PerformanceXpress

International Society of Performance Improvement Newsletter
July 2006

“What We Have Here Is…Failure to Communicate ”
by Lance Dublin

For us baby boomers, there are few better-recognized quotes. I find that many people who have never even heard of “Cool Hand Luke” can utter these words with authenticity. Reviewers have pointed out that as this movie arrived in the late 1960s, a whole generation of non-conformists was rebelling against the status quo, the “establishment.” Well, fellow non-conformists, it is time we now rise up and make our voices heard loud and clear: analysis, design, content, and development are all important, but really…

…it’s all about the people, stupid!

No matter how thorough you have been in your needs and task analysis, how well thought out your content and approach, or how elegant your human performance intervention, it cannot implement itself. In fact, without a clear and well-constructed integration—not just implementation—for your strategy and plan, your solution will most likely fall far short of your goals and its potential, joining so many other great answers that masquerade as true solutions.

The Hard Stuff Is Easy and the Soft Stuff Is Hard
There exists more than ample evidence that when all is said and done, “the hard stuff is easy and the soft stuff is hard.” Developing a great technical solution may not be easy. But, ensuring that the solution engages learners, motivates managers, and energizes the organization—the softer, less technical people issues—is really hard, and critical.

In the HPT field, we have spent more time defining the processes and tools for analyzing problems and developing solutions than on ensuring the changes we are creating are successfully implemented. We have been somewhat lazy in this regard and “implementation” has become a catch-all phrase for everything that happens after the solution has been developed. We are in the change business whether we like it or not. But, what is needed is more than just the management of a change process. What is needed is the implementation of change itself…

…change implementation.

There are three distinct phases of this process we have mistakenly lumped into one: 1) installation, 2) implementation, and 3) integration. For each of these phases, objectives must be defined and specific activities, messages, and their timing identified for each key stakeholder group.

Once the solution is developed, the next phase is actually installation; doing whatever it takes to make sure it works as designed. Following installation we can then focus on implementation; making sure the learners and their managers know what it is and how to use it. Unfortunately, this is too-often where we stop. But, it is the successful completion of the third phase, integration, that is the difference between a good answer and an effective solution. In this stage, we should ensure the solution quickly becomes absorbed into the fabric of the organization.

Communications, having a communication plan, is generally agreed to be an important component of this process, whether you refer to it as implementation or integration. But just as we’ve been lazy defining “implementation” so have we also been in defining “communications.”

The American Heritage dictionary defines communication as “the exchange of thoughts, messages, or information.” The key word in this definition is “exchange.” Exchange implies a two-way process not a one-way flood. All too often we develop communications plans that, in reality, are marketing communications campaigns. Their purpose is to tell a story in a convincing way rather than to foster true, two-way exchange. To effectively implement or integrate your HPT solution, I believe you need to have a change communications plan that includes, but cannot be limited to, marketing communications (see Figure 1).

Change Communication Stages

• Awareness: Generating awareness through information and messaging activities, i.e., marketing communications (or marcomm), is essential. You need to inform learners, managers, and the organization about the problem and your solution to it. The purpose is to make sure the messages you want to be heard are broadcast loud and clear in ways they will be recognized, recalled, and remembered.
• Engagement: Behavior change seldom happens based solely on passively receiving information, or trinkets. Key to this type of change is finding ways to engage the learners, managers, and organization in experiencing your solution. To give them a chance to, in effect, kick the tires, try it out for themselves, ask questions, and form their own opinions. The purpose is to let them experience the solution in safe environments, to personalize it, and to have it become theirs and not yours.
• Commitment: Becoming part of the organizational culture, fully integrated into the work life of the learners and managers ensures long-term success. Here it is important to align your interventions with organizational processes, systems, and business initiatives—not something foreign or inflicted or forced. But something that becomes so well accepted and integrated, it becomes, like email, critical to the performance of the individual and organization and, nevertheless, “invisible.”

Finally, unlike most flow charts of human engineering processes, which have a “start” and an ”end” point, this change plan must feed itself in a circular manner. It must be its own learning process with the capacity for watching and adjusting itself in as close to real time as possible.

