Performance Architecture

I've reviewed other books that are very much in the Human Performance Technology tradition - but this book is special. It's much more practical. It's clear that the authors have been teaching this class for some time and have developed case studies and examples that make the concepts clear to their students. In a similar vein, the authors have developed a variety of tables and checklists to guide new practitioners. And they provide lots of practical advice about how to get managers to understand and implement the performance change programs that they develop.Too many business practitioners focus at the process level, imagining that once they have redesigned a process, managers and employees will immediately embrace the new workflow. Or the redesign team is located in IT and focuses on redesigning and implementing a new software system, assuming that employees will happily embrace the new system without any effort on the part of the IT team. Both these assumptions lead to frequent business process failures. People matter! Managers and employees are the heart of any process and they are the ones who make the new process succeed or fail.Process practitioners, no matter what their background, need to think more about the people in the process, to redesign their jobs and their training systems and their incentive systems and to assure that they understand why a given process is being changed.This book is a great introduction to the basic concepts that every process practitioner needs to master. The section on How to Make an Implementation Stick, and the table summarizing why Implementations Fail or are Derailed is worth the price of this book. In a similar way their description of metrics that ought to be on your balanced scorecard, which organizes metrics into Financial, Customer, Product/Service, Process, and Internal metrics, and then subdivides those groups into organizational, process and performer metrics is a major contribution to what has been written about the use of the balanced scorecard in process work.The book is an easy read. It is well and clearly written and has some delightful illustrations, and is only 160 pages long. Don't let that fool you. There is much that is important here and the book will repay rereading. Everyone who is engaged in process change needs to understand how human performance fits within the overall effort. At the same time they need a good idea of how to approach human performance problems to assure successful change. This book provides the basics on Human Performance Technology and everyone concerned with process change should buy and study it.

Allow me to open with a simple statement, "Buy this book. You will not regret it."I'd like to share a few examples of why I feel so strongly about the value of the information in Performance Architecture and it's usefulness for managers, consultants, and anyone responsible for generating results within an organization.A few weeks ago, a colleague approached me requesting assistance to a business request for training. I was able to quickly help her prepare for her initial alignment and follow-on requirements meeting using the tools within Performance Architecture. Using the Performance Map, she was able to open the original request from one focused upon training to one of solving critical business issues. The project is in its initial phases but we've already increased the impact to the business because of how the team is now approaching those issues.Within a few days of this discussion, I had a similar experience with another colleague and found it invaluable in broadening their view of where the potential business issues existed. Using Geary Rummler's Anatomy of Performance model, we were able to look at performance at both the individiual and process levels. The initial request was focused at the job performer level but the real issue lay at the process level in a manufacturing organization.Last but not least, I'm in the process of putting a team of instructional designers, business analysts, and technical writers to support a major change initiative. Using the models and tools in the book, we're aligning our approach to our assignments, focusing on improving job performance, and identifying specific business results that align with the project goals.Performance Architecture helped me, my colleagues, and my team in our approach to client requests and in the tools available to us in addressing those requests. It's well organized, provides access to a variety of world class tools, and provides references and links to learn more about each of those tools and topics.In the end, I think you'll find Performance Architecture is going to save you time on projects, generate consistent, repeatable results, build your credibility, and make you more effective within your organization.

This is a great book for several reasons. First of all it is concise and the performance consulting tools are easy to find and can be rapidly applied in many consulting situations. Secondly it is written with a lot of thought and consideration for the reader and does away with the academic, theoretical parts of the subject. The authors have put themselves in the role of performance consultants in the present times and in present business environment where interventions need to be defined and deployed very quickly and with great accuracy and professionalism. This book `raises the bar' of performance consulting and the level at which we engage with our clients.I lead a team of global performance consultants in a high growth business with rapid change in a multinational company. With the intensity of delivering results, this book has been the foundation of our work. We reference other sources, but ultimately keep coming back to this book as the "Swiss Army Knife" of performance consulting. The right tool for the right situation at the right time.The book addresses the span of capability in that it starts from the basics and allows the reader to take their work to fairly advanced levels. Once again the great clarity and simplicity of the layout, illustrations and format help to cut through the weight of theory and get to action very fast.In summary, this is a great book for anyone wanting to get started or consult with clients on performance interventions very quickly and also get it right first time. We have used it for small and large global interventions and have not regretted in always coming back to this book for more approaches or deepening the work in our current projects.Performance Architecture is well worth the investment and time.