Archive for the ‘Pete’s Comments’ Category

Can People Be Protected from Their Own Stupidity?

Friday, July 16th, 2010

What are you going to do? People can’t drive with their smartphones so lawmakers make it illegal to drive while texting. And if you want to talk on the phone while driving, you have to have a “hands-free” device. People definitely shouldn’t drive while distracted…but plenty of other distractions are still legal. For one thing, eating while driving. In fact, in Chicago, where all these laws are in effect, I believe it is still legal to use your smartphone’s navigation program. If you’ve ever tried to use the iPhone Google Maps application while driving, you know that is easily as distracting as anything else that could be going on in that car. In fact, to use many “hands-free” phones, you sometimes have to resort to looking up and even punching in the number (e.g., if you can’t get the voice recognition to work) and that is no different than texting…except maybe that it takes place over a shorter period of time.

Of course some people have more ability to pay attention, and even to notice when something they are not focusing on is happening around them. I’m not talking about multitasking…I think some people might just pay more attention in general. This is the person that notices you are looking the other way and avoids running into you. Probably, we have to admit that some people are just smarter than others. But that doesn’t stop smartphone makers and programmers from trying to make up the gap with engineering.

I recently read an article about a new wave of smartphones and related applications being designed to make it easier and safer for pedestrians to use their smartphones while walking! Apparently, record numbers of people are walking into manholes, into intersections, into signs, and whatever else because they are texting and not looking where they are going. In the article, one person managed to find a silver lining — because so many people have cellphones they can get an ambulance to the injured person more quickly. But the bulk of the attention was on how smartphone makers can improve the use of their devices to make them safer. For example, a transparent screen so you can see the sidewalk (and the person you are about to run into) through your text message. Or, “text to speech” (and vice versa) to avoid having to look at a screen and push buttons.

Maybe we need “heads-up displays” for smartphones so you can see the message in transparent letters on special goggles. Or, maybe we should just make a helmet law for smartphone users. Or, maybe we should just make a helmet law for everyone all the time because you never know when a distracted texter is going to run into you.

That is actually the worst part of the whole thing. You can no longer feel that, by driving defensively, you are giving yourself the best likelihood of avoiding an accident because some knucklehead may still randomly just ram into you or walk out in front of your car because they aren’t paying attention. Accidents happen. Many, in retrospect could have been prevented. But accidents caused by not paying attention to what you are doing are completely preventable.

At some point, we just have to wake up and be more responsible. Pay attention. Remember that there are other people sharing the planet. Don’t do stupid stuff. At some point, I wonder if the more we try to protect people from themselves, the stupider we all get.

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Are You Competent? (Hint: “Not Really” is a Better Answer than “Yes”)

Friday, April 30th, 2010

You may have heard the expression “the problem is, you don’t know what you don’t know” used to describe how unknowns create risk in decisions. (You may also have heard the expression “too bad stupid doesn’t hurt”…but that’s just funny).

In general though, when we hear someone speak “with authority” we assume they know what they are talking about. This assumes that they have developed confidence based on years of study, hard work, and even being wrong enough times to have “learned the hard way.”

But, that is not always a safe assumption. (Are any assumptions ever safe? Never mind, different topic.) Often people who are not that competent over-estimate their own competence. That’s not too surprising. The real surprise is that people who are very competent often under-estimate their competence. As a result, if you listen to people’s own PR, you run the risk of trusting the less-competent individual!

In 1999, Justin Kruger and David Dunning, then both of Cornell University published the results of a study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Their “Dunning-Kruger Effect” noted that, with a range of skill areas (from playing chess to driving to reading) the following are typical (emphasis added).

  1. Incompetent individuals tend to overestimate their own level of skill.
  2. Incompetent individuals fail to recognize genuine skill in others.
  3. Incompetent individuals fail to recognize the extremity of their inadequacy.
  4. If they can be trained to substantially improve their own skill level, these individuals can recognize and acknowledge their own previous lack of skill.

