25 Helpful References for
Today’s Busy Professionals
The 2000 Edition of The ASTD Training & Performance Yearbook, includes a special section that describes 25 books any person involved in HR development should probably have on his or her bookshelf. On this page, you'll find those books listed, with the description and table of contents of each. The titles are highlighted with a link to
if you'd like to consider ordering them from this page.Peter Block, Flawless Consulting: A Guide to Getting Your Expertise Used, 215 pages, Pfeiffer & Company, 1981.
Probably the most used consultant’s guide around, Peter Block’s book shows us how to attend—in words and action—to the business of being a consultant. He clearly outlines how to maximize one’s potential usefulness as a consultant, how to manage effectively the consulting process, and how to be authentic with your clients. These requires three separate and distinct skill sets according to the author: (1) Technical Skills, (2) Interpersonal Skills, and (3) Consulting Skills. Since we are consulting anytime we are “trying to change or improve a situation but have no direct control over the implementation,: Block’s sage advice—if heeded—will facilitate the development of an effective working relationship between you and your clients, your work group, your boss, and any other stakeholders you need to influence to get the job done.
TABLE OF CONTENTS: 1. A Consultant By Any Other Name; 2. Techniques Are Not Enough; 3. Flawless Consulting; 4. Contracting Overview; 5. The Contracting Meeting; 6. The Agonies of Contracting; 7. The Internal Consultant; 8. Understanding Resistance; 9. Dealing With Resistance; 10. Diagnosis Concepts; 11. Getting the Data; 12. Preparing for Feedback; 13. Managing the Feedback Meeting; 14. After the Preliminary Events Are Over; Appendix: Another Checklist You Can Use; Suggestions for Further Reading
W. Warner Burke, Organizational Development: A Process of Learning and Changing, Second Edition, 214 pages, Addison-Wesley, 1992.
This useful little tome provides those interested in the field of Organizational Development (OD) with a comprehensive overview of the field, its challenges, and its potential. It is helpful because it succinctly captures the key contributions of major contributors to the art and science of organizational development. Additionally, it surveys the evolution of the OD discipline and even provides a discussion of the new dimensions of OD. Excellent presentations are included on Organization Change, Organizational Models, Planning Models, and models for making effective interventions.
TABLE OF CONTENTS: 1. What is OD?; 2. Organization Development Then and Now; 3. Where Did OD Come From?; 4. OD as a Process of Change; 5. Defining the Client: A Different Perspective; 6. Understanding Organizations: The Process of Diagnosis; 7. The Burke-Litwin Model of Organizational Performance and Change; 8. Planning and Managing Change; 9. Does OD Work?; 10. The OD Consultant; 11. New Dimensions of OD
Sarita Chawla and John Renesch, Learning Organizations: Developing Cultures for Tomorrow’s Workplace, 547 pages, Productivity Press, 1995.
Through an amazing collection of over 30 challenging, moving, and sometimes disturbing essays, the editors guide the reader into dialogue with the authors of the various essays. The goal is to provide an overview from as many unique and different perspectives as possible of the nature of learning organization phenomenon. Peter Senge, Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Charles Handy, Daniel Kim, and others present their visions and ask us to develop our own. For those interested in creating, sustaining, or improving their organization’s ability to learn this book presents a plethora of helpful information, advice, and resources.
TABLE OF CONTENTS: 1. Communities of Commitment: The Heart of Learning Organizations; 2. Managing the Dream; 3. Ahead of the Wave: Valuing Gender Perspectives in Learning Cultures; 4. Mastering Change; 5. The Renaissance of Learning in Business; 6. The Transformational Leader: The Wellspring of the Learning Organization; 7. Why Smart Organizations Don’t Learn; 8. Stories for Learning; Exploring Your Circumstance; 9. The Seventh Story: Extending Learning Organizations Far Beyond the Business; 10. Dialogue: Capacities and Stories; 11. Mindshift: Strategic Dialogue for Breakthrough Thinking; 12. Language as Action: Linking Metaphors with Organization Transformation; 13. Generative Coaching: A Surprising Learning Odyssey; 14. Building Learning Laboratories to Create More Effective Distributed Decision Making; 15. FASTBREAK: A Facilitation Approach to Systems Thinking Breakthroughs; 16: The DNA of the Learning Organization; 17. Wisdom at Work: An Inquiry into the Dimensions of Higher Order Learning; 18. Learning Communities: An Alternative to the “Expert Model”; 19. Learning Out of Context; 20. Vitalizing Work Design: Implementing a Developmental Philosophy; 21. Developmental Strategies for the Knowledge Era; 22. The Faster Learning Organization(FLO); 23. Managerial Practice Fields: Infrastructures of a Learning Organization; 24. Learning as an Organization: A Journey into Chaos; 25. The Challenge of Stewardship: Building Learning Organizations in Healthcare; 26. Restructuring Education: Designing Tomorrow’s Workplace; 27. Transforming Mental Models through Formal and Informal Learning: A Guide for Workplace Educators; 28. Leadership, Quality, and the U.S. Navy; 29. Organizational Learning: Medical Metaphor and Corporate Practice; 30. Shared values: Nutrients for Learning; 31. Creating a Learning Organization by Accident; 32. Beyond Ego to Wisdom: The Eicher Experience; Conclusion: Reflections of Learning from a Gathering; Recommended Readings and Resources.
