Brick by Brick, Building a New Road: A Reflection on my Human Performance Class

At the start of my Human Performance Technology class, I started down a proverbial yellow-bricked road". And through that walk, I searched for understanding. At the beginning of this class, I had an idea of human performance. After all, it seems self-explanatory. Human Performance is the study of how and why humans perform as they do. That said, adding the word technology into the mix surprised me. I was unsure what the phrase technology implied and how that might differ from plain old Human Performance. And I had other pressing questions about what those performance technologies might be. Are there specific technologies used to measure humans? Will I have to purchase a subscription to use them? To discover the answers to these questions, I walked the road paved for me in the form of class assignments and challenging discussion questions.

Now that the whirlwind of the past eight weeks has ended, I understand that the addition of the word technology paints with a much broader brush than I had anticipated. Technology, as it relates to human performance, turned out to be much like the description Van Tiem et al. (2012) propose in their book Fundamentals of Performance Improvement: Optimizing Results Through People, Process, and Organization.

" The performance or human performance technology is the process, tools, and techniques used to accomplish improvement." (Van Tiem et al., 2012).

Given this definition, the process and the tools used to accomplish improvement may or may not involve electronics. Nonetheless, those non-electronic processes and techniques fall within the technology domain. Conversely, electronic technology may not be branded as human performance technology. However, if the electronic system improves human performance, it can be considered a human performance technology.

One thing I picked up in this course and will carry with me moving forward is the idea that taking human performance and related technologies into account invites the leading designer into systems thinking. A learning designer must not focus only on the learning objects or the content they create. The social system in which those objects will be received is paramount. Understanding the people and the processes already in place within an organization should inform the design and approach when obtaining information from subject matter experts. And those already established systems should be respected as they can impact the success of even the best-laid plans. Furthermore, it will be ineffective if a design does not support the people in their operation method. But this is not the only thing that I learned:

Based on the list of competencies and characteristics of a Human Performance Consultant, as laid out by Stolovich and Keeps ( 2004) on pages 139 and 141, the following items jump out to me as my current strengths:

1. Conducting a performance analysis gap

2. Assess Performer Characteristics

3. Analyze the structure of jobs, tasks, and content

4. Cause-conscious, not solution focused

5. Sensitive to the need to verify perceptions.

I believe that the reason I feel comfortable with all of these skills is that I have been practicing them for twenty years as a music teacher. As I learned about human performance, I was surprised at how many skills and competencies I incorporated into the process I devised for building creative and successful musical productions. And because my evaluations leaned heavily on performance-based assessment, much of what I read matched my previous experience.

For example, rehearsing a piece of music requires repeatedly defining a performance gap. The director must have a vision of the end goal and strive to fill that gap through carefully structured practice. Additionally, knowing the characteristics of your choir members is equally important. What motivates each student as an individual? What are the group dynamics? Analyzing their abilities and understanding what makes them tick was crucial to making rehearsals meaningful and increasing motivation. To close the gap between a current performance level and the desired performance level, analyzing the structure of each task/job and breaking them up into milestones allowed us to celebrate small achievable wins along the way to our larger goals as a choir. And that allowed my students to digest the content in stages.

This strategy took a great deal of analyzing and careful structuring of lessons. Another key to success in teaching music and preparing for performances is remaining cause consciousness. It is easy to focus on the end goal and to get stuck in the idea that the solution to problem x is always y, but this is not always the case. A better diagnosis of the issue can be brought into focus by staying focused on identifying the cause and being open to many possible dynamics impacting the learner. Lastly, my music programs were frequently outside-the-box productions. The reactions to this were widely varied. I learned that finding key champions and involving leadership is crucial in garnering support for the projects a person is working on. In addition to discovering strengths in Stolovich's and Keeps's ( 2004) self-assessment tools, I also found opportunities for improvement. They are as follows:

1. Determine appropriate performance improvement projects to work on

2. Promote performance consulting and human performance improvement as a practical approach to achieving desired results.

3. Plan, manage, and monitor human performance projects

4. Stick to priorities (avoids technology seduction)

5. Anticipates how a change in one area affects another.

Although I have had some exposure to these items as a music teacher, I believe that implementing these skills and characteristics in a non-academic setting could look very different; as such, I think these are vital areas I can focus on to strengthen my skill set.

For example, although I chose specific performance issues that need to be improved within my classroom context, organizational performance issues were outside my jurisdiction. Hence, promoting performance consulting and human performance improvement was limited to just my classroom rather than a large-scale organization. Any human performance projects I worked on involved creating systems and processes to elicit favorable behaviors within my classroom. Although this is a good start, I believe learning to apply what I already know to a large-scale organization would be worthwhile. One thing that can seduce a person off the beaten path is fancy new technologies and books with new ideas. It is easy for me to enjoy learning about those systems; when I do, I get the urge to try them out. However, it is not always preferable to do this. Keeping the business needs at the forefront of my mind and using those needs as a litmus test is another characteristic I anticipate developing. Lastly, predicting how one change affects another is a concept I have some experience with but could improve. As a music teacher, I collaborated with many departments to reserve the space required for rehearsals and performances. And the negotiations could be entirely political at the time. Still, applying this to a non-academic organization will require adapting to a new system. And I anticipate that I will need to dedicate a solid effort toward mastering this skill within a unique environment in the future.

Although some of my improvements will come with experience, preparing is always prudent. This preparation can be done by reading and gaining a more profound knowledge of Human Performance Technology. However, it can also be improved by reading case scenarios and developing practice plans. These plans can be reviewed by those already in the field, and I can learn from the feedback they give.

My future as it relates to human performance technology is not yet decided. I am currently open to all possibilities. The more I learn, the wider my net is cast. However, I am convinced that learning about human performance and the technology (tools and systems) that support human performance improvement will be applicable, no matter my future job title. I cannot think of a single job that does not intersect with human performance. The characteristics of humanity, with all of its triumphs and failings, exist wherever you find people working together. What place of employment does not involve people? I can think of one. As such, I cannot imagine a job where these skills would be wasted.

Indeed, learning about human performance technology and improvement has been much like the tornado that picked Dorothy up and landed her in a strange land. However, as I journeyed the paved path for this course, I gathered quite a collection of bricks. And brick by brick, I am building a new path toward my future.

References

Stolovich, H.; Keeps E. ( 2004) Training ain't performance. ATD Press, Alexandria, VA.

Van Tiem, D., Moseley, J.; Dessingr, J. ( 2012) Fundamentals of performance improvement:

Optimizing results through people, processes, and organizations, Third Edition. Wiley & Sons Inc. San Francisco, CA.