Another psychologist, C.F. Downing determined that this sort of reverse bias applies to intelligence, with more intelligent people believing they are less intelligent than they are and less intelligent people…well, you get it by now. It leads all the way to “depressive realism” which argues that people who are depressed actually have a more accurate view of what is going on!

What does it all mean? It just means that the more you know, the more you know there is more to know. And, that we should avoid using self-assessment when getting an accurate assessment is important.

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ISPI Conference 2010: T-Minus One Day and Counting

Monday, April 19th, 2010

Once again, it is time for the annual ISPI international conference. San Francisco.

I have a series of things to do on Wed. But I’m just an attendee on Tues and Thurs. The kick-off is usually the time to figure out the “big ideas” for the conference…hopefully, we will be focusing on more than just elearning and technology this year…

Wednesday will be busy.

  • 10:30am  Hosting a table for the ISPI Pharmaceutical Industry group. We’ll be talking with people about the team’s purpose and what we’ve been doing. The goal…recruit some new members and build interest in the team.
  • Noon   Hosting a “Chat and Chew” table on the topic of “Web-based Collaboration Tools.”
  • 2pm  Presenting an educational session “A System for Developing and Assessing Performance.” This is a case study of an accelerated training and performance-based qualification project for a major pharmaceutical organization.
  • 6pm  Participating in a reception for authors who contributed to ISPI’s new book series “Improving Performance in the Workplace.” (I contributed a chapter in Volume 3: Measurement and Evaluation titled “Testing Strategies: Verifying Capability to Perform.”

After that, Thursday should be cake!

As with any conference, it is a great opportunity to catch up with people you don’t see too often. And it is a chance to sort of step back and look at where the profession has been and where it could be going. I’m looking forward to it!

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The Little Things

Saturday, April 10th, 2010

In Tom Peters’ book “The Little Big Things,” he argues that cross-functional cooperation results in measurably better results. Not new but true. We’ve seen it.

What’s different, is that Peters goes further in citing a number of seemingly little things that drive that effectiveness. For example, co-locating people. Using round conference room tables. (You can listen to a chunk of this book on the web (read by Peters) at http://www.tompeters.com/books/little-big-things/ by the way.) Ultimately, he argues that by continuously identifying and tweaking seemingly insignificant details, you eventually end up with excellence. I think this type of excellence is also very difficult for your competitors to imitate and the day they decide to, they are starting way behind you.

Anthony Bourdain in “Kitchen Confidential” makes a related point. He argues that the real heroes in a restaurant ktichen are not the high-profile celebrity chefs, because many of those can be prima donnas…you can’t function with a kitchen full of them. You really need a crew of dependable, consistent, hard-working line cooks who won’t compromise on quality, speed, or accuracy. In short, they work toward excellence by executing a lot of little things right, consistently.

In HPT, we often work with cross-functional teams because we are trying to collect and build know-how and, often, there is no one source for that know-how. I’m going to start thinking more about what little things we can do to improve that process. Not just during our meetings, but afterward.

We also target excellence in our work. In every project we think about what will make this a valuable project for the customer and for PRH Consulting. Where is a boundary where we can really push into new territory? How can we do this differently and better than last time? How can we give the customer what they meant to ask for, if they had known ahead of time what to ask for?

Also though, there are lots of little points to be made, practiced, and reinforced in training. One mention in a training program won’t generate excellent performance. One big idea in a training session might lead to changes in the business but not directly. Often, training needs to include practice and reinforcement of the little things (for example, using simulations or other learner application exercises) to build a foundation for excellence on the job. Of course, if the manager doesn’t continue the reinforcement, the change will be short-lived unless the employee carries the torch.