Ruth Colvin Clark, Developing Technical Training: A Structured Approach for the Development of Classroom and Computer-Based Instructional Materials, 263 pages, Buzzards Bay Press, 1994.
With the current push to get more and more technology into the classroom and to prepare and deliver training Better-Cheaper-Quicker, Ruth Clark’s classic little book is a gold mine of ideas for the busy practitioner who does not have time for theory. Her advice is practical and applicable to a wide range of course content. Her methods are based on solid research and the experience of a recognized expert in instructional design. She provides her readers with a huge assortment of very useful checklists, diagrams, and visuals to ensure they can apply what she so eloquently presents.
TABLE OF CONTENTS: 1. The technology of Training; 2. An Introduction to Structured Lesson Design; 3. How to Teach Procedures; 4. How to Teach Concepts; 5. How to Teach Factual Information, 6. How to Teach Processes; 7. Far-Transfer Training: How to Teach Principles; 8. Putting It All Together: Organizing Your Training; 9. CBT Versus Classroom Training: Some Differences; Appendix I: Exercises; Appendix II. Training in Instructional Development, Appendix III, Professional Organizations, Appendix IV. Instructional Design References
Robert L. Craig, The ASTD Training and Development Handbook, Fourth Edition, 1,071 pages, McGraw-Hill, 1996.
Broad in scope and deep in concepts, principles, procedures and facts, this text is a veritable performance improvement buffet. There really is something for everyone here. Divided into five sections, this handbook covers (1) The Training and Development Function, (2) Program Design and Development, (3) Media and Methods, (4) Training Applications, (5) Resources. Even a casual perusal of the topics contained in the Table of Contents demonstrates the ability of this volume to meet its stated goal of improving the performance of those who improve workforce performance. This is one resource that is sure to become dog-eared from repeated use.
TABLE OF CONTENTS: 1. The History of Training; 2. Organization and Management of Training; 3. Selecting and Developing the Professional HRD Staff; 4. The Learning Organization; 5. Diversity Training and Development; 6. Training for Global Operations; 7. Quality of Training; 8. Training Records and Information Systems; 9. Training and the Law; 10. Cost Accounting for Training; 11. The Behavioral Sciences; 12. Adult Learning; 13. Designing Instructional Systems; 14. Evaluation; 15. Measuring the Results of Training; 16. Testing; 17. Backyard Research in Human Resource Development; 18. Human Performance Technology; 19. Benchmarking for Best Practices; 20. Coaching for Growth and Development; 21. Classroom Instruction; 22. Self-Directed Learning; 23. Meetings!; 24. Case Studies; 25. Instructional games, Simulations, and Role-Plays; 26. Interactive Multimedia Training Systems; 27. Job Aids and Electronic Performance Support Systems; 28. Leadership Development; 29. Organization Development and Change; 30. Executive Development; 31. Management Development; 32. Supervisor Development; 33. Career Development; 34. Continual Professional Education; 35. Training in Quality; 36. Job Training; 37. Technical Skills Training; 38. Apprenticeship; 39. Basic Workplace Skills; 40. Computer Skills Training; 41. Sales and Marketing Training; 42. Small-Business Training; 43. Customer Service Training; 44. Occupational Safety and Health Training; 45. Information Resources; 46. Higher Education as a resource for Human Resource Development; 47. Meeting Facilities; 48. Academic Programs for HRD Professionals; 49. Business-Education Partnerships; 50. Outsourcing in Training and Education; 51. Consultants
Thomas F. Gilbert, Human Competence: Engineering Worthy Performance—ISPI’s Memorial Edition, 376 pages, HRD Press, 1996.
Written by one of the pioneers who helped define the field of performance improvement, Human Competence is a classic text that no self-respecting practitioner of HPT should be without. This work is cited by more writers and professionals in our field than almost any other. Tom Gilbert used three criteria to judge both his own and others’ work, (1) Parsimony—simplicity, (2) Coherence/elegance, and (3) Usefulness. Judging from the stream of tributes which start this text, Human Competence succeeds on all three counts. In Part One, he presents his “Leisurely Theorems” including the Behavior Engineering Model. In Part Two he gives us his Models of Performance Analysis. In Part Three he outlines Policies, Strategies, and Tactics. Finally, in Part Four he addresses Theoretical Considerations. It is a sometimes challenging read. But, readers will appreciate his effort in writing it and their own in seeking to master its contents.
TABLE OF CONTENTS: 1. A Leisurely Look at Worthy Performance; 2. Measuring Human Competence; 3. The Behavior Engineering Model; 4. The Performance Matrix; 5. Troubleshooting Performance; 6. Information and Competence; 7. Knowledge Policy at Work; 8. Knowledge Policy at School; 9. Knowledge Strategies and Tactics; 10. Motivation and Human Capital; 11. Performance Engineering in Perspective; Appendix: An Application of Performance Engineering
Daniel Goleman, Working With Emotional Intelligence, 383 pages, Bantam Books, 1998.
