Are We Too Process Focused?

by Donald T. Tosti, CPT, PhD

Don't get me wrong. I think processes are very important. My colleagues and I have worked on many process improvement efforts ranging from how to complete paperwork on loans to the complex decision process involved in making commercial and agricultural loans. We have analyzed how to lay a good welding bead and how to operate a Bradley IFV.

However, processes are but one aspect of performance and, as important as they are, they often make a relatively small contribution to organizational variance. Other factors—such as leadership and culture, for example—often have equal or greater impact on organizational results. Most processes are internal and have limited effect on perceived customer value and, hence, make a limited contribution to the key organizational result of revenue.

Just as you cannot cost cut your way to success, you cannot just get there with a focus on process improvement alone. A recent powerful example of this is what has happened to Motorola, one of the pioneers in process improvement and the founder of Six Sigma. The company lost $37 billion in value in only 18 months. There were many factors involved, but Motorola has lost much of its competitive edge in the marketplace. No doubt their heavy investment in process improvement was valuable, but an additional investment in creating a more innovative culture might well have allowed the company to keep up with the competition.

We undertook a performance analysis of what constitutes an innovative company about 10 years ago. We found that innovation did not lie in the sophistication of a company’s technology nor in the quality of their processes. People were the key to innovation—the culture of the organization. We identified 25 critical behavioral practices that made a difference. These included such things as “making on-the-spot decisions when necessary without the approval of higher management,” and “putting the customer's needs ahead of the administrative and bureaucratic requirements of the organization.” These were just a few of the behaviors that made a significant difference. And we could use human performance technology (HPT) methodologies to increase the company’s proficiency in these practices.

A few years back, my colleague Bob Carleton and I were asked to help develop a new and more efficient product development process for an electronic equipment manufacturer. To cut down on cycle time, we designed a process that involved a number of concurrent activities. However, people were not used to working this way. In pilot tryouts we heard reactions like “I know we committed to do that, but a higher priority came along.” Or “Those design engineers are so arrogant, they’re impossible to work with.” Or “The finance guy we sent went native, and we’re not so sure we can trust him now. He isn’t one of us.”

Our response was to develop a set of cultural practices to accompany each of the process steps. When we rolled out the program, members of the new concurrent product development team learned about their part of the process but also got feedback on how well they demonstrated the critical cultural practices relevant to making the process work. The difference in behavior and reaction was dramatic and the new process was a success.

Unfortunately too many organizations and too many HPT professionals sometimes appear to be fixated on process to the exclusion of other important factors, even to the point of dismissing them—for example, “culture is just a fuzzy concept; you cannot really deal with it.”. Culture, in fact, is behavior—and HPT has some very powerful principles and tools for dealing with behavior.

Some people have justified an emphasis on process by characterizing it as ”the anatomy of the organization.“ But if you were ill, would you want a doctor who said, “I only deal with anatomical problems?” HPT is far broader than that; it looks at the whole performance system and the organization’s relation to its marketplace, its business environment, and society.

Donald T. Tosti, CPT, PhD, a consistent contributor to PerformanceXpress, is the founding partner of Vanguard Consulting. He has been a recognized expert in performance-based approaches to organizational effectiveness for three decades. Don has received ISPI’s top two honors: Member for Life and the Thomas F. Gilbert Award. He also served as ISPI president in 2004–2005. He has been involved in a wide range of organizational alignment and change programs for companies in the United States, Middle East, and Europe. Don has also written numerous books and articles on human performance and its application in today’s business world. He may be reached at Change111@aol.com.

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TrendSpotters: Perceptual Position Model

by Carol Haig, CPT, and Roger Addison, CPT, EdD

Edward Muzio, CEO of Group Harmonics in Albuquerque, New Mexico, is our guest this month. His company offers curriculum design, training development and deployment, analytical assessment of human capabilities, team initiation and productivity maintenance, job definition, and pre-hire candidate assessment. Techniques used analytically highlight specific, measurable aspects of individuals and teams to develop performance improvement strategies. You may know Ed, ed@groupharmonics.com, as a recipient of ISPI’s 2008 Award for Outstanding Human Performance Communication for his book Four Secrets to Liking Your Work. He contributes his Perceptual Position Model, adapted from that book, to the TrendSpotters Open Toolkit.

Genesis of the Model

The Perceptual Position Model is derived from Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), which is likely familiar to many readers. NLP is the study of how thoughts, words, and actions interrelate, and how the relationships formed among them can be used to understand and replicate the performance of exemplars. It has been refined over the years to maximize the value of the information derived from using it.

The model is used for the opening exercise in Four Secrets to Liking Your Work because it helps readers see their situation from a different perspective. Ed teaches the model to his own clients so that they can experience and understand how each of the four positions changes their perception a situation and opens new possibilities. The model can also help performance improvement practitioners strategize approaches to their clients.

Perceptual Position Model Description

The model is used to better define a situation, understand possible options, the potential successes, and pitfalls of each. There are four perceptual positions across the top of the grid to consider as the user explores his or her situation:

• Self (Me)
• Other (You)
• Observer of the Interaction (between Me and You)
• Observer of the System (the Organization, Environment)
  

The user describes and then writes of the experience of each of the four positions in terms of actions, thoughts, emotions, and information available. Then the user captures both the Me and You position’s perception of objectives, needs/wants, pressures/stressors, and environmental factors as they relate to the situation.

By putting himself or herself in each of the positions to explore, the user uncovers different views, new information, and a broader understanding of events and choices. Ultimately, the user makes decisions that are more informed, changes his or her behavior or approach, or otherwise improves on current conditions.

