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Human Performance Improvement Roots
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The extraordinary experiences voiced by such pioneers as Paul Elliott, Joe Harless; Harless Performance Guild, B.F. Skinner , Tom Gilbert, Dennis Mankin, Dale Brethower, Alyce Dickinson, Dr. W. Edwards Deming, and Bill Scherkenbach influenced my passion for improving human performance cost-effectively. Their influence stoked my ambition to explore new ways of influencing performance and improving change management processes. This enduring fascination set in motion a journey which has endured for many years after I first met Joe Harless. My commitment to the field of human performance technology and its many pioneer heroes who captured my imagination has never varied. My love affair for this passionate and important field stands undiminished. I completed my first front-end analysis more than twenty-five years ago and have since learned a great deal. More than twenty-five years later I have completed more than two hundred performance improvement projects on which my reputation and wonderful career has long been established. I have never forsaken my principal inspiration; what separates my efforts from those of my contemporaries is my level of passion for making things better. My understanding and appreciation for these pioneers is considerable. The sincere efforts in all my client projects has given new light to the important works of many of the pioneers in my field. The following list represents a few more of the people that I have learned a great deal from over my career. I have spent extensive study time with many of these leaders over the years. Each have tremendously influenced my learning in the field of Human Performance Improvement and I very much appreciate their influence in my life and my work. Dr. Paul Elliott Paul H. Elliott is the President of Exemplary Performance, LLC [EP] based in Annapolis, Maryland. Dr. Elliott's expertise is in the analysis of human performance, the design of interventions that optimize human performance in support of business goals, and strategies for transitioning from training to performance models. Dr. Elliott assists organizations in performance analysis, instructional design, product and process launch support, design of advanced training systems, and the design and implementation of integrated performance interventions. Prior to starting EP, Dr. Elliott was a Fellow with Saba Software of Redwood Shores, CA. There he provided thought leadership in both the services and product strategy of the company. From 1995 through 2001, Dr. Elliott was President of Human Performance Technologies, LLC, a leading provider of methodologies and training for performance consultants. HPT was formed upon the retirement of Dr. Joe Harless, a founder of the field of human performance, and was the exclusive source for the methodologies and training he had developed. From 1988 through 1995, Dr. Elliott was Vice President of RWD Technologies. He consulted on approaches to improve human performance across diverse industries, which included telecommunications, financial services, automotive manufacturing, chemical and petroleum processing, advertising, and consumer products. Dr. Elliott served on the Board of Directors of the American Society of Training and Development [ASTD] (1993 - 1995) and was recognized as External Technical Trainer of the Year by that organization (1994). In 1996, Dr. Elliott served as Executive-in-Residence for ASTD where his focus was on the paradigm shift from training to performance and its implications for that professional organization. Dr. Elliott received his Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the University of Illinois (1975). His M.S. is in Instructional Technology from Syracuse University (1972) and his B.A. is in Psychology from Rutgers University (1970). Dr. Elliott frequently presents at various national and international conferences. A keynote presentation, entitled Moving from Wants-based to Results-based Performance, was delivered at ASTD’s first Performance Summit in 2004. He has published multiple articles in journals, including an article entitled “Power-Charging People’s Performance” in the December 1996 Training and Development. Recent publications include the chapter on ‘Assessment’ in Moving From Training to Performance, edited by Dana Gaines Robinson & James C. Robinson (ASTD & Berrett Koehler, May 1998), ‘Job Aids’ in the Handbook of Human Performance Technology, edited by Harold Stolovitch and Erica Keeps (ISPI & Jossey-Bass, March 1999) and ‘Job Aids’ in Performance Intervention Maps, edited by Ethan S. Sanders and Sivasailam “Thiagi” Thiagarajan (ASTD and ISPI, September 2001). You can contact Dr. Paul Elliott at; info@exemplaryperformance.com. ; telephone 410.266.8400 _____________________________________ Dr. Joe Harless "The world’s first and foremost leader in the field of Performance Technology. Joe Harless, a member of the prestigious Human Resources Development Hall of Fame, designed and developed human performance workshops that have revolutionized business results. Often referred to as the "trainers trainer," Joe Harless has received the coveted Member for Life award from the National Society for Performance and Instruction (now the International Society for Performance Improvement). For more than 30 years Joe Harless headed the Harless Performance Guild, a network of organizations and consultants who use his concepts and procedures to help business, industry, and the military improve the performance of their employees. He is generally recognized as one of the founders of the relatively new field of Human Performance Technology. Joe is the author of the acclaimed Accomplishment Based Development Systems (ABCD), that has been installed in the educational departments of numerous organizations in the U.S. and Canada. The ABCD System is widely recognized as state-of-the-art in instructional development.His most recent writing, the Peak Performance System , is a massive work that provided detailed job guidelines for analysis, design, and development of a wide range of interventions to improve people performance. His latest book is "The Eden Conspiracy" is the first of a series of commentaries on societal problems and needs. This book presents methodologies to cause dramatic improvement in your children’s schooling. a common-sense approach for local educational reform by one of the nation’s leading experts in human development. The Eden Conspiracy is the first of a series of commentaries on societal problems and needs. Joe has received the Gilbert Distinguished Professional Achievement award from the International Society for Performance Improvement in 1996, and was elected to the Human Resources Development Hall of Fame in 1998. Recently retired from active management of his company, Joe now devotes his time to reflection and research. I have been a colleague and student of Joe Harless for more than twenty years.