In this follow up volume to his wildly successful, Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Goleman seeks a redefinition of what is meant by “smart” and in doing so adds a unique twist to the oft-heard injunction to “worker smarter, not harder.” He shows that skills such as self-awareness, self-confidence, self-control, commitment and integrity, the ability to communicate and influence, to initiate and accept change are all crucial to developing and sustaining effective organizations. Those designing any type of performance intervention will benefit from reading this book. Its insights will provide helpful leverage to your efforts. Management, supervisory, and workforce development plans should address the emotional intelligence needs of individuals, teams, and organizations.
TABLE OF CONTENTS: 1. The New Yardstick; 2. Competencies of the Stars; 3. The Hard Case for Soft Skills; 4. The Inner Rudder; 5. Self-Control; 6. What Moves Us; 7. Social Radar; 8. The Arts of Influence; 9. Collaboration, Teams and the Group; 10. The Billion Dollar Mistake; 11. Best Practices; 12. Taking the Organizational Pulse; 13. The Heart of Performance; Some Final Thoughts
Kazimierz Gozdz, Community Building: Building Spirit and Learning in Business, 441 pages, Sterling and Stone, 1995.
With an introduction by M. Scott Peck and essays by Senge, Gardner, Etzioni, Weisbord, and almost 30 others, this book provides a look at the emergence of the workplace as the new community that is at once deep and broad. The perspectives offered provide a wonderful framework for understanding the search for spiritual fulfillment through one’s chosen calling, values-based organizations, and the need for improving our individual and collective abilities to learn. Six sections outline the issues and concerns: Part 1: A Global Context for the Re-Emergence of Community; Part 2: The Corporate Community; Part 3: Skills and Practices in Community Building for Organization; Part 4: Interpersonal Dimensions of Community; Part 5: Technology: A Tool in a New Role; Part 6: Structural Dimensions of Community; and Part 7: Case Studies and Applications.
TABLE OF CONTENTS: 1. A Metaphor for a Worldwide Paradigm Shift; 2. Beyond Breakpoint- Possibilities for New Community; 3. Getting Beyond the Riddle; 4. Creating Quality Communities; 5. Creating Learning Organizations Through Core Competence in Community Building; 6. building Corporations as Communities: Merging the Best of Two Worlds; 7. Emergence of Learning Communities; 8. Softstuff Application: Developing Work Teams in Technical Organizations; 9. From Chaos to Community at Work; 10. Discovering a Generative Path to Organizational Change; 11. Future Searches; 12. Dialogue and Organizational Transformation; 13. The Wisdom Council; 14. The Way to Community; 15. Rediscovering the Circle: Community in Balance; 16. A Sense of the Whole: the Essence of Community; 17. Caring: An Essential Element; 18. The Personal Elements of Effective Communities; 19. Embracing the Paradox of Current Reality; 20. Gaining the Ear of the Clan; 21: Groupware and the Great Turning; 22. The Role of Technology; 23. The Quest for Collective Intelligence; 24. The New Leadership Agenda; 25. Back to We: The Communitarian Nexus; 26. Workplace Community: The Struggle for Legitimacy; 27. Principles for Sustainability; 28. Getting Along Together: The Challenge of Communitas; 29. Developing a regenerative Community; 30. Tangible and Intangible Structures; 31. Corporate Community; 32. Needed: Leaders to Stick Their Necks Out; 33. Enter: The Shadow; 34. One Bank’s Experience; Conclusion—Closing the Gap; Recommended Readings and Resources
Robert L. Jolles, How to Run Seminars and Workshops: Presentation Skills for Consultants, Trainers, and Teachers, 240 pages, Wiley & Sons, 1993
Focusing on (1) Planning the Program, (2) Selling Your Message, and (3) Captivating Your Audience, the author—former head of Xerox Corpor-ation’s “Train-the-Trainer” program—presents readers with a clear, concise, and “do-able” outline for running their own seminars and workshops. His volume is broken into three parts: Getting Started, Delivery: The Art of Making Great Presentations, and Improving the Training Process. For those who may not come from a training background, this little book provides a wealth of highly useful tips and will allow you to answer the call from your workforce, your clients, or that professional association to “just throw together something on....”
TABLE OF CONTENTS: 1. Working with Adult Audiences; 2. Recognizing Trainees’ Levels of Behavior; 3. The Personality Parade: Training All Different Types of People; 4. The Pace Race: How to Train Groups With Diverse Needs; 5. Anatomy of an 8:00 AM Start: Finalizing On-Site Preparations; 6. The Secret of Success: Selling Your Presentation; 7. Twenty Tips on Maintaining Interest; 8. The Art of Effective Questioning: Getting Trainees Involved; 9. Using Visual Aids; 10. Giving Feedback and Coaching; 11. Tricks of the Trade; 12. Inside the Mind of a Trainer: How to Present Your Best Self; 13. The Value of Good Training: Hiring Effective Trainers; 14. Avoiding the Training Trap: Problems with Relevance and Respect; 15. Developing a Training Staff; 16. Evaluation and Support; 17. Adventures in Cross-Training; Epilogue: What’s Next?