Both of my sons had to wear braces…one of them liked it so much, he went around twice! We went to a local orthodontist recommended by a friend (don’t remember who but thank you.) This doctor may have never read any of the business books about excellence, quality, customer-focus, etc. but he really practices what they preach and it is very much in line with the idea of focusing on the little things. For example

  • Self-check-in using a computer in the waiting room. The interface is so simple that the youngest patients can use it with ease.
  • Separate waiting area (with a closed door) for people who want to talk on their cellphones.
  • Coffee in the waiting room.
  • Usually, some kind of contest, such as guessing the number of items in a jar, identifying pictures of celebrities as kids, coloring, etc. is going for the kids ot play while waiting.
  • Occasionally, they will sponsor outings, such as free bowling or skating at certain times for patients.
  • They have a standard routine for kids when they come in so they “know the drill.” (They carry their file in, can brush their teeth, and then wait on a bench. Parents not allowed.)
  • The initial consultation involves looking at digital photos of the teeth on the doctor’s PC while he explains how and what they can/will do.
  • When you leave after an appointment, you get a print-out with a summary of the visit, a reminder of your next visit (which, I think, is in the form of a sticker for your calendar…I might be confusing this with our regular dentist though), and a section you can tear-off to give to the child’s teacher or school office as a doctor’s excuse.
  • When it is time to get your braces off, you see your name on a bulletin board congratulating everyone who is getting their braces off that week.
  • You also get a gift certificate for portrait photographs for the child when they get their braces off. One copy goes to the orthodontist who hangs it in his waiting room.
  • The day the braces come off, the office staff all gathers, claps, and presents the child with a basket representing pretty much everything they weren’t allowed to have when they had braces, including an apple, gum, crackerjack, and even (a little) candy.

By the way, this isn’t some young guy who has way too much energy and is hungry for business…my guess is that this doctor is well over retirement age…he is at least 70! And most of the ideas above really don’t take much cash to implement…just paying enough attention and then putting in the effort. In a world where people dream of retirement and winning the lottery, it is a joy to see someone with so much enthusiasm for his work at that stage of his career. I can only assume he loves people — sure it has to feel good to help others get great smiles but you wouldn’t be that good at it if you were not sincere.

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What Do Instructional Designers Do?

Wednesday, March 31st, 2010

Recently, I saw an ad in the March 2010 Issue of T&D  looking for instructional designers to create “innovative elearning…” It caught my eye because it was looking for volunteers to build training for kids. But it rubbed me the wrong way and reminded me of a continuing concern I have that when people think “instructional designer” they immediately think “elearning.” Maybe some ID’s like that because it gives us a niche…after all, technical know-how is a sure way to define turf and make it easy for others to figure out what you do.

But, instructional design is more than development. I see it as including

  • Analysis of performance and identifying the required capabilities
  • Designing ways of assessing for and developing those capabilities
  • Developing instructional processes and supporting materials (including assessments)
  • Evaluating the effectiveness of the solutions

(The above is really a narrow definition of ID because many of us include “performance consulting” as part of our focus.)

It seems to me that if the focus is only elearning and only development, there are a number of key decisions that the ID will not even be involved in and will only be able to influence slightly (if at all). Not good. You can create nifty interfaces for effective teaching programs that are targeted (potentially) at the wrong things. Sure it can be fun and creative but you won’t be able to reliably get results beyond “neato!”

The key benefit an ID can add to a project is really about capability. What capabilities are needed? What capabilities are there? How can we effectively install those capabilities into the target audience(s)? How can we build supporting materials that really work in the instructional process? Or, even as on-the-job references?

Ultimately, we can identify capabilities that are difficult to develop or critical to successful performance and help create plans and strategies for managing the risk. Often, we can identify ways of simplifying the performance or building tools to reduce the load on the performer, which makes a higher level of performance possible.

Somehow, we need to look beyond (and show our clients and colleagues how to look beyond) outputs and focus instead on the desired outcomes, that is, improved performance. This isn’t a new message…but apparently, everyone still hasn’t heard it.

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For more information on the field of Human Performance Consulting, check out ISPI.

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Excellent Service

Friday, March 5th, 2010

I recently had a problem with my computer. A client I was working with said it was a D620 error. I didn’t get it at first but then realized my computer is a Dell Latitude D620. Apparently, this model has had a problem or two…my client’s company actually exchanged a bunch of them when they first came out due to problems.

