April, 2000
Volume 39 / Number 4
April 2000
Special Issue
"The Profession of Performance Improvement"
page 7
Human Performance Technology: Research and Theory to Practice
by Harold D. Stolovitch
Human performance technology (HPT) is a growing and flourishing field of professional practice. However, many HPT academics and serious professionals are voicing increasing concern about the lack of attention practitioners pay to scientific theory and research in their daily activities. Time pressures and bottom-line focus demand rapid responses from HPT practitioners who feel that they seldom have the breathing space to draw from theory and research writings. This article theorizes that research and theory are not only
relevant within this high-pressure context, but are critical to successful practice. Readers will derive from its content at least three new ideas that will more than compensate for the time invested in reading it. The article presents a "hit-or-myth" game that challenges conventional wisdom in HPT practice and proposes a series of principles for the HPT community to live by.
page 17
A Scientific Dialogue: A Performance Accomplishment Code of Professional
Conduct
by Ryan Watkins, Doug Leigh, and Roger Kaufman
A great deal of professional dialogue in recent years has been dedicated to standards of ethics and integrity for performance improvement/performance accomplishment specialists. This article seeks to augment this rich literature by suggesting a code of professional conduct by which to integrate responsible, practical, and pragmatic ethics into the day-to-day activities of both consultants and clients. By measuring success based on measurable demonstrations of value added for both internal and external stakeholders, both consultants and their clients can better ensure that they are contributing toward the results required by internal associates, work teams, the organization itself, and externally by society. A commitment to such an approach to business is necessary if we as a profession are to be able to make defensible data-based decisions regarding the interventions, policies, and solutions we select, recommend, implement, and/or evaluate for organizations.
page 23
Getting Serious About Results and Payoffs: We Are What We Say, Do, and
Deliver
by Roger Kaufman and Ryan Watkins
The increasing responsibilities of professionals for the results, consequences, and payoffs of their activities have led us into a new era of professionalism. For the performance professional, this era requires a renewed focus on the scientific basis for decisionmaking, the systematic approach to performance improvement and technology, and a consistency in language that leaves no confusion regarding the value added for individuals, organization, and society. This article provides a model for defining and achieving success in the future through a glossary of terms that focuses on the results and payoffs for internal and external clients instead of the process, activities, and interventions we commonly apply.
page 33
Integrating Theory, Research, and Practice in Human Performance Technology:
Examples from Behavioral, Cognitive, and Constructivist Theories
by Dale M. Brethower
Connections among theory, research, and practice add value throughout the value chain for human performance technology. Theory, research, and practice require data collection relevant to specific questions. Practice inquiry involves questions such as: Is there a performance gap? Is closing the gap a good use of organizational resources? Who are the stakeholders? Research inquiry involves questions such as: How many examples are optimal for conceptual learning? What are the essential variables necessary to support high levels of performance? Theory inquiry involves questions such as: Given two theories that account for the bulk of the research findings, which does so more simply? Does behavioral theory account for findings a, b, and c in the motivational research literature? Differences in theory make a difference in practice only when theories lead to different practice guidelines that are validated by research findings. Examples of apparent differences in theory are presented that support the argument that many differences are differences in language but not substance.
page 44
Science and Research Applications in Operational Environments
by Rob Foshay
Many HPT practitioners believe that research is not feasible as part of their professional practice. But research is possible. Quantitative and qualitative methods each have their place in reflective HPT practice/research. Quantitative methods involve measurement of inputs and outcomes or products, identified using functional behavior analysis. Qualitative methods involve use of ethnographic techniques such as observing, interviewing, and document analysis. When combined in an effective plan for action research, these methods help assure the client a truly cost-effective intervention, while case studies based on the data collected can advance the field of HPT.
page 48
A Proposal for the Collaborative Development of Authentic Performance
Technology
by Richard E. Clark and Fred Estes
Evidence strongly indicates that too many of our popular human performance solutions do not work, and thus we do not have an effective "human performance technology." If our solutions do not work, we are at risk both as individual professionals and as an organization of professionals. Lacking an effective performance technology, we now largely use "craft" solutions that are only occasionally successful but are seldom replicable in other organizations. The key to improving the success of our interventions is to adopt a process model for developing replicable technology, to use that model systematically, and to commit to evaluating the success of our work. In this article, we present the evidence and discuss why we need to move from craft to technology. The authors propose that ISPI support extensive, systematic evaluation of performance solutions and the development of new science-based, authentic performance technology solutions. By "authentic" they mean firmly based on scientific evidence, tested and validated.
ISPI
info@ispi.org
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