Roger Kaufman, Sivasailam Thiagarajan, and Paula MacGillis, The Guidebook for Performance Improvement: Working with Individuals and Organizations, 650 pages, Pfeiffer, 1997.
Another large volume full of the collective wisdom of some of the most noted practitioners in the field of training and performance improvement. Here, dozens of authors write about the Origins of HPT, Direction Finding and Goal Setting, Analysis, Design and Development, Implementation, and Evaluation. Readers will find a plethora of helpful charts, graphs, and diagrams. Additionally, information is provided on how to contact each contributor. There is information here for those involved at the Mega, Macro, and/or Micro levels of performance. Also helpful is the authors’ listing of basic Performance-Improvement concepts and terms at the beginning of the book. Getting agreement (or at least awareness) of one’s “operational definitions” is crucial to effective communication. The authors do a good job.
TABLE OF CONTENTS:1. The Origins and Critical Attributes of Human Performance Technology; 2. Research and Development Origins of Performance Systems; 3. Social Responsibility; 4. A Strategic-Planning Framework: Mega Planning; 5. Preparing Performance Indicators and Objectives; 6. Needs-Assessment Basics; 7. A Systems Schema; 8. Business-Unit Performance Analysis and Development; 9. Organizational Mapping; 10. Job-Task Analysis; 11. The Hierarchy of Interventions; 12. Applications of Total Quality Concepts to Organizational Effectiveness; 13. Developing Front-Line Employees—A New Challenge for Achieving Organizational Effectiveness; 14. Job Aids; 15. Organizational Development for Human Performance Technologists; 16. Personnel Selection and Assignment; 17. Recruitment and Turnover; 18. Accountability for Staff Turnover; 19. Performance Management; 20. Program Management; 20. Program Management: Its Relationship to the Project; 21. Rewards and Performance Incentives; 22. Planning Change: Past, Present, Future; 23. Integrating People, Planning, and Change; 24. Performance Improvement in Developing Countries; 25. Evaluation: Seven Dimensions, Six Steps, Five Phrases, and Four Guidelines; 26. Performance is Easy to Monitor and Hard to Measure; 27. Developing Test and Assessment Items; 28. Quality Management/Continuous Improvement; 29. Performance Appraisal
Rushworth M. Kidder, How Good People Make Tough Choices: Resolving The Dilemmas of Ethical Living, 241 pages, Fireside/Simon & Schuster, 1995.
Whatever the context within which we perform our services or offer our products, the need to constantly choose not between a wrong and a right but between two “rights” is a challenge each of us face in dealing with our clients, our work teams, and/or our organizations. Kidder, the founder of the Institute for Global Ethics, addresses this crisis with thoughtful, sage advice and a practical plan to help today’s practitioners resolve their ethical dilemmas. Trainers, consultants, and managers will find this quick, easy read a big help in thinking through their dilemmas, developing a practical approach to handling their dilemmas, and to articulating to those they interact with their choices.
TABLE OF CONTENTS: 1. Overview: The Ethics of Right Versus Right; 2. Right Versus Wrong: Why Ethics Matters; 3. Ethical Fitness; 4. Core Values; 5. Right Versus Right: The Nature of Dilemma Paradigms; 6. Three More Dilemma Paradigms; 7. Resolution Principles; 8. “There’s Only ‘Ethics’ …”; 9. Epilogue: Ethics in the Twenty-first Century
Donald L. Kirkpatrick, Evaluating Training Programs: The Four Levels, 229 pages, Berrett-Koehler, 1994.
Another “classic” in the field of training and performance improvement, this book is a “how to” for anyone who needs to establish an effective means of evaluating the value of their training programs. Complete with outlines, sample survey forms, formulas, excellent case studies, and learned advice, Evaluating Training Programs is one of the most used books on this reviewer’s cluttered desk. It provides a clear plan for determining student/trainee reaction to your training (Level 1), evaluating the amount of learning which took place (Level 2), evaluating changes in behavior at work attributable to your training (Level 3), and even methods for judging the results those changes in behavior are responsible for (Level 4). It is full of powerful advice and persuasive arguments YOU can use every day.
TABLE OF CONTENTS: 1. Evaluating: Part of a Ten Step Process; 2. Reasons for Evaluating; 3. The Four Levels: An Overview; 4 Evaluating reaction; 5. Evaluating Learning; 6. Evaluating Behavior; 7. Evaluating Results; 8. Implementing the Four Levels; Chapters 9 through 21 are case studies of efforts to implement the Four Levels within various types and sizes of organizations.
Malcolm Knowles, The Adult Learner, Fourth Edition, 292 pages, Gulf Publishing, 1990.
Considered by many to be the “Father of Adult Education,” Malcolm Knowles contributes to both the theory and the application of adult learning techniques in this helpful text. Those designing curriculums for adults will find much useful information within the covers of The Adult Learner. His list of appendices is almost as long as the book itself. Don’t make the mistake of not reading them. His arguments are persuasive and his presentation covers the entire ground from the strategic view of adult learning to the very tactical concerns a classroom teacher may be experiencing at any given moment.
