HPT Treasures – for Evidence Based Performance Improvement
Free Resources on HPT – Human Performance Technology
The HPT Video Weekend Matinee series is intended to introduce you to the library, with over 100 videos, in the hopes that you’ll share them further into your professional networks, as you see appropriate. And if you have videos to share with us, please forward them to the site administrators.
# # #
John A. Carlisle (in Sheffield England) by Guy W. Wallace (in North Carolina USA), recorded via Skype on January 14, 2020.
We explore his background, education, career history, his work with Neil Rackham, with W. Edwards Deming, with Robert C. Parker, and others – and how he approached Performance Improvement using Win-Win Negotiations, Partnering, and Collaboration with his clients worldwide.
This video is 83 minutes in length.
I had the pleasure of working with John back in 1981/2 when I was a Training Project Supervisor at Motorola’s Training & Education Center (MTEC).
I can pretty much guarantee that you’ll find this exchange insightful.
# # #
I was part of a short email exchange last week between Roger Addison and Dick Clark – and I asked if I could share that exchange. That follows.
Over the years a new generation enters the workplace and articles are written on how each generation is different. What research has been done on these “differences”? Fact or fiction or snake oil?
My center at USC was asked this question by a large organization a few years ago. We looked at all of the evidence we could find about value, style or behavioral differences (at work and socially) between Millennials, Boomers and gen X’ers, contacted people who had studied the question and even reanalyzed data from one study to see if percentage differences between generational groups were significant statistically and/or realistically.
We found that there are clear differences in values and political beliefs but primarily at the extreme ends of the ages. For example, Millennials, Boomers and GenX’ers tend to agree on climate change and so differ from the “silent” older generations – a trend that extends across political parties (e.g. younger Republicans and Democrats have very similar views). In fact, Gen X and Millennials are very similar on all key social and political issues. There are also differences in the ownership of newer technologies (smart phones, computers) but those differences also exist only at the extreme ends of the age distribution and may be due in large part with the reluctance of older generations to part with still functioning technology and so not upgrading. We also checked on differences in gaming since our client was considering using “serious games” for training – and we found that for the span of ages at work, there were no important differences in the use of computer based games (a surprise to us).
Despite some differences in value and increased use of newer smart technologies by the two extreme ends of the age distribution, we could not find any important work, style or value differences in well-designed studies.
The bottom line in our analysis was “no differences” that are consistent or meaningful (see attached article summarizing a Booze Allen study). Some studies have found percentage differences in views or style that when examined with a sharper pencil of statistics, turn out to be unimportant.
It’s obvious that many commentators report that important differences exist. Fictional differences are often presented as warnings to organizations by consultants who offer to solve a non-problem. When the commentator suspects they are questionable or fiction and wants to profit from it, the lie deserves to be called snake oil at best, If anyone does even a quick Google search for research on the question they will see many articles describing “myths” similar to those in the Booz Allen report (attached below).
All the best,
Dick Clark
USC
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
***** ***** ***** ***** *****
Just out January 15, 2020 – here.
# # #
Carol Haig and Roger Addison have teamed to produce a column for PerformanceXpress entitled, TrendSpotters. In their column, they explain an HPT professional’s performance improvement tool and share a case for how the professional leveraged the tool to achieve a desired outcome.
In this issue, Haig and Addison share Mark Graham Brown’s Information Missing from Most Scorecards tool. Brown designed the tool to “help organizations identify where their Scorecards fall short so they can measure what is meaningful.” Haig and Addison elaborate:
Using the Information Missing from Most Scorecards tool to audit or evaluate
an existing scorecard is a valuable first step in helping an organization align what
it wants to know with the metrics best used to find out.
The tool consists of 23 questions.
At the end of the column, Haig and Addison share a link that Brown recommends. The link is to an interesting diagnostic test to help determine how your lifestyle affects your age (for example, you may be 50-year old, but your health and lifestyle seems to cause you to physically live as a 60-year old).
You can find the TrendSpotters post including the tool in the HPT Treasures website: https://hpttreasures.files.wordpress.com/2020/01/trends-mark-brown.pdf
# # #
A Huffington Post article title tells us that Research Confirms Video Improves Learning Results. According to the article, the author asked 500 learning practitioners if they believed that video improves learning outcomes. He measured respondents’ opinions of video. No learning outcomes were measured.
A recent article about why we should use video explains that the brain prefers video because it retains visual content better than text content. We know this because people remember 95% of a video message. At least this has an element of (possible) truth based on the picture superiority effect, a researched phenomenon where pictures and images are more likely to be remembered than words (but this effect is debated). But percentages like these have been debunked by many, including my friend Will Thalheimer and the percentage (95%!) was likely made up or based on made up information found elsewhere.
My point: We need to be skeptical about wild claims about video. Or simulations. Or ice cream. The devil is in the details.
*** *** *** ***
To read the rest of this article – please go here.
# # #
The HPT Video Weekend Matinee series is intended to introduce you to the library, with over 100 videos, in the hopes that you’ll share them further into your professional networks, as you see appropriate. And if you have videos to share with us, please forward them to the site administrators.
# # #
One of my big takeaways from my time working directly with the late Geary A. Rummler while I was an employee at Motorola’s Training & Education Center (MTEC) in 1981-1982 – was his Process Orientation.
To me – “Process Improvement” was key in HPT – Human Performance Technology – after Strategy and Measurement and Recruiting and Training – and many, many, many other aspects and variables of running an Enterprise.
That’s why the efforts at BPTrends have always resonated with me.
BPTrends (Business Process Trends) is run by Celia Wolf and Paul Harmon – and note that Paul once worked at Praxis – the consulting firm of Geary A. Rummler and Thomas F. Gilbert – way back in the day.
Several ISPI folks have been contributors to BPTrends over the years – including me – and Roger Addison, Carol Haig, Fred Nickols, Carol Panza, Alan Ramias, Chris Ramias, Geary Rummler, and Cheri Wilkins.
See all of the contributors to BPTrends – here.
Here are my first two contributions … from 2003 and then 2005…
Click on graphic for a 17 page PDF…
Click on graphic for a 9 page PDF…
For more of my BPTrends contributions – please go here.
# # #
