Human Performance Technology Core Principles Practicum
An Exciting and Innovative Opportunity for All HPTers to become an exemplary Human Performance Technologist!

(Printable version - Acrobat Reader - Human Performance Technology Core Principles Practicum)

Beginning with the September 19, 2005 program and for the remainder of the 2005 – 2006 program year, the Northeast Ohio Chapter of the ISPI has developed a series of monthly programs designed to help you expand, justify, and apply your HPT skills, wherever you work, no matter what your present skill level is.

Meet once a month on Monday evenings

What will you learn?

You will learn how to:

• Identify and analyze appropriate performance improvement areas
• Implement human performance improvement projects supported by your clients, bosses, and stakeholders
• Use exemplary performers as the base for improving performance
• Identify exemplary performers and people who have the potential to be exemplary performers
• Develop interventions when there are no exemplary performers
• Apply various economic models for reducing expenses, increasing productivity, and improving learning
• Diagnose causes of performance failure
• Tailor the best remedies to each problem
• Measure any performance
• Present performance measures as economic opportunities
• Design training and non-training interventions that produce the best results
• Prove the value of your interventions

What makes this program innovative?

• There will be no formal presentations, no classroom-like behaviors
• Every program will be based on the proven principles found in Human Competence: Engineering Worthy Performance written by Tom Gilbert, the Father of Performance Improvement
• Its success depends upon:
  • Your level of participation in discussions and activities
  • Whether or not you complete your assignments
• A copy of Human Competence will be given, FREE, to every new and existing member of NEO ISPI who attends the first meeting (others may purchase it at the meeting)
• It uses a shared inquiry approach to analyzing, interpreting, evaluating, and applying the principles of Performance Technology

What can you expect at the meetings?

Each two hour meeting will explore one or more principles from Human Competence. Throughout the process, you will be asked to discuss questions about each principle such as:

• What, in general, is [the principle] about?
• What, specifically does Gilbert say about [the principle]? What are his main ideas, assertions, and arguments regarding [the principle]?
• Is [Gilbert’s assertion] true? Complete? Why do you say that? Is [Gilbert’s position/argument] logical? Why or why not? How is [the principle] relevant to your work?
• What of it? How does it apply to you? How will you have to change your behavior to begin applying this principle in your work? What barriers can you expect? What can you do to eliminate those barriers? What suggestions do you have for [a participant wrestling with a barrier]?

Each meeting will have one or more leaders. You can expect the leaders to:

• Pose questions that can be answered only in terms of Human Performance Technology
• Provide context, examples, and facilitate a common understanding of Human Performance Technology (the leaders will NOT be doing presentations)
• Allow participants time to write their ideas before sharing them
• Frequently ask participants to support their ideas with evidence from Human Competence
• Ask participants to listen to and consider the ideas of others
• Keep the group focused on the question asked at the beginning of the discussion
• Keep the group focused on the practical application of HPT
• Play Devil’s Advocate

Generally, the meetings will be governed by the following five rules:

1. Only those who have read the selection from Human Competence (assigned prior to the meeting) may take part in the discussion.
2. Discussion is limited to the selection that everyone has read.
3. All opinions should be supported with evidence from the selection.
4. Leaders may only ask questions, not answer them.
5. Leaders will encourage participants to find answers to their questions through guided investigation of the assigned section.

What will be expected of you before and after the meetings?

Before the meeting, you will be expected to:

• Read the assigned section in Human Competence
• Write questions that you have about what you read. For example, questions may be about things like:
  • Terminology
  • Confusing passages
  • Ideas that strike you as important
  • Applications, in general or specific to your situation

After the meeting, you may be asked to:

• Apply what you learned to a real situation (be prepared to share your experience at the next meeting)
• Do additional research or reading
• Read an additional section in Human Competence

What if you don’t have time to read the assignment?

There may be a time or two when you don’t have time to prepare for the meeting. Come anyway.

However, your participation will be limited to listening to the others.

