This blog is dedicated to Dr. George Hanshaw’s webinar for EDCI 528, Human Performance Technology. Dr. Hanshaw is a performance psychologist that worked at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics for 20 years in the Performance Department. During his time at Lockheed Martin, he helped transform the Training Department’s image to one the focused on performance.
Take-aways:
As a former teacher, building relationships was my priority before ever focusing on the content. I knew that I had to win over my students and show them that I personally cared about them before they would ever care about content. Dr. Hanshaw’s PQ – People, Performance and Partnership properly describes my philosophy in his statement, “In order to get performance, it’s all about people and partnerships that we create.”
Another take-away from Dr. Hanshaw’s presentation was stepping away from schema, my experiences, and asking “What If?” as a way to try and understand performance problems or solutions. Actively asking questions helps Human Performance Technologists because it allows for creativity and open mindsets.
Dr. Hanshaw also shared how he worked with clients (departments in his case) that needed help with performance improvement. First, he filled out a form that he created to complete a gap analysis. This form was of particular interest because it included areas such as organizational culture, needs, wants, expectations, skills, key players and decision makers. Next, he stressed being clear on requirements and listening to the client (department). Taking notes while clients speak and rereading them, often give clear explanations of problems. He explained that actively listening to client’s speak about their performance needs over jumping to solutions will give the best result . As Dr. Hanshaw mentioned, rarely the problem is caused by one element. Usually many factors are at play and that’s why listening helps the HPT process.
He also gave two acronyms that I think are important to note. One is TALC, which means Technically Acceptable Lowest Cost. The other is WIFT, which means What’s In IT For Them. TALC focuses on the organization and what they consider a viable product for the lowest cost. WIFT is focused towards the individual (employee) and what motivates them. Both of these acronyms should be in mind for and HPT or an instructional designer.
Personal reflections/impact:
Dr. Hanshaw’s presentation left me with many lingering questions. I would like to know more about how the team at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics made the transition to performance over training. This is an area that I feel my current workplace faces often. However, how do I as a single person, help create a new dynamic and method to working? At this point, with only a few weeks left in my Graduate Program, I feel that I will need to do my own research into Performance Improvement and HPT. As Dr. Hanshaw and the EDCI 528 course have named, training is rarely the solution. It is therefore important as an instructional designer that I can define what interventions are needed.
Breaking Boundaries in the Classroom 