Ability Isn’t Who You Are — It’s What You’re Doing

In the Army, we didn’t define people by their limitations. We evaluated ability through a clear framework: Task, Condition, and Standard.

• Task: What needs to be done

• Condition: The circumstances under which it must be done

• Standard: What success looks like

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This approach was clear, objective, and specific. It shaped how I think about ability today — and it reveals a fundamental flaw in how society operates.

The Problem with Labels

Most of society doesn’t work this way. We assign people labels — able-bodied, disabled, impaired — and treat those labels like permanent truths. But when we shift from identity-based language to task-based thinking, something powerful happens:

We stop asking, “What can’t this person do?”

And start asking, “What can they do, under the right conditions, with the right tools?”

Tasks Make Ability Real

Imagine trying to hold a heavy pan with arthritis. Or typing with tremors. Or reaching overhead after shoulder surgery.

Are you “disabled”? Maybe. Maybe not.

But the label doesn’t matter. What matters is: What’s the task? What are the conditions? What’s the goal?

Once you define that, you can adjust. You can modify the tools, the approach, the expectation. Suddenly, what looked like disability becomes a solvable problem.

The Ability Curve in Context

The Ability Curve is how I model this thinking. It recognizes that our ability shifts based on task, condition, and time — across a spectrum, not a binary.

Without clear definitions, we use labels like “disabled” as shorthand for “can’t.” That’s not just inaccurate — it’s limiting.

When you break things down into discrete tasks, you start to see possibility instead of barriers.

Identity is Static. Tasks Are Dynamic.

Identity labels feel fixed. But tasks are dynamic and flexible. You can adapt how they’re done. You can find alternatives. You can succeed in different ways.

You might not be able to lift 50 pounds over your head. But maybe you can lift 25 pounds twice. Or push instead of pull. Or use a tool that redistributes the force.

This mindset doesn’t erase difficulty. But it changes the conversation from limitation to action.

Why This Matters in the Real World

In business, healthcare, education, and daily life, we’re often asking the wrong questions:

• Can this person work full-time?

• Can they live independently?

• Can they do this job like everyone else?

These are identity-based assessments disguised as objective standards.

Here’s what we should be asking:

• What tasks are involved?

• What’s preventing completion?

• Can we change the conditions or tools to make it possible?

When we ask better questions, we get better answers — and we stop leaving people behind.

The Power of Adaptive Design

This is why I built NULU. Not to “fix” people — but to rethink a task: safe, controlled cutting in the kitchen.

Rather than asking why someone can’t use a traditional knife, I asked:

• What is the task?

• What are the conditions (strength, grip, pain, fatigue)?

• What would success look like?

Then I designed a tool that met those needs — not by lowering the standard, but by changing how the task is approached.

That’s adaptive design. That’s inclusive thinking. And it works — because it starts with what can be done, not what can’t.

A Call to Reframe

If you’re designing products, managing teams, caring for someone, or navigating your own changing body, try this shift:

Stop labeling the person. Start describing the task.

Then ask:

• What’s getting in the way?

• Can the conditions be changed?

• Is there another way to succeed?

You might be surprised how often the answer is yes.

Final Thought

We don’t need fewer people with disabilities. We need fewer environments and systems that disable people unnecessarily.

The more we focus on tasks — not identities — the more clearly we see potential, not limitation.

Because ability isn’t who you are. It’s what you’re doing — and whether the world gives you a fair shot at doing it.