I look forward to your feedback and comments.

Lance Dublin, Chief Solution Architect at Dublin Consulting, has been an advocate for innovative approaches to learning and change throughout his career. He is an independent management consultant specializing in applying strategic thinking and design to the development of learning strategy, development programs, and organizational change initiatives. Lance has more than 30 years’ experience in adult education and training, communications and change leadership, and change management and organizational development. He may be reached at lance@dublinconsuting.net.

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TrendSpotters: The Optimizing Use of Resources Model
by Carol Haig, CPT, and Roger Addison, CPT, EdD

Klaus Wittkuhn, CPT, and founding member of ISPI’s Germany chapter, is also ISPI’s International Marketing Representative in Europe. He is managing partner of Performance Design International, a consulting firm based in Bonn, Germany, and may be reached at klaus.wittkuhn@pd-international.de. Performance Design International provides training, performance consulting, and related tools for managers and consultants. The Optimizing Use of Resources Model is an example of one such tool and is this month’s addition to our TrendSpotters Open Toolkit.

Genesis of This Model
Based on the Boston Consulting Group’s portfolio concept, Performance International developed the Optimizing Use of Resources Model to solve a particular problem common to most organizations: allocating budget. Consider the typical budget meeting in which participants fight for as much money as possible, creating an unpleasant and unproductive atmosphere. The Optimizing Use of Resources Model fosters more rational discussion because it requires those who are requesting funds to tie them to either the organization’s strategic objectives or to other benefits to be realized by the organization. Using the model results in the development of a shared rationale for spending, and it is, therefore, both a model and a tool.

Model Description
Generally, the Optimizing Use of Resources Model is shown as a grid with four quadrants that are sufficient for most situations.

• The first dimension is represented by the horizontal axis that describes the Leverage Effect on Strategic Objectives, with a range from low (bottom left quadrant) to high (bottom right quadrant).
• The second dimension is shown on the vertical axis as Other Benefits for the Organization or Unit, with a range from low (bottom left quadrant) to high (upper left quadrant).
• For added emphasis and ease of use, the most desirable quadrant in the upper right is labeled Focus, because here the effect on both Strategic Objectives and Other Benefits for the Organization is high. The least desirable quadrant in the lower left is labeled Avoid. Here leverage on both dimensions is low. Those seeking funds must carefully plot their needs in the appropriate quadrant to show how their project supports the organization’s strategic objectives and the other benefits to be provided. It is interesting to note that the model itself is not so important; it is the information it forces budgeters to gather that is of value. Users can expand the model to six or nine domains for specific situations that require a more refined view of the information.

How to Use This Model
The Optimizing Use of Resources Model is most effectively used to prepare for budget negotiations. In a budget meeting, the model can be used to structure discussion. Klaus reports that the model effectively refocuses managers who are pursuing their personal likes and dislikes rather than concentrating on strategic business results. They are forced to articulate the strategic rationale behind their requests for funding; and if the link is not strong, funds will be difficult to acquire.

Success Story
At Performance International, budget discussions and product development decisions were historically difficult. When Klaus introduced the Optimizing Use of Resources Model, it changed the dynamics in budgeting discussions. Each requestor was asked to identify the quadrant where the requestor’s project fit and provide the reasons for it. Then, the management team could explore the requestor’s reasoning.

Advice to Users of the Optimizing Use of Resources Model
Klaus suggests that HPTers use the model for budgeting, as described here. It is also an effective tool for setting priorities. For example, suppose your organization is juggling five potential projects and does not have the resources to launch them all simultaneously. Establish the value of each project as it relates to the two dimensions of Effect on Strategic Objectives and Other Benefits for Organization. Determine the appropriate plot point on the grid for each project. Use the plot points to help set project priorities.

The model’s simplicity is its most powerful feature. Feel comfortable adapting it to meet your specific needs.