How to Use the Model

Ed encourages us to stand up and use the Perceptual Position Model with physical anchors because moving from position to another actively changes our perception:

• Place three pieces of paper, numbered 1, 2, and 3, on the floor to form a large triangle.
• Place a fourth piece of paper, numbered 4, a short distance away.
• Add a fifth piece of paper in the center of the triangle with a statement of the situation, problem, or challenge you are exploring and the result(s) you seek.
• Stand in the 1 (Me) position, face* the 2 position, and state your experience and perceptions of the situation, problem, or challenge; write them in the appropriate boxes in the model.
• Move to the 2 (You) position, face* the 1 position, and be the other person, looking at yourself, noting this other person’s experience and perceptions.
• In the 3 (Observer of the Interaction) position, face* both positions 1 and 2 equally and describe what you “see,” noting your observations on the matrix.
• Finally, in the number 4 position (Observer of the System), stand away from the triangle and face* the entire system writing your perceptions in the spaces on the matrix.

*Note: In “Facing” the various positions, do not look down. Instead, face the location of the paper and imagine that the appropriate party is located in that space.

See the sample of a completed matrix to get a better idea of what to expect. It is likely that you will not have information for every square in the matrix and that you will spend more time in some squares than in others. The goal is not to complete every square, but to discover new resources, information, and strategies to improve the outcome of the situation.

Ed often finds that people are willing to “think through” the positions but not to use the physical process described above. He challenges us to get out of our chairs, because in his experience the physical exercise produces far more detailed and useful insights than a purely mental one.

Success Story

Ed facilitated a colleague through the Perceptual Position Model to help her plan an initial meeting with a prospect who was also a personal friend. By standing in the “shoes” of each of the four positions, and responding to the applicable experiences and perceptions, Ed’s colleague discovered that she was attributing some of her own views and needs to the prospect rather than separating them. The model helped to differentiate knowledge from assumptions and she arrived at different strategies with which to approach the interaction. Ultimately, the meeting plan and the meeting itself resulted in a successful engagement with the prospect.

Advice to Users of the Perceptual Position Model

Ed tells us that having a facilitator greatly enhances the results from the Perceptual Position Model and suggests that first-time users enlist the help of a colleague for this role. Alternatively, if you facilitate a colleague or client through the model; both of you will learn a great deal. The model is suitable for a variety of situations ranging from exploring the suitability of an employee for a specific job to working through a problem confronting a client. It is also suitable for examining group or alignment situations where different views can be identified and explored. The positions can represent groups, rather than individuals.

Links to the Performance Technology Landscape

The Perceptual Position Model supports these principles of performance technology:

Application Exercise

Ask a coworker to facilitate you through the model, or you facilitate your coworker, to do one of the following:

• Prepare for a challenging meeting
• Enhance a client partnership
• Explore the perspective of your audience for an upcoming presentation

The insights you get from the different perceptual positions will enhance your understanding of the situation and enable you to be more effective.

TrendSpotters Open Toolkit

Visit the TOT to view a valuable array of tools and models that you can download for your use. In addition, you may browse all the past TrendSpotters interviews published since March 2002.

You may contact Carol Haig at carolhaig@earthlink.net or at http://home.mindspring.com/~carolhaig; and you may contact Roger Addison at roger@ispi.org.

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Connecting People, Processes, and the Organization: Can You Afford Not To?

With just 15 days until the early bird deadline of August 15, it is important for you to register and add September 24-27 to your professional development calendar. You do not want to miss ISPI’s Achieving Business Results through Performance Improvement: Connecting People, Processes, and the Organization Fall Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Our lineup of expert speakers represents a who’s who in the field of performance improvement: our Keynote presenter Rodger Stotz, Geary Rummler, workshop presenter Robert O. Brinkerhoff, John Swinney, Donald Tosti, workshop presenter Lynn Kearny, Roger Kaufman, Diane Gayeski, Dale Brethower, and Judy Hale, to name a few.

To learn more about our upcoming event, watch a free preview webinar featuring ISPI's Roger Addison and Judy Hale along with Fall Conference presenter Donald Tosti.

Get answers to the following questions:

• What is the schedule of events?
• What are the registration costs to attend the 2008 Fall Conference, HPT Institute, and pre-conference workshops?
• How does taking the CPT Workshop prepare me to apply for certification?
• What is the difference between a symposium and a clinic?
• What is a Cracker Barrel session?
• Am I eligible for ISPI member pricing if I join at the time of registration?

Click this link to access our free informational webinar: www.bostonconferencing.com/ispi/hn7z7HwJqn4D.

Our program in packed full of learning, participation, and networking. To offer participants a more intimate experience, attendance is limited, so register today! For more information, visit www.ispi.org/Fall2008.

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From the Board
“One Society” Building a Closer Relationship Between Chapters and the Society

by Paul R. Cook, CPT, ISPI Director

In 1962 the National Society for Programmed Instruction was founded when several chapters pooled their resources and created a national organization. From the beginning, our chapters have been the foundation of our society. Of course, there have been some changes, as our technology has progressed, our name changed (several times), and our relationship with our chapters evolved. Over the years, many members of our society got their start in a local chapter. It is the place where they got their first introduction to human performance technology, their first opportunities to contribute to the field and the place where they became part of a professional family with personal and professional relationships that have endured for years. Chapters have been a key element in our past success and are a key element in our future success.

