. And if you’re an individual contributor reading this - make yourself invaluable by being someone whose commitments really mean something.