We encourage you to prepare before participating because if you are not familiar with the assigned section, you will be less able to understand or judge the validity of what others are saying. And, you won’t be able to help other participants find passages for evidence, for meaning, or for additional ideas.

About the leaders

NEO ISPI has enlisted three of the area’s top performance technologists to lead the programs. They are:

Bruce first investigated the principles of improving human performance while teaching public school children. His investigations, research, and subsequent performance-based interventions resulted in significant improvement in reading, math, and writing skills in children who tested at performance levels from 3 to 6 years below “average” for their grade level. During one term, the students not only achieved the standard “average” performance grade levels, but increased performance levels by no less than three and as much as 9 grade levels.

Bruce next began applying his primitive understanding of human performance in a business setting. He found that measuring every aspect of the performance process produced data that could be used to justify or not justify the application of training interventions. The measures were also invaluable in helping him identify misapplications and mistakes. This led him to the conclusion that training was not always the most worthwhile solution to training problems.

After several years of a semi-systematic application and measurement of these self learned principles of human performance improvement and with the assistance of Tony Moore (See below), Bruce began to develop a systematic approach to Human Performance Technology based primarily on his own experience, Tom Gilbert’s writings, and Joe Harless’ Accomplishment Based Curriculum Design principles.

Bruce has applied Human Performance Technology principles to every type of performance improvement, including:

• Producing competent performers by using HPT-based training and non-training interventions that help performers achieve job accomplishments that are valuable in reaching an organization's business goals.
• Produce training and non-training interventions in manufacturing, commercial, and service organizations that have directly contributed to increased profits, lower operating costs, increased sales, higher productivity, and increased throughput working with a broad base of Fortune 500 companies and their divisions.

Tony is President of Moore Performance Improvement, Inc., a company dedicated to improving organization and employee performance through the application of performance technology.

Over the last 25 years, Tony has applied the principles of performance technology to a wide variety of jobs in a wide variety of industries. His interventions have been used:

• To diagnose and treat children in third world countries
• In the construction of the space shuttle
• To design, install, maintain, and troubleshoot automation systems
• In the troubleshooting and repair of a global telecommunications network
• To improve the performance of call centers
• To improve the performance of a wide variety of manufacturing processes
• To combat malaria and STD/HIV in 3 rd world countries

Tony’s redesign of existing, traditional, training typically:

• Reduces the length of the training by 60 to 80%
• Produces employees who out perform incumbents by as much as 200%

Tony was a member of the Harless Performance Guild for ten years. During that time, Harless used Tony to:

• Conduct HPG workshops
• Work with HPG clients
• Evaluate and revise HPG workshops including:
  • The Accomplishment Based Curriculum Development system
  • The Peak Performance System (the world’s first comprehensive and systematic application of performance technology

Tony was also privileged to know Tom Gilbert. At the 1994 conference, Tom asked Tony to collaborate with him on a revision of Tom’s book, Human Competence. Tom died in 1995. The revision was never completed.

Sponsored by Joe Harless, Tony was one of the earliest practitioners of performance technology to be awarded the designation of CPT by ISPI.

Tony is the Deputy Chair for ISPI’s Awards of Excellence committee.

Molly Feiklowicz

Molly is Harless trained in Basic Instructional Design and Advanced Instructional Design. She spent the majority of her career at Ohio Bell/Ameritech.

Two of Molly’s most significant achievements are:

• The design and development of a Performance Management System for a Fortune 500 company that was experiencing retention problems in the IS Department; by applying Human Performance Technology principles, she convinced the client that managers needed to apply consistent developmental and measurement techniques to assure the employees were meeting standards
• Reducing a 14 week classroom training course to 1 week classroom, learning to use the job aid designed for the job performance, followed by on-the-job mentoring of an actual work project; this approach resulted in immediate productivity and higher levels of expertise

Molly is a proponent of using On-The-Job training and job aids as learning sources when appropriate rather than classroom training.

Agenda:
5:30 - Networking
6:00 - Light Meal and Beverages
6:30 - 8:30 - Program

Register
Contact Jim Poole - jpoole@polaris.edu to make reservations.