As part of our efforts to develop ISPI as the "Where Knowledge Becomes Know-How" place for all things involving human performance, we are embracing the “one society” concept in regard to our chapters. The idea is to ensure our chapters are the local expression of ISPI—whether located geographically in a city or country, focused on a special segment of our field, or existing virtually in cyberspace. Chapters will continue to do all the great things they have been doing for years.Now we want to add a closer more supportive relationship. This will mean mutual membership, collaborative marketing, program and operational interaction, with more professional staff and volunteer support. The goal is to achieve our Society‘s vision that “…members have the proficiency and insight to customize human performance technology (HPT) to meet the needs and goals of their organizations and clients, so that members are recognized as valued assets.”

As you read this, the ISPI staff is working with Jim Craumer, chair of the volunteer Chapter Partnership Committee and his team, and myself as Board liaison to develop a new chapter/society service agreement to define this new relationship. Our plan is to pilot this with a few chapters in the fall with a planned rollout to all chapters in April 2009.

We are eager to get started and as the first step we encourage all chapters to take immediate advantage of the services already available:

• The 2008 Chapter Health Survey, which provides a wealth of benchmarking data, can be downloaded at the Chapter Partnership Committee website: www.ispi.org/ispi-cpc. The CPC will lead a discussion open to all chapter leaders on Tuesday, August 12, at 1:00 pm U.S. Eastern Time. Contact Francis George, francisg@ispi.org for conference call information.
• Chapter events can be promoted on ISPI‘s website. Contact francisg@ispi.org to post your events.
• ISPI will deliver an email message promoting your chapter’s educational event to International members in your area. Contact francisg@ispi.org for additional details.
• Chapter Leadership Workshop, April 15, 2009, at THE Performance Improvement Conference. This free daylong workshop is open to all current and aspiring chapter leaders and covers membership growth and retention, leadership development, program support, and an opportunity to network with Society leaders. Contact Jim Craumer, CPC Chair, at 707.765.7745 or James.H.Craumer@uscg.mil to learn more.

In 2012 the International Society for Performance Improvement will be 50 years old, and we intend that our chapters will be as vital and involved in the life of this society as they were when they created it 1962.

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Shaping ISPI’s Future

Call for Nominations to 2009-2011 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 September 15, 2008.  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.

2009 Honorary Awards

Each year, ISPI presents 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: James A. Pershing, CPT, PhD, Thomas F. Gilbert Distinguished Professional Achievement Award: Diane M. Gayeski, PhD, and the Distinguished Service Award: Jean Strosinski, CPT. The deadline to receive nominations is October 27, 2008. For more detailed information on the guidelines used for selecting individuals to receive these awards, click here.

Showcase Your Award-Worthy Efforts

ISPI’s Awards of Excellence program is designed to showcase the people, products, innovations, and organizations that represent excellence in the field of instructional and human performance technology. Help give your organization the recognition it deserves and join the ranks of past recipients: US Coast Guard, DIRECTV, Imperial Oil, CISCO, The Home Depot, ExxonMobil, PG&E, Discover Financial Services, and Xerox to name a few. Submissions must be received by October 27, 2008. For more details, visit: www.ispi.org/awards/2009.

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U.S. Coast Guard’s Annual HPT Workshop

From September 3-5, 2008, the U.S. Coast Guard is hosting its annual Human Performance Technology (HPT) Workshop in Williamsburg, Virginia. This educational program, regarded as a premier regional event focused on performance improvement, draws approximately 400 professionals from across the federal government, private industry, and academia. This year’s theme is the Value of Performance and features Dr. Jack J. Phillips, world-renowned expert on accountability, measurement, and evaluation, as the keynote speaker. The conference registration is FREE, and the program meets the requirements for 12 CPT points to re-certify as a Certified Performance Technologist (CPT). For more information, visit the event website: www.uscghpt.org.

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ISPI Member Spotlight
An Interview with Hilton Goldman

by Brian Johnson and Judy Hale, CPT, PhD

Welcome to ISPI’s Member Spotlight! This column focuses on our members—some you may know, some you may not. Each month, we will explore what brought them to ISPI, how they use the principles of human performance technology (HPT), and their insights into the value of membership. This month our interview is with Hilton Goldman, one of the founding fathers of ISPI, a true elder statesman.

We would like to welcome Hilton to our Member Spotlight interview. Thank you for joining us. Hilton, can you tell us how you got involved with HPT and ISPI?

Well, I was working at the headquarters of the Air Training Command, and we were directed by the headquarters in Washington, D.C., to look into “programmed instruction.” I happened to be in the position where I was serving as advisory service to the Air Training Command so that’s how I got involved.

So when you got started with this, there was no association to speak of?

That’s right.

Can you tell me how instrumental or how involved you were in the process of actually creating ISPI or National Society for Programmed Instruction (NSPI) as it was known at that time, and tell us about its origins? How did it get started?

Well, as I said, all I’m aware of is that the Air Force headquarters got interested in programmed instruction. The director for the Air Training Command headquarters looked into trying it out on a number of different courses to see how it worked, and the examples that were tried all produced savings in time and improvement in quality, so that’s how we got interested.

How did you meet Gabriel “Gabe” Ofiesh?

He worked with the headquarters Training Command at Randolph Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. He was sort of the person who was directing all this, getting it started. And as we got into it and it got more and more interesting, he decided he would go to the civilian community here in town and get a little group together who he thought would be interested in all this. And that resulted in the founding of the first chapter of NSPI (later becoming ISPI). At that time, I was stationed at Amarillo Air Force Base—one of the bases in the training command—and in 1962 we formed a little group of our own. The moment we heard Gabe had set up the founding chapter here in San Antonio, we set up our own chapter within 24 hours, making us the number two chapter, of all places, at Amarillo Air Force Base.