Link to the Performance Technology Landscape
The Optimizing Use of Resources Model supports these principles of Performance Technology:

Application Exercise
Use the Optimizing Use of Resources Model to:

• Prioritize projects as described above.
• Evaluate the components of a project plan or client initiative against the organization’s strategic objectives. The Optimizing Use of Resources Model is a simple tool that can streamline contentious budget discussions and focus participants on the specific contributions their projects make to strategic objectives and other organizational benefits.

If you have an HPT model or tool that supports you in your performance improvement activities, contact Carol Haig, CPT, at carolhaig@earthlink.net or http://home.mindspring.com/%7Ecarolhaig, or Roger Addison, CPT, EdD, at roger@ispi.org.

International Society for Performance INNOVATION
by Donald T. Tosti, CPT, PhD

Innovation is hot. A recent survey of Fortune 500 companies indicates that over 60% of the CEOs list innovation or something like it as their company’s most important value. An article in any recent edition of Economist magazine says the focus today is on “not making things better but making better things.” In the 1990s, Ford proclaimed, “Quality is job one”; today BMW says, “It’s ideas that count.”

Human performance technology is one of the few approaches that has historically viewed innovation as important and arguably more important than improvement. Quality programs such as Six Sigma focus almost exclusively on improvement by trying to reduce variances and determine the cause of error. Although cause analysis entered into the HPT lexicon in the 1980s, the earlier tradition of focusing on results and finding innovative means of achieving that result has always remained strong. Originally the idea of “as is” analysis was to establish a baseline, not to define the problem. The focus was not on the gap, but the desired result and what we could do to best get it.

Improvement strategies rely on cause analysis.
Innovation strategies rely on means analysis.

Improvement strategies look at “as is” for the source or cause of variance and strive to improve results by repair or elimination of “root cause.” Innovative strategies look at “as is” to determine the initial conditions and resources that may be used (or not) to build a new way of achieving results.

More CEOs have come to realize you cannot save your way to success and also know that no matter how well designed your high quality “buggy” is, it generally cannot compete with even a poorly built car.

So what is the difference in practice? Recently, a client who runs a chain of apartment buildings was interested in providing better customer service by its maintenance people (the desired result).

The improvement strategy this client developed involved process redesign and the introduction of better feedback on the satisfaction of maintenance calls. The client also developed training to overcome skill and interpersonal deficiencies it had detected.

In addition, this client came up with an innovative strategy. Rather than just waiting for customers to complain, the maintenance people were given a new role as “hunters.” Their job was now to find problems before customers complained. This involved, among other things, calling on their residents and asking if everything was perfect. The residents were surprised and pleased. They felt the maintenance people really wanted to make things right. Customer service ratings dramatically increased, there were fewer complaints, and the data indicated that many costly repairs were avoided. The innovative strategy may or may not have been more valuable than the improvement strategy (the innovative strategy was certainly more visible to the customers), but why not do both.

Innovation may involve higher risks but also generally has higher payoffs than improvement. Unfortunately, one still finds performance analysis being exclusively defined as a search for cause and not means. (This newsletter is frequently guilty of that practice.) Are our practitioners also risk averse? Or maybe our Society’s name is getting in the way? We have changed it twice before; is it time to do it again?

Donald T. Tosti, CPT, PhD, is a consistent contributor to PerformanceXpress. He is the managing partner of Vanguard Consulting, which specializes in the alignment of organizational processes and people with the stated strategy of the organization. Don is an expert in organizational systems. His pioneering work on contingency management began in the 1960s. As the principle investigator for the multimedia leadership/management course conducted at the U.S. Naval Academy, he adapted the methods of performance analysis to the study of leadership and management behavior. His subsequent work on modifying behavioral norms and leadership has demonstrated the power of HPT in organizations such as British Airways and General Motors. Don may be reached at Change111@aol.com.

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ISPI on the Digital Airwaves

Over the past month, ISPI’s Senior Director of Human Performance Technologies, Roger Addison, CPT, EdD, has been working with MyTechnologyLawyer.com on a series of web-based radio broadcasts promoting HPT. You can listen to these broadcasts using streaming audio through your computer by visiting the ISPI website. Below is a schedule of the broadcasts along with the topics discussed.

