The DTf Pattern: Clear Goals, Facts and Follow-Through

What does DTf mean?

DTf is the TDF pattern with a large D lens for choices and contrasts, a medium T lens for facts, and a small F lens for connections. The immediate question is often what needs to happen and which course to take. Facts then help establish what is possible, what stands in the way and how progress can be recognized.

The smaller F lens does not measure kindness or the capacity to care. Connections may be less prominent in the initial picture and deserve a deliberate second look. Nor does a large D lens establish leadership ability. TDF describes perception. Skills, responsibilities and experience remain part of the person, as the model overview explains.

A goal gives the information a purpose

A goal can make a complicated day feel manageable. There is something to accomplish, an obstacle to deal with and a way to tell whether the effort is working. In the DTf description, responsibility has weight: seeing that something needs doing can make it difficult to leave it unattended.

That focus can make concise information especially useful. What is the issue? What are the options? What do you recommend? Once a direction seems clear, data is examined for its bearing on the goal. Information that appears unrelated may be set aside quickly.

The benefit is direction. The difficulty is that an apparently peripheral detail may matter more than expected. Choosing a goal establishes a focus; it does not establish that everything outside the focus is irrelevant.

A late delivery and the information outside the target

Imagine this workplace situation. A customer's order is late. Ben wants a definite delivery date by the end of the day. He asks which items are missing, finds available stock and arranges an alternative shipment. His questions give the team a clear problem to solve.

A colleague raises a concern about the customer's installation team. Ben initially hears another complication that can wait. But the installers are booked for a single visit. Sending the order in two parts might meet a shipping target while making the actual installation harder and more expensive.

Ben asks the colleague to explain the dependency, then calls the customer before confirming the shipment. He can still take responsibility and set a deadline, with a better definition of the result. This example is invented to show a DTf pattern of attention. The behavior alone would not tell us Ben's TDF result.

The value of focus, and when to widen it

DTf can contribute clear expectations, direct questions and a willingness to take ownership. When a discussion circles without a decision, someone willing to identify the choice can help. Straightforward feedback can also make it easier to know what is required.

Focus needs checking when pursuing a target becomes more important than reconsidering it. A changed situation may call for a different goal. Other people may be raising dependencies rather than making excuses. Working harder will not resolve a problem caused by a missing relationship or conflicting commitments.

Asking for help is another useful check. Carrying responsibility does not require carrying every task alone. Someone with a broader view of the situation may supply exactly the information that concentrated effort has screened out.

Be direct while leaving room for an answer

When talking with someone who identifies with DTf, state your point early. Explain the choice, supporting facts and practical consequence. If there is a relationship or dependency to consider, name it explicitly. “The support team promised one installation visit, so this shipment plan affects that commitment” is easier to act on than a hint that people may be unhappy.

If DTf is your pattern, distinguish an invitation to discuss from a final instruction. People may hear certainty in your tone before you have decided. Try: “This is my current view. What am I missing?” Then give the answer time. Add why the task matters, and say appreciation aloud rather than assuming your actions communicate it. The facts, choices and connections worksheet can make that broader conversation concrete.

DTf compared with TDf and DFt

TDfand DTf both place connections third, and both can appear structured. Their starting points differ. TDf examines the facts to find a workable course. DTf sees a direction and tests the facts against it. A plan may organize TDf's effort; a goal may organize DTf's.

DFtalso begins with choices but turns next toward connections and possibilities. DTf's second T lens gives greater prominence to concrete obstacles, resources and limits. Neither pattern is a job description, and neither guarantees success in a demanding role.

Before the next push, check the connections

Choose a current goal and ask someone affected by it for a short conversation. Explain the goal, then ask what reaching it would change for them. Look for commitments or consequences you have not included. Finish by naming one thing you will reconsider and one area where you could use their help.

• What did my focus help me accomplish?
• What evidence would make me revise this goal?
• Did I dismiss anything as a distraction before understanding it?
• Have I made both my expectations and my appreciation clear?

Compare these questions with actual experiences, including times you acted differently. The purpose is a fuller view of yourself, not a requirement to fit every line of a description.

Sources and next reading

This explanation is grounded in “The DTf Pattern” and the neighboring pattern comparisons in Discovering Your Best Self: The TDF Map, second edition, by David Farr and Bill Roberts, and the corresponding chapters of The Map of TDF. The delivery scenario and questions are new illustrations. For the distinction between this guide and your personal result, see what the TDF assessment measures and how to interpret it.