Skip to content

3 Crazy Ways We Look at Learning & Time

Despite sometimes wishing that we could just put a book under our collective pillows and absorb all the salient bits while we’re sleeping, learning takes two things that we often wish it didn’t: Time and Effort We look for shortcuts. We avoid applying mental effort. We don’t give people enough time to learn their jobs.… Continue Reading

Posted in instructional design, performance

January 10, 2014

Explaining “Performance Improvement”

As internal or external consultants, we are often asked to explain what we mean by “human performance technology,” or “performance improvement.” Thanks to ISPI and especially to Lynn Kearny, we have a set of visuals* we can use to illustrate and explain the main concepts. In just two pages, Lynn has illustrated: Focus on Results… Continue Reading

Posted in performance

December 17, 2013

Bookshelf: The Six Disciplines of Breakthrough Learning

By Calhoun Wick, Roy Pollock, and Andrew Jefferson With a strong focus on how learning assists an organization, this book gives beginning-to-end support for using learning-training-development initiatives to achieve strong business results. There are no isolated training events here. All six of the disciplines are pointed toward ensuring that what people learn will: Be essential… Continue Reading

Posted in bookshelf, instructional design, learning, performance, training

December 6, 2013

Are We Earning Our Keep? Should Someone Pay Us for This?

Want to stay in business? Keep your job? No matter your performance improvement specialty, it’s helpful to know if your strategies and projects are making things better for your organization. Define Success Early. The best way to ensure that we can measure whether we succeeded or not is to figure out what we’re trying to… Continue Reading

Posted in performance

November 22, 2013

So Sorry—Training Won’t Fix That

When something isn’t working right, managers often ask for training. Is training the right answer? Not as often as people think. I’m sure you’ve seen times when people wanted to make things better, assumed training would be the right answer, but didn’t get the result they wanted (no matter how great the training was). Here… Continue Reading

Posted in instructional design, performance, training

October 11, 2013

2 Great Reasons to Forgive Others

How easy-going are we? How often in life—at work or anywhere—does a person do something that we feel hurt by in some way? When that happens, do we feel resentful? Are we actively carrying anger and blame? Forgiving Is Good for Our Health. There’s ample research suggesting that not forgiving others is really hard on… Continue Reading

Posted in healthy living, love, performance

September 20, 2013

Bookshelf: Changing for Good

By Prochaska, Norcross, and DiClemente After decades of clinical research, Prochaska, Norcross & DiClemente discovered a consistent process that successful “self-changers” use to overcome bad habits. One way they were able to identify this process was by studying people who quit smoking on their own. The six-stage program works for a wide range of behaviors,… Continue Reading

Posted in bookshelf, healthy living, motivation, performance

August 20, 2013

12 Ways to Make Sure Your Learners Use What They Learned

Photo courtesy office.microsoft.com If our learners don’t use what they learned on the job—then why train them in the first place? Crossing the bridge from training to behavior on the job doesn’t happen for many reasons: they don’t remember how, they don’t feel confident in their new skills, they aren’t sure if the new behaviors… Continue Reading

Posted in instructional design, learning, motivation, performance

July 23, 2013

Busy? Eight Reasons to Move Anyway

I used to hate exercise. Too boring. Too much time, effort, and sweat. A 4-minute walk would drive me crazy. (Sad, I know.) But now, years later, I want to get out there. When I first got serious about walking, I started with 20 minutes. That grew to 40, and now I’m happier if I… Continue Reading

Posted in healthy living, motivation, performance

June 28, 2013

HPT Legacy Video: Richard E. Clark

Guy Wallace, one of my ISPI friends, has been interviewing some of our leaders in human performance technology (HPT). Last year, he sat down with Dick Clark, who is an outstanding researcher in our field. They talked about HPT, cognitive task analysis, constructivism, instructional games, simulations, and ways to view evidence. Highlights. I’m sharing my… Continue Reading

Posted in instructional design, learning, performance

June 18, 2013