• June 1, 2006: Recap 2006 ISPI Annual Conference and What is Coming Up
• June 8, 2006: Past HPT Hits
• June 15, 2006: The Association, Why ISPI?
• June 22, 2006: Culture Change
• June 29, 2006: Mentoring with Margo Murray, CPT
• July 6, 2006: Certification with Judith Hale, CPT, PhD

2007 Honorary Award Nominations

The International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI) has three special honorary awards that recognize outstanding individuals and organizations for their significant contributions to Human Performance Technology and to the Society itself. The awards are the Thomas F. Gilbert Distinguished Professional Achievement Award, the Distinguished Service Award, and the Honorary Life Member Award. As done in the past, the membership is asked to submit names of qualified individuals for consideration for the Thomas F. Gilbert Distinguished Professional Achievement Award and Distinguished Service Award. If you are interested in nominating an ISPI member, please email the following information to april@ispi.org:

• Name of award
• Name, telephone number, and email of nominee
• Name and telephone number of nominator
• Brief supporting information for the nominee

This year’s recipients were Honorary Life Member: Judith Hale, Thomas F. Gilbert Distinguished Professional Achievement Award: Ruth C. Clark, and the Distinguished Service Award: Carol Haig. The deadline to receive nominations is August 18, 2006. For more detailed information on the guidelines used for selecting individuals to receive these awards, click here.

From the Board: Using ISPI to Develop Your Leadership Skills
by Bob Bodine, CPT, PhD, ISPI Director/Treasurer

I am going to be direct and state right up front that I’m pro-ISPI. With that caveat stated, do not be surprised when you read that ISPI is a great place to develop your leadership skills. In fact, that is the whole point of this message: ISPI is a great place to learn about, and develop, your leadership skills.

How do you do that? Look or, if you prefer, observe! ISPI is populated with many great leaders, and you can learn from all of them. The chapters are a great place to start. The Board has three or four leadership positions at any one time. In addition, the various committee chairs can be leaders to watch. Pay attention to what they do, how they do it, and how they interact with the people they are leading. Leadership is one of those topics that everyone talks about but often have different definitions of what it is and what constitutes good leadership. To borrow from Kirk Weisler in The Dog Poop Initiative, “Remember that initiative is just what leaders do…if we remember their example, we can do it too!”

But simply observing is not enough. Get involved. Participate! How, you say? By saying, “yes”.

Yes to the question of “Will you help?”
Yes to the question of “Can you do ___?”
Yes to the question of “Would you be interested in ____?”

Saying yes is the first step to a wonderful experience of engagement and leadership development through hands-on practice. You can do this at the chapter or international levels. At the international level, here are a few of the committees you could participate in:

• Awards Committee, Chair: Tony Moore, CPT
• Certification Governance Committee, Chair: Jim Pershing, CPT, PhD
• Chapter Partnership Committee (CPC), Chair: Ronald J. Ryan, CPT, PhD
• Conference Program Committee 2007 (a Two-Year Committee), Co-chairs: Paul Cook, CPT, & Monique Mueller, CPT
• Conference Program Committee 2008 (a Two-Year Committee), Co-chairs: Ivan D. Cortes, CPT, & [Open]
• T.F. Gilbert Distinguished Professional Achievement Committee, Chair: Kimberly A. Morrill, CPT
• Honorary Life Member Committee, Chair: Open; contact ISPI for information
• Nominations Committee, Chair: Catherine Brown
• Professional Communities (ProComm) Committee, Chair: John M. Swinney, CPT
• Research Committee, Chair: Ingrid J. Guerra-Lopez, PhD
• Marketing Communications Committee, Chair: Ken Steinman, CPT
• Awards of Excellence Redesign Task Force, Chair: Eileen Banchoff, CPT, PhD, & Edward W. Schneider, CPT, PhD

If any of these seem interesting, contact the appropriate person, and say “yes”! If you would like more information on any of the above committees, click here.

I hope I have tweaked your interest in looking at ISPI in a new perspective. It is a leadership training ground as well as a vibrant professional community. Enjoy and learn!