TABLE OF CONTENTS: 1. Exploring the World of Learning Theory; 2. Theories of Learning; 3. A Theory of Adult Learning: Andragogy; 4. Theories of Learning; 5. Applying Theories of Learning to HRD; Appendix A; Life Problems of American Adults; Appendix B. A Differential Psychology of the Adult Potential; Appendix C. Memorandum to the Personal Computer Industry; Appendix D. Creating Lifelong Learning Communities; Appendix E. From Teacher to Facilitator of Learning; Appendix F. Making Things Happen By Releasing the Energy of Others; Appendix G. Westinghouse Corporation’s Andragogical Executive Forum; Appendix H. Ways of Learning; Reactive Versus Proactive; Appendix I. Some Guidelines for the Use of Learning Contracts; Appendix J. Core Competency Diagnostic and Planning Guide; Appendix L. Andragogy in Developing Countries; Appendix M. The Application of Brain Dominance Technology to the Adult Training Profession
David Kolb, Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development, 256 pages, Prentice Hall, 1984.
In his introduction to this volume, Warren Bennis credits David Kolb with shifting “the ecology of learning away from the exclusivity of the classroom (and its companion the Lecture) to the workplace, the family, the carpool, the community, or wherever we gather to work or play or love.” Kolb presents a systematic statement of the theory of experiential learning and its application to education, work, and adult development. For those OD/HPT Practitioners tasked with developing training or other learning interventions, this book gives sound theoretical foundations upon which to craft your interventions. It is not the easiest of reads. However, the patient reader will reap a multitude of insights into why what they see happening in their learning events is happening. The discussion of learning styles and Kolb’s Theory of Development are particularly useful.
TABLE OF CONTENTS: 1. Foundations of Contemporary Approaches to Experiential Learning; 2. The Process of Experiential Learning; 3. Structural Foundations of the Learning Process; 4. Individually in Learning and the Concept of Learning Styles; 5. The Structure of Knowledge; 6. The Experiential Learning Theory of Development; 7. Learning and Development in Higher Education; 8. Lifelong Learning and Integrative Development; Bibliography
Robert F. Mager, The New Mager Six-Pac, Third Edition, 6 Volumes, Center for Effective Performance, 1997.
Another pioneer in the training and development field, Robert Mager presents very useful information in six easy-to-read, easy-to-understand volumes. If you add his three companion volumes (What Every Manager Should Know About Training, Troubleshooting the Troubleshooting Course, and (with Kenneth Beach) Developing Vocational Instruction), you will have basically everything anyone needs to know about the analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation of effective training. The Six Pack contains:
- Making Instruction Work: Deriving Outcomes, Developing the Instruction, Implementing the Course, Improving the Course
- Preparing Instructional Objectives: Objectives, Who Cares About Objectives, The Qualities of Useful Objectives, Performance, Conditions, Criterion, Pitfalls and Barnacles, Sharpen Your Skill, Self-Test, The Stoner and the Stonees)
- Analyzing Performance Problems (with Peter Pipe): Considering the Whole, They’re Not Doing What They Should Be Doing, Yes. It is a Skill Deficiency, It is Not a Skill Deficiency, What Should I Do Now?, Quick-Reference Checklist
- How To Turn Learners On…Without Turning Them Off: Where Am I Going?, How Shall I Get There?, How Will I Know I Arrived?
- Measuring Instructional Results: What It’s All About, Distinctions, Decoding the Objective, Matching the Performance, Matching the Conditions, Peripheralia, A Pride of Items, Got a Match?, Trial Summary, Checklist/Flowchart
- Goal Analysis: Why to Do It, When to Do It, How to Do It, Variations and Consequences, A Summary of Sorts
Margo Murray with Marna A. Owen, Beyond the Myths and Magic of Mentoring, 210 pages, Jossey-Bass, 1991.
Providing step-by-step guidelines for putting together the kind of mentoring program that fosters employee learning and the diffusion of that learning throughout the organization, Beyond the Myths and Magic of Mentoring, is just what performance improvement practitioners need to ensure cost effective mentoring and development programs within their organizations. The authors outline what is needed, traps and pitfalls to avoid, and attempt to outline as realistic a portrait as possible of a useful, comprehensive mentoring program. It is the type of book you need to read before, during and after you create your mentoring program.
TABLE OF CONTENTS: 1. What Mentoring Is—What It Is Not; 2. Mentoring at Work in Organizations; 3. The Upside and the Downside for the Organization; 4. Payoffs and Penalties for the Protégé; 5. The Mentor’s Motivation and Concerns; 6. Mentoring Models and Application; 7. Assessing Needs and Determining Organizational Readiness; 8. Structuring the Mentor Role: Qualifications, Recruitment, Selection, and Rewards; 9. Selecting Protégés and Diagnosing Their Development Needs; 10. Involving the Boss Who is Not the Mentor; 11. The Coordinator: Selection, Training, and Responsibilities; 12. Negotiating Sound Mentoring Agreements; 13. Evaluating Program effectiveness; 14. Gender, Culture, and Relationship Concerns; 15. Making Facilitated Mentoring Work; Resource: Sources for Instruments for Assessing Growth and Development.