I understand you are still active with the chapter, and you help the chapter set up 11 programs a year. What do you see different from the people today from when you first started?

Not much, except that the people we all started out with were associated with the Air Training Command… And now it’s people from all walks of life that turn up, well, you never know where or when.

Is there anything in particular you would say to someone who is thinking of joining ISPI? Or has just joined ISPI?

You will experience a wide variety of situations where the concepts of ISPI have been applied. They produce greatly improved results.

You have been a member since the very beginning so I would say your word is to be trusted! Hilton, what I noticed in looking at your history is that you come from the test and measurement background and quality control. You taught aircraft mechanics; you developed, wrote, and evaluated training standards; and much more. You spent a significant amount of time pilot-testing new instructional techniques and were responsible for the approval of all training standards (about 800). You take a more scientific approach to your work. Is that true?

Well, that’s partly true. I don’t know how much of that applies but, at least to some extent, that’s true.

I see in your list of publications you consulted on the development of a Technical Report that later became the Handbook for Designers of Instructional Systems, contributed a chapter on “Instructional Systems Development in the United States Air Force” in the book Instructional Development: The State of the Art, ed. Bass and Dills (1984), as well as contributed to many other publications. You even co-authored the training section of Long Range Planning Projects. What are you most proud of in your career?

Well, let me put it this way: some time after the founding chapter of ISPI was formed (here in San Antonio), it didn’t get much attention and when the 25^th anniversary approached, I proposed to ISPI headquarters that the 25^th anniversary conference be held here in San Antonio. That really reinvigorated things!

So it was you who initiated that! I see that you were the conference manager for the 25^th Anniversary International Conference in 1987. Well, thank you for doing that! Did that help the chapter get back on its feet?

Yes. In anticipation of the conference, a year or two before it happened, we were getting ourselves all together again and I think we did a reasonably good job, all things considered.

Is there anything you would like to say, anything you would like to address that we have not asked you about? Anything about HPT or ISPI as an organization?

I would like to say I think the headquarters is doing a very fine job, and I’m very proud of what they’re doing.

Thank you! We are always trying to make our members proud. It is a pleasure to have you as a member after 46 years and wonderful to speak with someone of your caliber for perspective, input, and advice on where we are, where we have been, and, hopefully, where we are going.

I’m 91 years old and my memory is not great anymore but I still have fond thoughts about the beginning of our Society and profession.

Well, we appreciate what you have done and what you are doing now. Your volunteer service as chair of the conference committee for the 25^th anniversary conference is greatly appreciated and will not soon be forgotten. You may not be able to do everything you used to, but you are still an asset to ISPI and its members.

Maybe we should title the things you have pioneered as “The Goldman Standards,” like “the gold standard”!

Ha! Ha! I would like to add that I feel so honored by this happening, this interview. Thank you both very much!

Well, thank you! You were actually the inspiration for starting “Member Spotlight‘! We would not be here without you!

To learn more about Hilton, check out his resume.

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Bullies or Employee Engagement and Improved Performance: Your Choice

by Jean R. McFarland, PhD, and Bonnie F. Mattick, MA, Ed, MBA

As the only technologist for a medical researcher from England, I (McFarland in a former career) had the dubious honor of sharing a lab in a beautiful, new medical research facility with Dr. Cox. He was in his late 30s, tall and lanky with naturally curly, light red hair and somewhat resembled Vincent van Gogh before the ear came off.

Because I had been working with international researchers for several years, I was not concerned about changing to this position. In fact, I was looking forward to working with a British researcher as a new cross-cultural experience. Unfortunately, Dr. Cox was not looking forward to working with anyone new—but he had to. His current technologist, whom he highly favored, had been with him since he came to the United States to conduct research, but she and her husband planned to relocate soon to a different state.

Dr. Cox was a perfectionist who rarely smiled or said anything kind. Most of his communication amounted to instruction. Do this. Do that. So, when he planned to return to London for a week, I secretly rejoiced. Not because I thought of skipping out of work or shirking my duties, but rather because I anticipated working without his cloudy countenance hovering over the lab.

However, Dr. Cox managed to maintain his cloudy presence even in his absence. Without talking with me before leaving about projects to be addressed, he left a long list of experiments and procedures for me to complete before his return. I worked alone in that lab from 7 a.m. until 7 or 8 p.m. every day including both weekends he was away and managed to finish the evening before his return.

When Dr. Cox came into the lab the next morning and I told him I had completed the work, showing him all the detailed results, he snarled, “Impossible! No one could have done all that in one week.” He had intentionally overloaded me with work! Reflecting on that and other incidents over several months, I believe his intention was to assign more than he thought I could possibly complete, so he would have “evidence” that he could use to complain against me. Dr. Cox was a bully.

Bullying behaviors create interpersonal conflict and a negative workplace culture that decrease employee engagement. Yet, we hear from management that the employees just do not perform as well as they should no matter how hard management struggles to motivate them. Well, guess what! Constant criticism and instructions to do this and do that will not increase employee engagement and productivity. It simply creates conflict.

Conflict occurs when people are unable to relate in ways they find gratifying. In a different situation, we were asked by a company CEO to help the senior management team resolve some conflict within the team and improve their performance. We met with the team to ascertain their specific concerns. They all felt they would benefit from knowing more about the impact of behaviors in the workplace. Following our initial assessment, we suggested a variety of tools; one of them was a behavior profile inventory called the Strength Deployment Inventory (SDI), which was administered by Mattick. This is not a personality inventory; it’s an indicator of behavior and motivational traits that help predict people’s patterns of interpersonal relationships and their awareness of how they affect others.