If We Build It Will They Come? Human Performance Improvement Graduate Level Certificate and Master’s Degree Program

The University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) Instructional Systems Development—Training Systems is looking into developing a graduate program in Human Performance Improvement. The following programs would be offered:

1. Graduate level certificate in HPI
2. Master’s Degree in HPI

Please take a few minutes to complete the electronic survey: click here.

The survey is accessible until Friday, July 14. Your feedback and input on the development of this program will be reviewed and strongly taken into consideration as we analyze the best approach for developing such a program.

If you have questions or would like to share any ideas that would further help us, please contact Jason Dumois at 443-310-2338 or stetsonbu@hotmail.com.

ISPI-Europe’s Fifth Annual Conference
by Camille Ferond, CPT, President, ISPI Europe

ISPI-Europe’s Fifth Annual Conference on Building Performance in Organizational Culture in Europe promises to be another phenomenal event thanks to the highly professional and enthusiastic response we received to our call for presentations. The conference, which takes place on October 12-14, 2006, in the Czech Republic’s city of Prague, will:

As in the past, registration is limited to 100 participants, so be sure to make your reservations now by clicking here. If you are interested in being added to the ISPI-Europe mailing list, please contact me at proferond@hotmail.com.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank our volunteer Board members including Nanci McGonigal, Larry Held, Andreas Kuehn, and Steven Kelly for their ongoing contributions to this year’s conference. Also, a number of volunteers have been on hand, as needed, to support the Board in shaping ideas and activities since last October including: Carol Panza (Paris), Ed Schneider (USA), Christine Marsh (London), Chris Voelkl (Berlin), Juan Pablo Ortiz (Sweden), Arnoud Vermei (Holland), Mari Novak (Czech Republic), Michelle Katz (Germany and Israel), Klaus Wittkuhn (Germany), and Hans Niederkofler (Italy). Thank you all for making this possible! Finally, thanks to the ISPI Board and staff for their genuine and ongoing support. It is with great enthusiasm that I look forward to sharing the passion our professional community continues to inspire at what promises to be our most international event yet!

Communities of Practice in Workforce Development: Arizona’s Workforce Info-Share Activity
by John Morales, Susan Schmidt, and Sheila E. Murphy

The Challenge
Arizona’s Workforce Development (WD) professionals have long recognized that opportunities for peer practitioners to confer about important issues in the field have been scarce. When opportunities do occur, it is usually by accident at conferences or meetings.

• Anticipate, establish, and revise community and economic development needs
• Reach out to business leaders to help forecast staffing and training needs
• Develop skill levels in the workforce in response to employers’ needs
• Track job opportunities and placements

Foremost among the requirements of this mandate is that One-Stops establish and maintain consistency among One-Stops, despite disparity in resource allocation. For Arizona, this means that smaller cities and towns having some of the highest levels of need may have difficulty bringing forward the necessary resources to address ongoing problems. Professionals in the field have grappled with ways to strengthen functionality and facilitate greater return on investment among diverse communities in Arizona.

The Solution
A grassroots initiative emerged in response to the recognition that “branding” One-Stop services necessitated mutual understanding on the part of WD professionals about what was being done at the different centers throughout the state. A systematic and structured method called Workforce Info-Share Activity (after the Workforce Investment Act) provides preliminary certification training in conducting onsite One-Stop visitation, site visitation experience, and follow-up sessions attended by WD professionals representing rural, tribal, and metropolitan area front-line staff.

Primary emphasis is placed on the discovery and replication of best practices in the field, notably those that enhance the customer experience of using One-Stops for career development.

The primary purpose of the Peer Professional Development initiative was to strengthen performance capability at each One-Stop Career Center. Offering an external view of a One-Stop Career Center potentially provides each location a new perspective of operations from a knowledgeable consumer. Specific professional input provides a response to each center’s service to employers, job seekers, and center management and the organization.

