Self Managing Grid™ is the development framework and foundation for a proprietary behavioral assessment designed to help individuals and teams understand how effectively they “manage” through change. It combines behavioral science, reflective assessment, and coaching to map where a person is thriving, stuck, or needs to “let go” to grow.

Key facts

• Type: Behavioral assessment and coaching framework
• Owner: Letting Go Cafe Trust
• Mark: Self Managing Grid™
• Creator: Darren L. Johnson
• Primary use: Personal, leadership, team and organizational development 
• Core focus: To measure how effectively one is able to “let go”

Background and purpose

The Self Managing Grid™ was developed by coach and author Darren L. Johnson as the backbone of the services offered by Letting Go Cafe™, a firm focused on helping people navigate change “with clarity, courage, and calm.” The framework is used across one-on-one coaching, team engagements, workshops, and in the content of digital products like eBooks, journals and workbooks. 

How the framework works

The Self Managing Grid™ serves as a behavioral map that reveals tendencies and patterns in how a person manages themselves over time. Through structured questions and guided reflection, it highlights three broad zones: where someone is thriving, where they feel stuck, and where releasing old habits or beliefs could unlock their “next level.” The result is both diagnostic (what’s happening now) and prescriptive (where to focus letting go and growth efforts). 

Applications in organizations

Since 1998, the Self Managing Grid™ has been used in organizations to support leadership development, culture change, and resilience. Group and team coaching built on the Self Managing Grid™ addresses communication, trust, performance, and navigating ongoing change.