Interview: What is Performance Technology? Finding cost-effective ways to help people perform their jobs better. Some synonyms of PT are performance consulting, performance engineering, and performance quality improvement. Real-World Example of Performance Technology: Performance Technology is used when you are creating an entirely new job for a new function that didn't exist before. The most frequent use of PT is the diagnosis of problems of existing jobs. For example, someone isn't selling enough product. Why? How would you know that someone was doing PT well? You would look at their accomplishments. Also you would look for a variety of outputs, such as feedback systems, job aids, work process reengineering documents, and a low frequency of training interventions.
Most Commonly Used Interventions Are: Training programs, Most Commonly Used Interventions Should be: Feedback systems, Work process redesign, and Job aids
Gilbert, T. (1978). Human competence: Engineering worthy performance. New York: McGraw Hill. Performance Improvement Quarterly, 8 (2) [Special issue]. Stolovitch, H., & Keeps, E. (Eds.). (1992). A handbook of performance technology. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.
To see the outputs from using Joe's model click on this web site: http://www.gacec.com/index.cfm?section=about&subsection=executiveSummary ; Central Educational Center, a national Model High School in Newnan, Coweta County, Georgia (just southwest of Atlanta on I-85). _______________________________________ B.F Skinner (March 20, 1904 – August 18, 1990), Ph.D. was professor of psychology at Harvard University and is considered the dean of American behaviorists. He was a highly influential American psychologist, author, inventor, advocate for social reform and poet. He was the Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology at Harvard University from 1958 until retirement in 1974. He invented the operant conditioning chamber, innovated his own philosophy of science called Radical Behaviorism, and founded his own school of experimental research psychology — the experimental analysis of behavior. His analysis of human behavior culminated in his work Verbal Behavior, which has recently seen enormous increase in interest experimentally and in applied settings. He discovered and advanced the rate of response as a dependent variable in psychological research. He invented the cumulative recorder to measure rate of responding as part of his highly influential work on schedules of reinforcement. In a recent survey, Skinner was listed as the most influential psychologist of the 20th century. He was an incredibly prolific author, publishing 21 books and 180 articles. "The methods of science have been enormously successful wherever they have been tried. Let us then apply them to human affairs." B.F. Skinner ________________________________________ Dr. Tom Gilbert An early mentor, who showed many of us that teaching could be approached as a science; and who taught us to concentrate on outputs before considering processes; and who was a model for the idea that we make progress when we challenge current paradigms, despite the slings and arrows that are sure to follow. Dr. Gilbert is often referred to as the "Father of Performance Technology." He is in the Human Resource Development Hall of Fame and author the "Human Competence": Engineering Worthy Performance. Thomas F. Gilbert holds a Ph.D degree in psychology and served on the faculties of several universities , including Harvard and the University of Georgia. In 1961 he orginated a system for designing instructional systems, called "amthetics." In 1967 he founded the Praxis Corporation, devoted to improving human performance in industry, government, and education. Dr. Gilbert is a recognized leader in his field and was voted the first Honorary LIfe Member of the National Society for Performance and Instruction. _________________________________________ Dennis has an extensive professional background, including 25 years in senior management and consultative positions working in business consulting, executive coaching, sales and Human Performance Technology (HPT). He is Certified Performance Technologist (CPT), project manager and facilitator and educator of HPT processes. He has demonstrated skills and expertise in assisting companies in meeting and exceeding aggressive and competitive organizational goals and improving overall business results through HPT processes. Platinum Performance Group (PPG) –
Managing Partner www.ppg-us.com _________________________________________ Dr. Dale Brethower Professor of Psychology, Western Michigan University and President of ISPI. Mr. Brethower has been a major influence, model, and inspiration for me in applying Performance Technology and Performance-Based Instruction. _____________________________________ I work with Dr. Alice Dickinson; Ph.D.; Department of Psychology; Western Michigan University to provide opportunities for teams of graduate students to apply their classroom instruction with actual projects in the work environment. I continue to learn a great deal from Dr. Dickinson about human performance. I am blessed to work with her on projects to help the next generation of Human Performance Improvement practitioners and consultants prepare for the future. _____________________________________ Dr. W. Edwards Deming taught many of us about work process and much more about Systems Thinking and what motivates people at work. Dr. Deming was an internationally renowned consultant whose work led Japanese industry into new principles of management and revolutionized their quality and productivity. Dr. Deming developed 14 points for management that has been adopted by numerous business organizations throughout the world. _______________________________________ Bill Scherkenbach is responsible for guiding the implementation of Dr. Deming’s philosophies, including statistical management methods, throughout General Motors and Ford Motor Company worldwide. For any questions, comments, concerns, work requests, or to schedule in-house workshops please send email to: doug@dougmead.com, |
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