Since the inception of the initiative 24 months ago, practices in a wide range of WD practices shown to be effective have been adjusted to fit a variety of communities. What has been most encouraging to executives in WD is the level of enthusiasm of seasoned staff seeking to implement ideas they have seen working, even in differently sized communities from their own.

The Value
The consensus among participants of the emerging communities of practice in Arizona has been favorable. The initiative has established a method of building upon a grassroots approach to professional development. To date, the enthusiasm that has characterized the implementation of the process attests to the validity of the need for sharing both challenges and successes in serving employers and job-seeking clients.

Richard Graves of Maricopa County spoke about the process in this way: “The experience provides the opportunity for networking with professionals who have similar background and interests in the employment and training industry…. The most rewarding aspect of the process is seeing how other local areas have set up the One-Stop concept, and how it is working to benefit job seekers and employers.”

John Morales is the Executive Director of the Yuma County, Arizona, Workforce Investment Board, is a Lifetime Member of the National Association of Workforce Development Professionals, and serves as the Treasurer of the National Workforce Association. Susan Schmidt, Director over Workforce Development, provides comprehensive career development and career enhancing services to the community and extensive business-enhancing services to area employers in Maricopa County. Sheila Murphy’s consulting organization  works closely with several workforce development and One-Stop organizations to facilitate organizational structure and capacity development for workforce professionals.

Do You Have What It Takes to Deliver a Session at the 2007 Annual Conference?

Take this self-assessment to find out:

1. Have you analyzed a performance problem in a way that provided information useful in solving it?
2. Have you used a technique that identifies the causes of a problem?
3. Have you used a unique approach to design a solution?
4. Do you use a process to develop solutions to a performance issue?
5. Have you implemented a performance solution?
6. Did you evaluate a performance solution?
7. Do you love to share information on a particular performance topic or issue?
8. Are you a Certified Performance Technologist?
9. Have you researched or developed a performance model that you have used in your work?
10. Do your colleagues or clients regard you as an “expert” on a particular topic?

If you answered, “Yes” to any of these questions, you have something to share in an educational session. Advanced degrees, years of experience, or book authorship are not requirements to be a session presenter. All you really is an idea, a process, a tool, or an experience to share and the desire to share it.

What does it take to deliver an educational session?

a) Download the Call for Proposals.
b) Follow the directions to create a session proposal.
c) Submit your proposal by August 31, 2006.
d) Notification of acceptance will be sent by mid-November 2006.
e) Register for the conference, and present your session.

What do you have to lose? The process of creating your proposal will help you evaluate your own practice and validate your work. There is the challenge of distilling your experience into information that others can understand and use. Delivering your session will help expand our field, educate others, and build your reputation. You will be a recognized as a contributing professional. Moreover, you will have fun doing it.

Do you have what it takes to deliver a session at the 2007 International Performance Improvement Conference: Performance Beyond Borders? You will never know unless you try.

I-Spy-Ku: Keep Your Cool
by Todd Packer

When performance slips
And slides downhill,
I scream for ISPIce cream.

Performance challenges can heat up suddenly, and HPT can come to the rescue to cool things down. Taking a cue from those who join the International Dairy Foods Association to celebrate July as National Ice Cream Month, we can all learn to chill out and enjoy. HPT is HOT when applied to diverse situations, from Commander Triner and Commander Morrison’s article in the ISPI Performance Improvement journal on the US Coast Guard’s acquisition of the Great Lakes Icebreaker to, well, icebreaker facilitation (and other) resources from the North American Simulation and Gaming Association. When work gets too hot to handle, take a break and learn from the champions of cool, the U.S. Olympic Team, who hone their winter sports skills with the aid of software from Dartfish and a “performance technology” department in Colorado Springs (see New Olympics Cam Also Coaches by Jeffrey Benner (2002) at Wired.com)—you can view a virtual race that compares two downhill skiers. So, whether you use ICE to improve customer service for the U.S. Department of Defense (Interactive Customer Evaluation), also featured on The Army Homepage for Quality Management & Innovation, or you just like to watch ice grow in snowflake movies with the help of Kenneth G. Libbrecht, Chairman of the Physics Department at California Institute of Technology, you can get a taste for the power of slowing down, focusing on performance, and sweet success.