Jeffrey Pfeffer, The Human Equation: Building Profits By Putting People First, 345 pages, Harvard Business School Press, 1998.
In this text, the author makes his case for the value of the human resources in achieving organizational excellence. As he states in his Preface, “First, it is almost impossible to earn above normal, exceptional economic returns by doing what “everyone else” is doing—prosaically put, you can’t be “normal” and expect abnormal results; and second, it is also impossible to achieve some lasting competitive advantage simply by making purchases in the open market—something that anyone can do.” Skillfully weaving data, research, anecdotes, and theory, Pfeffer lays a persuasive argument for the value of investing heavily in your human assets. For those needing some “ammunition” for discussing their proposed training or performance improvement interventions with management, this book is for you.
TABLE OF CONTENTS: 1. Looking for Success in All the Wrong Places; 2. The Business Case for Managing People Right; 3. Seven Practices of Successful Organizations; 4. Aligning Business Strategy and Management Practices; 5. Ten Reasons Why Smart Organizations Sometimes Do Dumb Things; 6. The “New Employment Contract” and the Virtual Work Force; 7. How Common Approaches to Pay Cause Problems; 8. How Can You Manage With Unions?; 9. Market failures and the Role of Public Policy in Producing Profits Through People; 10. People, Profits, and Perspective
Allison Rossett and Jeanette Gautier-Downes, A Handbook of Job Aids, 195 pages, Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer, 1991.
One of the most cost effective ways to reduce the amount of training required is to provide—where appropriate—job aids for workers to use. This book takes you through the process of deciding are job aids appropriate, which types should be used, how to design and test them, and more. This is another book sure to be dog-eared from frequent use by performance improvement practitioners. It is loaded with examples, helpful tips, and traps to avoid when creating job aids or planning for their use at the work site.
TABLE OF CONTENTS: 1. Introduction to job Aids; 2. Benefits of Job Aids; 3. When To use Job Aids; 4. Kinds of Job Aids; 5. Formats for Job Aids; 6. Steps for Developing Job Aids; 7. Job Aids for Informing; 8. Job Aids for Procedures; 9. Job Aids for Decision Making and Coaching; 10. Into the Future: Trends in Organizations; 11. Technology for Job Aids; 12. Conclusions About Job Aids
Geary A. Rummler and Alan P. Brache, Improving Performance: How to Manage the White Space on the Organizational Chart, 227 pages, Josssey-Bass Publishers, 1990.
This book articulates the authors’ position that “managers (particularly at senior levels) should concentrate as much or more on the flow of products, paper, and information between departments as on the activities within departments.” In addition, it outlines their particular approach to process management or “managing this white space between the boxes on the organizational chart.” The purpose of the book is to present the Three Levels of Organizational Performance (Organization, Process, Job/Performer) and to demonstrate the tools through which that framework is applied. Full of helpful charts, diagrams, and graphs, Improving Performance will help the performance development practitioner focus their activities on an organization’s leverage points and answer the authors’ concern that it is “not managers’ failure to understand the problem; it is their failure to do anything substantive to address the problem.”
TABLE OF CONTENTS: 1. The Challenges Facing American Business; 2. Viewing Organizations as Systems; 3. Three Levels of Performance: Organization, Process, and Job/Performer; 4. The Organization Level of Performance, 5. The Process Level of Performance; 6. The Job/Performer Level of Performance; 7. Linking Performance to Strategy; 8. Moving from Annual Programs to Sustained Performance Improvement; 9. Diagnosing and Improving the Organization: A Case Study; 10. Improving and Managing the Processes of the Organization; 11. Measuring Performance and Designing a Performance Management System; 12. Designing and Organization Structure That Works; 13. Managing Organizations as Systems; 14. Creating a Performance-Based Human Resource Development Function; 15. Developing an Action Plan for Implementation; References; Bibliography
Edgar H. Schein, Process Consultation—Volume I (Second Edition) and Volume II, 204 and 208 pages respectively, Addison-Wesley, 1988 and 1987 respectively.
Together, these two volumes provide the organizational development or human performance technology practitioner/consultant with a clear delineation of the role, goals, relationships, and responsibilities of those engaged in the consultative process. Volume I seeks to provide a practical and a philosophical foundation for process consulting. Volume II seeks to reaffirm the concept of process consultation, clarify where necessary, and introduce modifications and elaborations on Schein’s original treatment. He presents three models for consulting: (1) Purchase of Expertise, (2) Doctor/Patient, and (3) The Process Consultation (Collaborative). Both volumes make the case that the Process Consultation Model is the better path for practitioners to walk.
