“…engineering is always a system of manipulating things.”-Thomas Gilbert, 1978
Recently I began working with a construction client, and met with one of their civil engineers. His card reads P. Eng behind his name, indicating his professional engineering license. His firm has sought my help to improve work in one area of their operation. When I looked at his business card I told him that I too was an engineer, only for human performance. Like bridge or road construction engineers, staff performance engineers must consider context, function and inputs or what I call “The 3Ws” – Workplace, Work and Workers.
I chuckle as I recall getting an engineering scholarship on a technicality since my program of study – Instructional and Performance Technology – was actually in the College of Engineering! Discussions around how it came to be that this cross-disciplinary field was housed in the Engineering faculty linked to the use of evidence-based, customized and systematic design of training and non-training solutions to solve workplace performance problems.
Dr. Thomas F. Gilbert, a Psychologist, wrote the seminal book which helped launched the field of Human Performance Technology (HPT). Gilbert is often referred to as the “Father of HPT.” Gilbert’s book, Human Competence: Engineering Worthy Performance (1978) stem from his work revealing learning programs frequently did not result in knowledge or behavioral change, and that other techniques (often in combination) were more fruitful. A Behaviorist, Gilbert focused on overt, measurable changes and specialized in testing and statistics. His main equation: (P = B x E) express that performance is a product of Individual and Environmental factors, depicted in his Behavior Engineering Model (BEM).
The BEM aids systematic analysis of root causes for a performance challenges at work, uncovering barriers and enables to improving results. The BEM is reminiscent of Gilbert’s Skinnerian background centering on stimulus-response study. Gilbert’s six-celled BEM has three Environmental factors – Data/feedback, Resources, and Incentives, and three Individual factors – Knowledge/Skills, Capacity and Motivation. Gilbert advocated analyzing Environmental factors first in that order (D, R, I) followed by the Individual ones (K/S, C, M). That would leverage the cheaper and more effective solutions first and gradually move towards the pricier, more difficult areas to address. Gilbert recognized these six variables as critical to manipulating for performance improvement. Today an award from HPT’s flagship organization – the International Society for Performance Improvement -bears Gilbert’s name, to honour his contributions to the field.
In working with my construction client I will analyze and address their group’s performance challenge by adopting a systems-level focus with “The 3Ws”, and drilling down for a closer examination of the third – Workers – with the aid of Gilbert’s BEM. Happy performance engineering!
Performcorp 