Any listing is for informational purposes only and does not indicate an endorsement either by ISPI or myself. I hope you find these resources useful, and your feedback is greatly appreciated.

When he is not Internet trawling for ISPI, Todd Packer can be found improving business, non-profit, government, and individual performance through research, training, and innovation coaching as principal consultant of Todd Packer and Associates, LLC, based in Shaker Heights, Ohio. For sample articles on performance innovation and additional information, visit www.toddpacker.com. Todd may be reached at tp@toddpacker.com.

2006-2007 Research Grant Program: Call for Proposals

ISPI through its Research Committee is interested in awarding grants for research related to performance improvement. Such research may include, but is not limited to, investigations that contribute to the understanding, discovery, application, and validation of performance technology principles, theoretical underpinnings, and practices.

To promote the application of sound research, preference will be given to either:

1. Dissertations that are near completion that will extensively elaborate on the application of their findings to real-life performance problems or opportunities. This may take the form of a rigorous, yet practitioner-friendly, report of how the findings were applied in an authentic setting, the results achieved, the obstacles encountered, and recommendations for future practice.
2. Applications of previously conducted research findings (conducted by applicant or other individual). This may take the form of a rigorous, yet practitioner-friendly, report of how the findings were applied in an authentic setting, the results achieved, and the obstacles encountered and further recommendations for future practice.

The research used for these applications does not have to be directly related to performance improvement. Research from related fields can also be used, provided they are being applied to solve performance problems or take advantage of performance opportunities.

Consideration will also be given to original research, the importance of which is of great value to the performance improvement field. Of particular interest would be non-training interventions.

Proposals Due: July 14, 2006
Awards Announced: September 1, 2006

Click here to download and view the full RFP for details and guidelines, or contact the Research Committee Chair, Ingrid Guerra-Lopez, at iguerra@wayne.edu.

Best Practices and Lessons Learned
by Liliane Lessard, CPT, Chair of the Programme Committee, ISPI Montreal 2006 Conference

Join us in downtown Montreal, September 28-29, for our Fifth ISPI Regional Conference! This year’s theme is Perfecting Performance: Best Practices and Lessons Learned.

If you have never been to Montreal, this is a wonderful opportunity to discover our city! If you have visited us before, why not come back to attend our conference, pursue your professional development, earn some CPT re-certification points, and enjoy the ambiance of this unique area. In a lively and welcoming environment, the conference line-up features:

• Interactive Strategies for Improving Performance: Best Practices, a pre-conference full-day workshop by Thiagi, ISPI’s own master of all things magical.  Thiagi will focus on Designing Interactive Strategies then Conducting Training Games and Activities.
• Not Knowing What We Don’t Know: When Best Practice is Only the Tip of the Iceberg. This is the Keynote address by Richard Clark, CPT, professor of Educational Psychology and Technology, University of Southern California—a major contributor to our field.
• 12 concurrent sessions by an impressive roster of local and international presenters on best practices in analysis, online training, communication tools, and competencies.
• Student poster session.
• Plus, a closing event by Thiagi!

Our program will captivate you. For more information, click here. You do not speak French? No worries! The majority of our sessions are in English, so language is not an issue. Our registration fees are extremely attractive, and you can register online.

Montreal is truly an experience: old world charm, French joie de vivre, and a modern style all of its own. Check out these two websites for a taste of what our city has to offer: http://ville.montreal.qc.ca and www.tourisme-montreal.org.

The members of the Board of ISPI Montreal and of the 2006 Conference Committee are looking forward to welcoming you to Montreal and will gladly answer your questions: conf2006.info@ispi-montreal.qc.ca.

ISPI Visits the Windy City

Combine your next professional development opportunity with some fun. From July 25-27, 2006, the city of Chicago, Illinois, will host baseball (White Sox vs. Minnesota Twins), ISPI, and you. Are you trying to achieve systematic, measurable, and reproducible performance improvement within your organization? Do you have all the tools to accomplish your performance improvement goals?