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Volume I: 1. What is Process Consultation?; 2. Human Processes in Organizations: An Overview; 3. Communication Processes; 4. The process of Building and Maintaining a Group; 5. Group Problem Solving and Decision Making; 6. Group Growth and Development: Norms and Culture; 7. Leading and Influencing; 8. Appraising Performance and Giving Feedback; 9. Intergroup Processes; 10. Establishing Contact and Defining a Relationship; 11. Settings and Methods of Work; 12. Diagnostic Interventions; 13. Influencing Process Through Confrontive Interventions; 14. Confronting Through the Use of Feedback; 15. Coaching, Counseling, and Structural Suggestions; 16. Evaluation of Results and Disengagement; 17. Process Consultation in Perspective; Appendix A: Memo I—Some Comments on Internal Auditing and Control Programs; Appendix B. Memo II—Organization; Appendix C. Memo III—Erosion of Rationality: One Hazard of Internal Competition on Product Planning; References
Volume II: 1. Managers and Consultants as Helpers; 2. What is Process Consultation; 3. What is “Process?”; 4. Intrapsychic Processes—ORJI; 5. Cultural Roles of Interaction; 6. Initiating and Managing Change; 7. Who is the Client?; 8. Intervention Strategy; 9. Intervention Tactics and Style; 10. Toward a Typology of Interventions; 11. Emerging Issues in Process Consultation
Peter R. Scholtes, The Leader’s Handbook: Making Things Happen, Getting Things Done, 415 pages, McGraw-Hill, 1998.
This guide from the author of, The Team Handbook, provides the same kind of practical tools, advice, and information for the leader as his previous bestseller did for teams. Beginning with his “brain-shakers” in the Preface and all the way through to his examination of Leadership in the Next Millennium, Peter Scholtes makes a “no-holds barred” presentation of what it means to be a leader in today’s organzizations. Full of hundreds of clear, useful charts, exercises, diagrams, models, and flowcharts, The Leader’s Handbook should be the desk of every supervisor, facilitator, and performance improvement practitioner. If it were, all of our improvement activities would have much better focus, leverage, and results! As Peter reminds all of us—particularly management: “More than 95 percent of your organization’s problems derive from your systems, processes, and methods, not from your individual workers. Your people are doing their best, but their best efforts cannot compensate for your inadequate and dysfunctional systems.”
TABLE OF CONTENTS: 1. Train Wrecks and Bad Radios: How We Got Where We Are; 2. The New Leadership Competencies; 3. Systems Thinking: The Heart of the Twenty-First Century Leadership; 4. Getting The Daily Work Done; 5. Giving Meaning, Purpose, Direction, and Focus to Work; 6. Breakthrough Improvement; 7. Keeping Track: Measurements of Improvement, Progress, and Success; 8. Leading By Asking Good Questions; 9. Performance Without Appraisal; Leadership into the Next Millennium
Roger M. Schwarz, The Skilled Facilitator: Practical Wisdom for Developing Effective Groups, 314 pages, Jossey-Bass, 1994.
According to recent study (Murname/Levy, 1996), one of the key skills required to operate effectively in the new economy is the ability to work in groups. Trainers will be designing and delivering courses to help develop this ability. OD and HPT consultants will be crafting a wide range of other supportive interventions. This book addresses many of the issues with which they will have to deal. It is foundational, practical, and provides a wealth of useful tools for those desiring to master the art of facilitation, including scripts, diagrams, and models. It addresses the contracting process between facilitator and group/management and how to make effective interventions that will facilitate the group’s ability to get their job/task accomplished.
TABLE OF CONTENTS: 1. Group Facilitation and the Role of the Facilitator; 2. What Makes Work Groups Effective?; 3. Contracting: Deciding Whether and How to Work Together; 4. Diagnosis: Identifying Behaviors That Enhance or Hinder Group Effectiveness; 5. Things to Consider Before Stepping In; 6. How to Improve; 7. Beginning and Ending Meetings; 8. Helping the Group Solve Problems; 9. Helping the Group Follow Its Ground Rules; 10. Dealing With Emotions; 11. Working With Another Facilitator; 12. Serving as Facilitator in Your Own Organization; 13. The Facilitative Leader; Resource A: Guidelines for an Effective Contract; Resource B: Sample Agreement for basic Facilitation; Resource C: Sample Agreement for Developmental Facilitation; Resource D: Guidelines for Using Experiential Exercises and Self-Knowledge Instruments; Resource E: Questions for Cofacilitators; Resource F: For Internal Facilitators: Guidelines for Contracting with Your Supervisor; Resource G: Further Reading
Peter Senge, Art Kleiner, Charlotte Roberts, Richard B. Ross, and Bryan J. Smith, Fifth Discipline Fieldbook: Strategies and Tools for Building a Learning Organization, 593 pages, Doubleday, 1994.
A collection of articles, essays, and activities designed to help practitioners implement the “art and practice of the learning organization.” Some 95 chapters, with contributions of over 60 different authors, are divided into segments of (1) Getting Started, (2) Systems Thinking, (3) Personal Mastery, (4) Mental Models, (5) Shared Vision, (6) Team Learning, (7) Arenas of Practice, (8) Frontiers, and (9) Endnotes. Combined with the web site (www.fieldbook.com), this is one massive resource for those interested in the learning organization and systems thinking.
