MAINTAINING A GLOBAL MINDSET: CONSIDERING THE TENSION BETWEEN PROCESS VS. PRODUCT

Welcome to our third issue of the Performance Improvement Journal (PIJ) for 2023! As always, we express our sincere gratitude and appreciation to our esteemed Board of Directors for their valued input and feedback as well as to our associate editors and contributing authors, who offer us such interesting and engaging perspectives from the field.

My Thoughts …

As we continue to pursue our ISPI Guiding Principles, they should serve to help maintain our focus on what matters most to our ISPI members, stakeholders, and, hopefully, our clients.

GUIDING PRINCIPLES

• Maintain a global mindset.

• Facilitate networking among practitioners.

• Leverage opportunities.

• Foster diversity and inclusion.

• Value stakeholders.

• Operate under the Standards of Performance Technology and the Code of Ethics of our profession.

As we collectively experience one of the most (if not the most) hot summers in recorded human history, the ceaseless debate over the root cause of climate change is more concerning than ever. This offers an opportunity for us to reflect on our ISPI Guiding Principle of Maintain a Global Mindset. In spite of countless research studies (https://climate.nasa.gov/scientific-consensus) supporting the impact of the human industrialization on the world’s ecosystems, we seem unable and/or unwilling to respond in an agile manner. This evidence-based truth, as we’ve been told, is very “inconvenient.” Like the patient that is told by his doctor to eat a healthy diet (process) so that blood test results improve (product), but ignores the advice, the awareness of critical information and direction often goes unheeded. We have the knowledge; however, the intervening actions are postponed or ignored.

In the Fifth Discipline, Peter Senge (2006) encouraged us to become systems thinkers. Having taken his advice, it’s hard not to see the line of sight across so many of our actions and their impacts. As Human Performance Improvement (HPI) professionals, we know that nothing occurs in a vacuum, whether within learning organizations or other workplaces where people interact. However, we may have some trouble moving from the workplace to the larger world in our viewfinder. Maintaining a global mindset becomes ever more significant in today’s rapidly changing reality, especially if we thoughtfully consider the interplay between process and product.

While the practice of systems thinking has become a “lifestyle choice” for me, it can sometimes lead to becoming somewhat overwhelming by the complexities that are all around us and the ways in which our lives are so interconnected. Taking time to reflect throughout the planning process can be invaluable in bringing about excellent results with our desired outcomes, including the design and development of innovative products and services.

As a lifelong educator, the interplay of process vs. product during my practice of teaching and learning is a topic I often find myself discussing with my colleagues and students. As a professor, I want my students to succeed without being an enabler of shortcuts or low expectations, and, as some students seem to only be concerned with the final product; an “A” in the course, they may be less interested in the learning process to get there. How might you, as an HPI professional, help others to better perceive both the forest and the trees across the vast systems in which we work and live in today’s global community?

In our collective efforts to engage our ISPI membership and PIJ readers and authors, we will continue to reflect on our Mission, Vision, and Guiding Principles as well as encourage you to contribute and share your lived experiences and diverse perspectives. We always enjoy hearing from our members and readers as well as learning how the authors and their contributions have helped you to expand your range of available options for improving human performance. Let us know what you think as you examine their published work in each issue. Here is a brief description of what you will find in this issue.

We begin with Frank Fu’s article, “Sales Performance Improvement Methodology: Continuous Improvement of Sales Performance to Achieve Organizational Goals and Gain Sustainable Competitive Advantages,” which explains that sales performance improvement is a systematic approach to improving selling productivity and salesperson competence in order to accomplish organizational goals effectively, efficiently, and ethically. Consider how his findings might be helpful to your industry area.

Sarah A. Marrs, Christine J. Jensen, and Constance L. Coogle share “Using Multiple Methodologies to Evaluate Geriatric Workforce Development Programs: A Fall Prevention Example.” With so many of us Baby Boomers getting older, it’s good to know that this team is watching out for us. What other sectors would likely benefit from improved outcomes for aging and retiring seniors?

John R. Turner and Nigel Thurlow offer their “Organizational Change: The Substrate-independence Theory.” Are you familiar with this theory? How might it impact your approach to change management?

Next, Syed Adeel Ahmed and his student Brendan James Moore bring an intriguing perspective with “Utilities, Environmental Efficiency, and Corporate Responsibility Surrounding Innovative Rate Design.” How might we integrate corporate responsibility more consistently into our collective efforts?

Lastly, Judy Hale introduces and interviews two ISPI members so that we can all continue to learn more about our colleagues. This issue features two members of our ISPI Community. We highlight Rose Baker, who serves as our ISPI Board Treasurer, and John Turner, who serves as our Editor-in-Chief for Performance Improvement Quarterly. Do you know either of these two ISPI members?

We continue to encourage our readers to consider reaching out to any of these practitioners and discover what benefits you might find from these types of communication and ensuing relationships.

As always, we are so grateful to have the opportunity to share diverse perspectives from so many talented and dedicated contributors to PIJ! We are also thankful to our members and readers who look forward to reviewing the contents of each issue. We hope we are continuing to engage our membership through our online events and hopefully you will be able to attend this year’s ISPI Annual Conference in Phoenix, Arizona in May of 2024!

CALL FOR MANUSCRIPTS

Do you have an idea for an article? Have you seen a great presentation that should become an article? Are you a little short on Certified Performance Technologist recertification points? PIJ is actively seeking articles that cross the boundaries of domains, enhance creativity, introduce Human Performance Technology (HPT)-related innovations, or simply teach a new HPT tool or method. Readers enjoy seeing the application of performance improvement standards that will inspire them to action. Please submit articles by sending an email to pij@ispi.org.

Please send questions to pij@ispi.org. We look forward to seeing your contributions, comments, or questions. Again, thank you for reading!