Optimize your organization’s investment in human capital and achieve systematic, measurable, and reproducible performance improvement by attending ISPI’s practical, hands-on, results-oriented Principles and Practices of Performance Improvement Institute.

Principles and Practices of Performance Improvement is the premier learning event for those ready to acquire the mindset and skills so critical in today’s business climate. Participants apply the skills of performance consulting and the techniques introduced in this educational program to diagnose performance improvement opportunities and prescribe strategies and tactics to address them.

Read what attendees from our recent Dallas program have to say:

• I’m back at work and wanted to let you know how excited I am about the things I learned at the Principles and Practices Institute.
• The tools and job aids from the Principles and Practices Institute are great.
• In three days, I have the Performance Improvement foundations from ISPI’s Principles and Practices Institute: focus on results, take a systems viewpoint, add value, and partner with my clients. Thanks!
• The cases and the stories used in the Principles and Practices Institute are helpful in understanding the Performance Improvement fundamentals.
• The faculty practical experience and examples with the Principles and Practices of performance improvement are outstanding. Thank you!

So, what are you waiting for? Register today, come to Chicago in July, learn from experts in the field of performance improvement, and maybe take in a baseball game.

Call for Nominations to the 2007-200 ISPI Board of Directors

It is time once again for you, the ISPI membership, to determine the future direction of ISPI by nominating those members who you feel have the qualifications, experiences, and vision to lead our Society. Up for nominations this year are the President-elect (3-year term, President-elect, President, and Immediate Past President) and two Directors (2-year terms). They will join the President, three continuing Board members, and the non-voting Immediate Past President and Executive Director who make up the nine-member Board.

The duties of the Board are to manage the affairs of ISPI and determine the strategic direction and policy of the Society.

Brief Job Descriptions
President-elect
The President-elect assumes the presidency of ISPI for a one-year term at the conclusion of his or her one-year term as President-elect. The President-elect’s efforts are directed to assuming the Presidency, and assignments are designed to prepare for that transition. The President-elect serves to provide continuity of programs, goals, objectives, and strategic direction in keeping with policy established by the Board of Directors. Presidents serve on the Board for one year after their term as the Immediate Past President.

Director
Each Director on the Board serves a two-year term and is a leader in motivating support for established policy. He or she serves to develop new policy and serves to obtain support for ISPI’s programs. A Director should provide an objective point of view in open discussion on issues affecting the membership and profession. He or she should thoroughly analyze each problem considered, vote responsibly, and then support those actions adopted by majority vote.

Individually, each member of the Board is considered a spokesperson for ISPI and represents the integrity, dedication, and loyalty to established policy.

The deadline for nominations is August 30, 2006.  If you would like to nominate a member, please send the following information to nomination@ispi.org:

• The candidate’s name and contact information.
• The position for which the candidate is being nominated.
• Your name and contact information.
• A 250-word statement on the candidate’s qualifications.

If you are interested in additional information on the nominations process, or the complete job descriptions and qualifications required, click here.

Newsletter Submission Guidelines

ISPI is looking for Human Performance Technology (HPT) articles (approximately 500 words and not previously published) for PerformanceXpress that bridge the gap from research to practice (please, no product or service promotion is permitted). Below are a few examples of the article formats that can be used:

In addition to the article, please include a short bio (2-3 lines) and a contact e-mail address. All submissions should be sent to april@ispi.org. Each article will be reviewed by one of ISPI’s on-staff HPT experts, and the author will be contacted if it is accepted for publication. If you have any further questions, please contact april@ispi.org.

PerformanceXpress is an ISPI member benefit designed to build community, stimulate discussion, and keep you informed of the Society’s activities and events. This newsletter is published monthly and will be emailed to you at the beginning of each month.

If you have any questions or comments, please contact April Davis, ISPI’s Senior Director of Publications, at april@ispi.org.

ISPI
1400 Spring Street, Suite 260
Silver Spring, MD 20910 USA
Phone: 1.301.587.8570
Fax: 1.301.587.8573
info@ispi.org
http://www.ispi.org