The management team’s relationship awareness improved, so they began to recognize the bullying behavior shown by one female team member. They saw that she controlled their meetings and their communication. The rest of the team had been dealing with conflict because they were cut off from the opportunity to behave in ways that gave them self-worth. They learned how to better respond to the situation—through relationship awareness theory.

Awareness of how we relate to others—and why—is the theoretical basis of the SDI. Three basic premises support relationship awareness theory:

1. We all want to feel worthwhile.
2. Our behavior depends on two different conditions.
3. Our personal strengths can become weaknesses.

The SDI helps us to be more aware of our behaviors and reveals where we are “coming from” when things are going well for us and where we “go” when faced with conflict or stress. We learn how to manage workplace conflict by understanding these factors and identifying the boundaries of constructive conflict as opposed to destructive conflict.

Going back to the case of Dr. Cox, he was outside the boundaries of constructive conflict. Much to his surprise, he got what he wanted in terms of work completed during that week, but how long could an employee endure the stress of his bullying? Fortunately, he completed his research mission and returned to England. There was rejoicing!.

Both Jean McFarland and Bonnie Mattick are owners of their individual businesses. Together and individually, they conduct workshops and seminars, and they are both professional speakers. Jean’s PhD is in Human Resource Development and Cross-Cultural Communication. Her clients include Northwest Airlines, Toyota, General Mills, the St. Paul Insurance Companies, Cytec Industries, Solvay Pharmaceuticals, universities, and others. Jean may be reached at info@FifthDimensionStrategies.com. Bonnie holds master’s degrees in both Adult Education and Business and is a Certified Performance Technologist. Among her clients are Bank of America, the U.S. Department of Energy, Prudential Financial, Tucson Electric Power, and the Westinghouse U.S. Government Services Group. Bonnie may be reached at bmattick@qwest.net.

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The Value of a Conference:
What is the Return on My Investment?

by Don Steiner, CPT, MA, Communications Manager, 2009 Conference Committee

Throughout the year, professionals in most fields receive invitations to attend professional conferences, expositions, and conventions. Each promises to provide a learning experience, networking opportunities, and other benefits for the time and money spent. When deciding whether to attend a professional gathering, and which to attend, one can evaluate the opportunity in the same way as any other undertaking.

In the field of performance improvement consulting, evaluation is sorted into four broad categories, which we see as increasing in their level of depth and value to a business analyst in determining success. The four levels can be thought of in terms of four general questions:

1. Did the learner accept or like the activity enough to participate fully?
2. Did the learner receive and retain knowledge from the activity?
3. Did the learner do something with the knowledge that moved behavior in a desirable direction?
4. Did the change in the learner’s behavior result in a positive change in business results?

The answers to these questions (and the more detailed questions to which each will lead) help us determine the answer to the final and most important question: Did the time and money spent on the activity result in enough positive change in business results to be worth the cost of the investment?

We are currently preparing the program for THE Performance Improvement Conference 2009, hosted by the International Society for Performance Improvement, to be held in Orlando, Florida, April 19-22, 2009. (By the way, there is still time to submit a speaking proposal before the August 29, 2008, deadline.) As we develop the conference program and related activities, these questions are uppermost in our minds. As professionals in organizational development, education and training, and business performance consulting consider whether to invest the time and money to come to Orlando, these questions are also important in their analysis. The answers to the first two questions are in our control as conference planners. The answers to questions three and four will depend on how well you, as a performance professional, can take the information and contacts the conference provides and put them to work in your organization.

What are we doing to build opportunity for return-on-investment (ROI) into the conference? We have addressed each of the four levels of evaluation in our analysis of attendee needs and are developing innovative programs to provide for a successful return on the investment of time and money in attending.

The first question is, will the attendee “like” it? Will there be enough enjoyment and camaraderie to warrant coming to a physical conference, as opposed to using Internet programs and teleconferences to get information? The conference is built on the foundation of professional fellowship, with programs in place like the Community Centre, where professionals and newcomers to the field can meet, network, and hold formal and informal discussions on topics of particular interest. While the official language of the conference is English, volunteer aides will be available in the Centre with skills in other languages to help attendees who are more comfortable in a language other than English find their way and get the most out of sessions and workshops. Toastmasters International founder Dr. Ralph Smedley said that “we learn best in an atmosphere of good fellowship.” Mindful of this, we have also arranged a service in the Community Centre to create groups for dinner and evening excursions to the many attractions around the Disney World and Orlando areas.

The second question is, will the attendee learn from it? The conference is billed as THE Performance Improvement Conference because it allows you to hear from experienced practitioners in both small and large group settings, interact with the founders and principal authors in the field in social settings, and take away significant resources from the conference bookstore. Where else can you take a workshop from an expert in the morning, buy their book at noon, and get them to autograph it for you before dinner? The conference is programmed intentionally to keep breakout sizes small and provide opportunities for questions and answers, discussion, and feedback.

The answers to the third (did you change your behavior because of it) and fourth (did the change produce the desired results) questions depend largely on you, but the conference, along with resources available on ISPI’s website, www.ispi.org, offers ways to keep the information fresh, reinforce using the new learning, and build a professional network into your work environment. By creating so many opportunities for networking, the conference creates a platform for workshop instructors and breakout presenters to keep in contact with you after you return home. The ISPI website provides discussion groups where people who have met at conferences (or will soon do so) can interact, ask questions, and get new ideas for applying the principles of human performance technology to the challenges they face at work. ISPI provides the resources you need to make a difference in your business or organization by using the tools you develop at the conference and leveraging the contacts you make.