My company doesn’t have that kind of leverage with Dell though and the computer was three years old when I started having the problem. In fact, I had a three-year warranty and the problem started about a month before the warranty expired. (Of course, I was too busy to deal with it until after the warranty expired but that’s my own fault…)

I was prepared for the worst…which, in this case, would be hours of troubleshooting, some new parts, some frustration trying to get the fix to work, followed eventually by the purchase of a new laptop. But, for once, that is NOT what happened.

Instead, I got a first-hand look at how Dell does service and it was impressive. Dell’s reputation can be spotty, depending on who you talk to. But they are clearly putting a focus on customer satisfaction and service.

First, I tried to chat with a service support person and right after I typed the problem symptoms and the steps I had taken to correct the problem into the chat window, the chat was ended. “I knew it…they couldn’t solve it so the ‘hung up’ on me!” I wasn’t happy but was smart enough to copy my information so I wouldn’t have to re-type it.

Figuring I would try again, I re-logged in but during the process, my phone rang. Picking up I found it was the service support rep I had been chatting with! How about that!

She did some troubleshooting on line and then had me run some diagnostics and called back to check the results. Bad news…I needed some new parts. The motherboard for one thing. (Which sounded like a big deal.)

After looking at some alternatives, she offered sell me an extended warranty which would cover on-site service/installation of the new parts and a year of accident protection for less than half the price of the motherboard (which was not the only part). My suspicions were raised “what’s the catch?” but I went for it.

Long story short…the support rep called to confirm the parts were shipped. A dispatcher called to let me know a tech would be calling me the next morning for an appointment. The next morning the service tech called to schedule a time. In the afternoon, he came to my office and installed about four separate parts (completely dis-assembling the laptop and re-assembling it in about 30 minutes). And, so far, everything works!

What was so great about that service? First of all, the results. If it didn’t work, nothing else would matter. If you are going to provide any service you have to be competent.

Secondly, the response time. I first gave up my superstitious troubleshooting methods (“maybe if I jiggle this cable while touching the monitor…”) and went online for help on a Wednesday morning. The parts were shipped that night. The tech had them the next morning and was in my office on Thursday afternoon.

Third, the value. This all cost a little more than $200! (Plus, if I drop my computer before next March, I can get it fixed again…) This is a three-year old laptop running Windows XP! But, since we have been in business (2002) we have purchased all our IT equipment from Dell (OK, not cellphones or printers). Based on this experience, we will continue to. The value to Dell is customer loyalty.

Fourth, the communication. This one is almost cliche. Communicate your commitments and then meet them. Explain the process to the customer so they know what is going to happen next. Confirm that the customer is satisfied before moving on to the next task. Fundamental customer service is not hard to learn…but it is still not easy to implement.

This level of service is actually a little bit inspiring. I found myself looking at my own business and asking “how would our service be perceived?” Are we adequate? Are we excellent? Where should we make improvements? I made some notes.

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The End of the Newsletter

Monday, October 26th, 2009

Well, we are getting ready to publish our next and last newsletter “Building Capability.” We’ve been publishing the newsletter since we started the business and it’s been both fun and informative (well, we like to think so anyway…).

But it has been difficult to publish consistently — when you get busy, you need to hit the client’s deadlines first. And much of the time creating the newsletter is spent on wordsmithing to fit the available space…not exactly high value add.

On top of that, the world has been changing. More and more communications are shifting to bite-size. Smaller, more frequent communications fit the more busy daily schedules of many professionals today. In fact, we often thought that our newsletter, built for printing, reading on a plane, leaving on a table in a library or breakroom, etc., might be attractive to people who get tired of reading from a computer screen.

But, printing isn’t “green” and publishing every quarter isn’t frequent enough (assumimg we could keep up with that schedule). So, we’re going to try the new communication model, try some new media (like digital video occasionally), and go for short, focussed email “blasts.”

Of course, now that it is working again, we will continue to post on our blog as well. We’re not planning a Facebook site though…maybe in a few years…

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