TABLE OF CONTENTS: (a sampling of the topics from the 90+ chapters) 7. Core Concepts About Learning in Organizations; 8. The Wheel of Learning; 9. Leadership Fields; 10. Reinventing Relationships; 13. Strategies for Systems Thinking; Seven Steps for Breaking Through organizational gridlock; 23. Systems Thinking with Process Mapping: A Natural Combination; 25. Strategies for Developing Personal Mastery; 28. The Power of Choice; 35. The Ladder of Inference; 39. Bootstrapping Yourself into reflection and Inquiry Skills; 47. Building Shared Vision: How to Begin; 52. Strategies for Team Learning; 57. Skillful Discussion; 64. Bringing Diverse People to Common Purpose; 71. Training as Learning; 79. The Local Community as a Learning Organization; 80. Organizations as Communities; 86. Where the Organization Develops a Theory About Itself; 91. Creating a Learning Lab—and Making It Work
Peter Senge, Art Kleiner, Charlotte Roberts, Richard Ross, George Roth, Bryan Smith, The Dance of Change: The Challenges to Sustaining Momentum in Learning Organizations, 596 pages, Doubleday, 1999.
Some estimates say that as many as seven out of ten Change, Quality, and/or Organizational Development initiatives fail. Sustaining the momentum so many of these well-intentioned initiatives started with is the subject of this fieldbook. It too has its associated web site (www.fieldbook.com). Together they form a wonderful resource for all of us struggling to keep our clients, our teams, and our organizations improving their performance. Numerous contributors to this work have provided a rich collection of activities, research findings, resources, and ideas for those seeking to manage or implement specific Change within their organizations. Over 90 chapters of useable material plus hundreds of updates, downloadable papers and articles, and other resources await those who access this book and its web site. The volume is divided into sections on (1) Getting Started, (2) The Challenges of Initiating, (3) The Challenges of Sustaining Transformation, (4) The Challenges of Redesigning and Rethinking. The chapters on diffusion of learning throughout an organization are alone worth the price of this volume.
TABLE OF CONTENTS: Major headings for the groups of chapters include: I. Orientation, II. Generating Profound Change, III. Not Enough Time, IV. No Help (Coaching and Support), V. Not Relevant, VI. Walking the Talk VII. Fear and Axiety, VIII. Assessment and Measurement, IX. True Believers and Nonbelievers, X. Governance, XI. Diffusion, XII. Strategy and Purpose, and Endnotes
Harold D. Stolovitch and Erica J. Keeps, Handbook of Human Performance Technology, 817 pages, Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1992.
Subtitled “A Comprehensive Guide for Analyzing and Solving Performance Problems in Organizations,” this huge volume is just that. Containing numerous articles from a veritable Who’s Who of the field of Human Performance Technology on a wide range of helpful topics, this is a volume is a “must have.” Divided into six parts, Part One focuses on the fundamentals of HPT. Part Two outlines the general process of HPT. Allison Rossett’s article on analysis is particularly useful. Part Three addresses HPT interventions of a noninstructional nature. John Carrol’s article on “Minimalist Documentation,” however, gives some useful insights that those tasked with developing instructional coursewares should consider. Part Four presents HPT interventions of an instructional nature. Here, Ruth Clark’s and Murray Tillman’s articles are particularly noteworthy. Part Five guides the reader through a helpful discussion of the professional practice of HPT. Finally, Part Six gives us a look into the future of HPT. For this reviewer, Robert Mager’s Afterword is worth the price of this book by itself. His injunction is a worthy close to this extremely useful resource: “If you can contribute to the elimination of a single obstacle to effective performance, you will have made an enormous contribution....”
TABLE OF CONTENTS: 1. What is Human Performance Technology; 2. The origins and Evolution of the Field; 3. Transforming Organizations Through Human Performance Technology; 4. Intervening at Different Levels in Organizations; 5. Planning and Managing Projects; 6. The politics of Intervening in Organizations; 7. Analysis of Human Performance Problems; 8. The Design and Development of Effective Interventions; 9. The Function of Evaluation; 10. Planning and Evaluation Study; 11. Implementing Human Performance Technology in Organizations; 12. Human Performance Technology in Action: Application Examples; 13. Organization Design; 14. Culture Change; 15. Strategic Alignment; 16. Personnel Selection; 17. Motivational Systems; 18. Feedback Systems; 19. Incentive Systems; 20. Minimalist Documentation; 21. Ergonomic Performance Aids; 22. The Use of Expert Systems; 23. Classroom Instruction; 24. Small-Group Activities; 25. Video-Based Instruction; 26. Computer-Mediated Instruction; 27. Printed Self-Instruction; 28. Resource Management Systems; 29. Structured On-the-Job Training; 30. Distance Education Systems; 31. Accelerated Learning Systems; 32. Influencing Others to Act; 33. Success Strategies for the Human Performance Technologist; 34. Standards and Ethics for Practitioners; 35. Legal Implications of Human Performance Technology; 36. Demonstrating Financial Benefits to Clients; 37. Human Performance Technology in the International Arena; 38. Developing Skills and Enhancing Professional Competence; 39. Emerging Trends in Human Performance Interventions; 40. Emerging Trends in Instructional Interventions; 41. How the Cognitive Sciences Are Shaping the Profession; 42. Advancing the Field Through Research; 43. Exploring Human Possibilities; Challenges to Human Performance Technology: Ethics, Quality, and Professionalism; Resource A: HPT-Related Professional Societies; Resource B: HPT-Related Bibliography/font>
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