In the end, the return on your investment can be measured both in the increased confidence and efficiency with which you do your work and also in the impact your work has on the business results of your organization. The specifics of the measurement will vary, but this much we know—you will learn new and innovative techniques to isolate and quantify the return at the conference if you choose to do so!

We invite professionals in human resource development, organizational development, and performance improvement, from universities, corporations, and government organizations to join us in Orlando in April 2009. For more information and to register for the conference, visit www.ispi.org/AC2009.

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Tales From the Field
Applying the FEA and the OEM to Strategic Needs Assessment of Faith-Based Daycare

by Christina Caswell, Carlos Diaz, and Shelley A. Berg

Tales from the Field, a new monthly column, consists of reports of evidence-based performance improvement practice and advice, presented by graduate students, alumni, and faculty of Boise State University’s Instructional and Performance Technology (IPT) department.

The Field—Abundant with Opportunities to Apply IPT Tools in Business Settings!

There is a great opportunity for students to gain professional experience in the business setting. Organizations have a need for analysis of performance issues and often have lessening resources available to address these issues, while academia can offer both the resources and capability needed to conduct such analysis. Academia can offer resources through the availability of time, personnel (i.e., students), and technical expertise in the use of evidence-based tools and models. There is a natural marriage opportunity between business and academia and this narrative outlines a story of one such occurrence.

In Dr. Don Winiecki's Needs Assessment class at Boise State University, one group of students conducted a strategic needs assessment project for a local church that offers faith-based daycare services in the community.

The Performance Issue(s)

This project was initiated because the daycare did not consistently earn a monthly profit for the 2007 calendar year, and projections suggested that the daycare might continue to lose money over the next few months if the status quo continued. There had been debate among church leadership over whether the financial loss should be treated as a problem. Similarly, there had been disagreement around how to address the potential problem, as there were conflicting perspectives on the purpose and goals of the daycare. The daycare did not have a formal business plan and lacked an established vision, mission, and strategy. Because a general lack of agreed-upon direction is what the daycare’s key leaders had cited as a roadblock to determining what, if anything, must be done to improve the organization’s financial situation, it was believed that a strategic needs assessment would yield usable findings for the daycare leadership to develop a vision, mission, and strategy.

Framing the System

Two models were employed to guide the project’s data collection and analysis: an adapted form of Joe Harless’ (1973) Front End Analysis (FEA) and Roger Kaufman’s (1981) Organizational Elements Model (OEM). The FEA provided key questions that were asked of daycare leadership to understand the problem outlined above, prepare the project plan, and identify the client’s preference to address the need for an established vision (rather than conduct a financial assessment).

Planning, Data Collection, and Analysis: Documenting the Dynamics

The OEM provided a framework for identifying data collection methods and data sources (people and documents) that could be used when planning and conducting the strategic Needs Assessment (NA). An example of this is shown in Table 1.

Table 1. Data Collection Framework

The collected data were then analyzed by incorporating them into three tools to ground further analysis and NA advice in systems thinking and doing: (1) The OEM was used to identify potential strategic directions for the daycare and their corresponding supporting elements; (2) behavior over time graphs(BOTGs) were used to identify context for various performance levels over time; and (3) causal loop diagrams (CLDs) were employed to show relationships between various factors.

Project Recommendations

We discovered that many of the issues existed following a lack of systemic focus during the formative years of the daycare. It was determined we could best serve the client at this point in the process by providing stakeholders at the daycare with a “menu” of systemically oriented strategic directions they should consider, along with a map of supporting interventions that would likely be needed to support each strategic direction. With these, the stakeholders could then be guided in their use of Harless’ FEA to decide which intervention or interventions would best meet their strategic interests while maintaining a systemic focus on the daycare, its services, and its clients. In addition to this, a few overarching recommendations were made to ensure a systemic treatment of the issues now and in the future:

• Develop a business plan based on a common vision, mission, and set of strategic objectives.
• Hold off on determining whether to subsidize daycare services for low-income families until decisions are made regarding the issue of financial sustainability.
• Survey parents to identify which daycare services are most important to them, and focus on those services.
• Integrate daycare parents into the daycare board of directors.

IPT-Grounded Advice for Needs Assessment Projects

• Collect detailed data early in the project when using BOTGs and CLDs to obtain a clear and complete understanding of the systemic dynamics affecting the issues.
• Start with exploratory approaches to data collection (e.g., unstructured interviews) to gain a broad understanding of the situation and later incorporate more structured methods (e.g., surveys) to determine the extent of consensus around the issues.
• Use the OEM to ensure strategic alignment when working through an ill-structured problem and to generate practical roadmaps toward a menu of strategic directions for the client.
• Examine the external environment when analyzing a problem, as this can lead to a broader perspective of issues and ideas for possible solutions.

References

Harless, J. (1973). An analysis of front-end analysis. Improving Human Performance: A Research Quarterly, 4, 229-244.

Kaufman, R. (1981). Determining and diagnosing organizational needs. Group & Organization Studies (also, Group & Organization Management), 6(3), 212-222.

Christina Caswell is due to complete her master’s degree in Instructional & Performance Technology at Boise State University in May 2009. She currently works as a natural resource project manager in the U.S. federal government. She may be reached at ctina1166@yahoo.com.

Carlos Diaz is due to complete his master’s degree in Instructional & Performance Technology at Boise State University in May 2009. He is currently providing new business development consulting services for a software and systems management services firm in Boise, Idaho. He may be reached at cadiaz@cableone.net.

Shelley A. Berg is on the verge of finishing her master’s degree in Instructional & Performance Technology at Boise State University. She currently works as a senior instructional designer in the financial services industry. She may be reached at ShelleyAnnBerg@yahoo.com.

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Everyday Leadership: It Is an Inside Job

by Marshall Brown

David sparked a fruitful conversation around waste when he gently asked the cafeteria manager at his workplace whether food might be served without unnecessary containers or wrapping, unless requested.

Susan worked a whole year to bring a group of high school students from New Zealand to the United States to train other students in an effective form of peer mediation.

William began a weekly meeting for men at his church to fill the need for fellowship and support beyond the annual men’s retreat.

Nobody is likely to write a book about David, Susan, or William. But these everyday leaders are creating just as much impact in their workplace, family, and community as the captains of industry and politics described in the pages of New York Times bestsellers.

Indeed, the challenges and opportunities of today’s marketplace—of today’s world—require that we all step forward and lead every day, become our own captains, and find more of our own personal best to give to the world.

Leadership as a Way of Life

Too often, we believe that leadership is the domain of those with recognized authority, and the title to go with it: CEOs, association presidents, conductors, mayors.

“In a world that is changing as rapidly as this one, we need to think differently about leadership,” says Susan Collins, author of Our Children Are Watching: Ten Skills for Leading the Next Generation to Success. “Leading is not done by those few in high places, but by parents and teachers and managers and those governing—all working together to create the world that we want.”

When we dare to stand up for our beliefs or to follow through on our big dreams and ideas, when we act as though what we say and do in the world matters—matters greatly—we are leading. In other words, leadership is a way of life, an expression of our fullest and best nature, our unique gifts. And it starts on the inside.  

“Everything rises and falls on leadership,” writes John C. Maxwell, in his book The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader. “If you can become the leader you ought to be on the inside, you will be able to become the leader you want to be on the outside.”

Qualities of Leadership

Because leadership is inextricably connected to who we are deep down, every leader has a different style. Some lead with their eccentric, charismatic selves on full, charming display. Other leaders bear no banners and sound no trumpets. But the inner qualities that make for effective leadership remain constant among all types of leaders:

• Positive attitude. Leaders know they can alter their lives by altering their minds. Self-discipline, a sense of security, and confidence blossom in the presence of a positive attitude.  
• A drive for learning. From others, from opportunities, from mistakes. Those who stop learning stop growing.
• Unwavering commitment. No great leader has ever lacked commitment. True commitment requires and inspires courage, passion, focus, initiative, and responsibility.
• Communication. Sharing knowledge is essential; even more important is listening. As President Woodrow Wilson said, “The ear of the leader must ring with the voices of the people.”
• Interest in others. The best leaders thrive on helping others achieve their personal best; they are motivated by a desire for the highest good for all rather than personal glory.

Marshall Brown, a certified career and executive coach, has always had a passion for helping people find ways to live more fulfilling lives. He found that a personalized, "no nonsense" approach to coaching was the most efficient and effective way to get people on a successful life course. As a coach, Marshall helps individuals to find their passions and encourages them to move ahead in reaching their goals. His first book, High Level Resumes, reflects his successful work with hundreds of job candidates. In his organization consulting practice, Marshall’s areas of focus include facilitation of meetings, focus groups and board retreats, developing and managing successful career centers, customer service training, project and program development and management, and human resources and team development. Marshall holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University Pittsburgh and is certified by Coaches Training Institute. For additional information, he may be reached at 202.518.5811, marshall@mbrownassociates.com, or visit www.mbrownassociates.com.

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CPT News from Around the World
ISPI’s 2008 Practice and Job Analysis Survey:
Part 4 of 5

This is the fourth of a five-part report that provides results from the 2008 International Society for Performance Improvement (ISPI) Practice and Job Task Analysis Survey. The survey was designed to validate the ISPI Certification Standards and the criteria for earning the Certified Performance Technologist (CPT) designation as well as to help ISPI provide better services to you. This column featured the work done by James A. Pershing, CPT, PhD, and his students, Serdar Abaci, Simone Symonette, and Christopher Brunclik, from Indiana University.

The total number of CPTs and non-CPT ISPI members worldwide who completed the survey was 563. The first report (see the May 2008 issue of PerformanceXpress) provided descriptive data about the respondents’ demographics. The second report (see the June 2008 issue of PerformanceXpress) provided findings about how frequently the respondents apply the front-end standards (ISPI’s CPT Standards 1 through 4) and their perceptions of the standards’ importance. In the third report (see the July 2008 issue of PerformanceXpress), we provided findings about how frequently the respondents apply the analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation (Systematic Process) standards (ISPI’s CPT Standards 5 through 10) and their perceptions of the standards’ importance. In this issue, we show side-by-side comparisons between the responses of CPTs and non-CPTs of frequency and importance for all of the standards.

To ascertain how often the behaviors associated with the standards were demonstrated on the job, participants were asked to indicate how frequently they utilized each standard on a five-item Likert-type scale (5=Always, 4=Often, 3=Half the Time, 2=Seldom, and 1=Never).

Respondents’ perceptions to the importance of the performance standards in their work were measured by asking questions directly related to each standard and its criteria. Respondents indicated their view of the standards’ importance using a five-item Likert-type scale (5=Very Important, 4=Important, 3=Moderately Important, 2=Of Little Importance, and 1=Unimportant).

The following 10 figures provide the mean and standard deviation (SD) for each item on the Practice and Job Task Analysis Survey. Each figure shows the average response (mean value) to the frequency scale and reflects the average response (mean value) to the importance scale by the respondents on separate graphs.

Like with the previous reports, as you review the data for each substandard, note two factors. First, for each mean score, it is important to look at the accompanying SD value. The larger the value of the SD, the more variation among the respondents for the substandard. Second, for every substandard, the mean score for importance is larger in value than the mean score for the frequency of application. This can be interpreted as the substandard being important in the practice of performance improvement, but not always practiced in application.

In this comparison there is a small disparity between CPTs and non-CPTs. In most cases you will see there is a larger, although slight, mean for the CPTs and more likely under frequency rather than importance. In addition, in most cases, the SD is smaller for the CPTs and one could infer that CPTs are in more of a concensus regarding the standards. However, with such small differences between CPTs and non-CPTs, the questions of both statistical and practical significance arise and will be the one of the items of further analysis to be discussed in future ISPI publications.

Note: This report does not provide data captured from the open-ended questions.

Figure 1. Standard 1: Focus on Outcomes

Figure 2. Standard 2: Take a Systems View

Figure 3. Standard 3: Add Value

Figure 4. Standard 4: Work in Partnership with Clients and Other Specialists

Figure 5. Standard 5: Be Systematic—Needs or Opportunity Analysis

Figure 6. Standard 6: Be Systematic—Cause Analysis

Figure 7. Standard 7: Be Systematic—Design

Figure 8. Standard 8: Be Systematic—Development

Figure 9. Standard 9: Be Systematic—Implementation

Figure 10. Standard 10: Be Systematic—Evaluation

Next month’s issue will be the last of these reports and will examine the open-ended questions, opening recommendations, and items not addressed in previous reports.

Your Story

In October, this column will resume the practice of featuring CPTs doing impressive work. If you have a story to share, please contact Judy Hale, Director of Certification, at Judy@ispi.org.

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ISPI Career Center

The International Society for Performance Improvement’s Career Center will revolutionize how you search for jobs and source candidates! Our new job board, powered by career services leader JobTarget, makes it easier than ever for ISPI members to enhance their careers and stay connected within the performance improvement community.

ISPI’s employment marketplace distinguishes itself from generalist job boards in a number of ways:

• A highly targeted focus on employment opportunities in a certain sector, location, or demographic
• Anonymous resume posting and job application—enabling job candidates to stay connected to the employment market while maintaining full control over their confidential information
• An advanced job alert system that notifies candidates of new opportunities matching their own pre-selected criteria
• Access to industry-specific jobs—and top-quality candidates—often not seen on Monster, CareerBuilder, or HotJobs

Below you will find the most recent job postings added to ISPI’s Career Center:

American Woodmark Corporation
Training Manager, Corporate
Job Location: Winchester, Virginia, 22601
Job Type: Full-Time

Passages Northwest
Development Director
Job Location: Seattle, Washington, 98144
Job Type: Full-Time

Penn State University
Instructional Designer
Job Location: Scranton, Pennsylvania, 18504
Job Type: Full-Time

Pitney Bowes
Manager, Global Export Compliance
Job Location: Stamford, Connecticut, 06926
Job Type: Full-Time

Santa Fe Community College
Distance Learning Instructional Designer
Job Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico, 87508
Job Type: Full-Time

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ISPI’s SkillCast webinars Now Being Recorded:
Jim Hill Now Available!

With the re-launch of ISPI’s SkillCast webinars with a new vendor, Boston Conferencing, ISPI is proud to announce that you view our past SkillCast webinars at your convenience beginning with July’s presentation. If you missed the opportunity to attend Jim Hill’s “Giving Away Power” live SkillCast, you can hear the recorded session and obtain the handouts. For more information and to order this webinar, visit www.ispi.org/webcasts/past.htm. As we move forward in the coming months, all SkillCast webinars will be recorded and made available approximately 48 hours after the conclusion of the live event.

2008 Schedule of Events

• August 13, Measuring Mentoring Results with Margo Murray, CPT
• September 10, Connecting with Tomorrow’s Workforce with Diane Gayeski, PhD
• October 8, Seeing Organizations Through Business Glasses: Understanding Them the Way Your Clients Do with Kenneth H. Silber, CPT, PhD
• November 12, Accelerating Speed to Proficiency with Cognitive Learning Strategies with Marty Rosenheck, CPT
• December 10, Increasing Interactivity in Webcasts with Sivasailam “Thiagi” Thiagarajan, CPT, PhD

For more information, or to register, visit www.ispi.org/webcasts.

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Performance Marketplace

Performance Marketplace is a convenient way to exchange information of interest to the performance improvement community. Take a few moments each month to scan the listings for important new events, publications, services, and employment opportunities. To post information for our readers, contact ISPI Director of Marketing, Keith Pew at keithp@ispi.org or 301.587.8570.

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ISPI Membership: Join or Renew Today!

Are you working to improve workplace performance? Then ISPI membership is your key to professional development through education, certification, networking, and professional affinity programs.

If you are already a member, we thank you for your support. If you have been considering membership or are about to renew, there is no better time to join ISPI. To apply for membership or renew, simply 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:

• Short “I wish I had thought of that” articles
• Practical application articles
• The application of HPT
• Success stories

In addition to the article, please include a short bio (2–3 lines) and a contact email address. All submissions should be sent to johnc@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 johnc@ispi.org.

About PerformanceXpress

Feel free to forward ISPI’s PerformanceXpress newsletter to your colleagues or anyone you think may benefit from the information. If you are reading someone else’s PerformanceXpress, send your complete contact information to johnc@ispi.org, and you will be added to the PerformanceXpress emailing list.

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 John Chen at johnc@ispi.org.

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