Roger Kaufman

• PhD
• Florida State University

Alex Haley's (1976) Roots: The Saga of an American Family signaled that things are not isolated from past heritages. It is useful to realize that innovations are sometimes transformational and sometimes happen within professional silos (Kuhn, 1962, 1970). So it might be with “design thinking” and its development and evolution in the engineering and...

For Mega thinking and planning to have its most powerful impact, defining what it is, what it does, and how it relates to other levels of planning is important. This article defines Mega and shows how it may deliver worthy results and have a positive impact on performance.

Professionals are responsible for the results, consequences, and payoffs they deliver. This requires a renewed focus on the evidence‐based decisions. Critical for this is a consistency in language that leaves no confusion regarding the value added for individuals, organization, and society. This glossary provides a basis for defining and achieving...

Decision makers are tasked with making good and evidence‐based decisions. What they choose must bring positive results. A useful decision will be based on hard criteria for (1) where the institution is going, (2) why it is going there, (3) how it will add value for all stakeholders, and (4) whether it provides the criteria for making effective and...

Mega thinking and planning has evolved, based on application and performance feedback, for almost 40 years. This article describes what has been working to measurably improve our shared world.

Global corporations have been increasing their efforts to promote themselves as socially responsible in a bid to gain legitimacy. Past evaluations have revealed that the theory of corporate social responsibility only became a specialized area of analysis in the second half of the 20th century. The field of corporate social responsibility has howeve...

This article discusses how a societal-referenced approach to strategic thinking and planning can add measurable value to logistic distribution systems using small and medium business in the City of Cajeme, Sonora, Mexico as the platform. By enlarging the value chain to include societal value to organizational value, improvements in effectiveness an...

While it is conventional and comfortable to start professional performance improvement with analysis, doing so might make us wrong about 80% to 90% of the time. Analysis and cure, using Harless's (1975) immortal insight, are vital, but starting there is problematic. First do an assessment to justify where the organization is headed (and why go ther...

Sociologists, political scientists, and economists have described different dimensions and functions of social capital from their disciplinary perspectives, emphasizing the value and impact of social relationships, governance institutions, or efficient and reliable economic transactions, respectively. In this article, we propose to integrate all th...

Sociologists, political scientists and economists have described different dimensions and functions of social capital from their disciplinary perspectives, emphasizing the value and impact of social relationships, governance institutions or efficient and reliable economic transactions, respectively. In this chapter, we will propose to integrate all...

A project for the president and minister of tourism of Panama was designed to transform (not change or tinker with) the City of Colon. Colon is the second largest city in Panama and the eastern entrance to the Panama Canal, and it is a city in crisis, with high crime and a low standard of living for most citizens, which is teetering on the edge of...

Conventional human performance technology has had a good run. It allowed scientific and data-based research to be applied to improve performance, usually just individual performance. The field must be expanded without losing this individual performance focus to include a scope that measurably improves performance for individuals and organizations a...

Defining, justifying, and delivering useful results are a vital part of being a human and organizational performance professional. This article identifies the requirements for a generic process model for individual and organizational performance and contribution, examines a number of process models that are available, and then links them with vario...

Where is an organization heading and why is it going there are vital questions and yet they are largely ignored or assumed. When they are considered, rarely does the process recognize the answers to these questions as forms of objectives. We explore the “ideal vision” that all organizations should share and the process for constructing and aligning...

Following a Mega focus on adding value to society, universities can create social capital by incubating and “graduating” not just individuals but organizations. This article discusses how the Sonora Institute of Technology implemented this new approach and developed the South of Sonora corridor, improving self-sufficiency, quality of life, and othe...

Our main objective is to study regularity of Sobolev functions on metric measure spaces equipped with a doubling measure. We show that every Sobolev function, whose gradient is integrable to power one, has Lebesgue points outside a set of capacity zero. We also show that every such function coincides with a Holder continuous Sobolev function outsid...

We have a window of opportunity that has the attention of just about everyone who would ordinarily defend the status quo. To get viable transformation, we have to rethink some core assumptions and conventional modes of operation––drivers––that might have served us in the past, but if continued, will likely continue to be the seeds of our destructio...

Geary Rummler made a lasting impact on the companies he worked with, the individual clients he supported, the International Society for Performance Improvement, and the many colleagues he influenced through his writings, presentations, leadership, and collegial sharing. Here are some of their thoughts.

Many people resign themselves to play “follow the leader” and allow others to make decisions that have major impact on their professional and personal lives. Nevertheless, we can, if we choose, take control of our own future and become our own leader and thus decide what we will do and accomplish. This article provides the concepts and tools to tak...

All organizations are means to societal ends, and thus Mega thinking and planning starts with a primary focus on adding value for all stakeholders, including our shared society. It is pragmatic, realistic, practical, and ethical. Defining and achieving continual organizational success is possible. It relies on three basic elements: (1) a societal v...

This article develops a methodology, based on the concepts of a results-referenced needs assessment, to determine and prioritize perceived areas of existing or potential concern in an academic institution. The results were used to develop a baseline against which progress in addressing those concerns can be measured over time for the purpose of ass...

This study examines types of indicators which can be used to determine societal impact and how these indicators can be applied by an agency to provide useful information to its program planners. Using the Organizational Elements Model as a framework for the study, this project sought to define what data should be collected by the Florida Division o...

Planning looks to the future. It can have several different intentions and frames of reference; (a) to pursue more economical ways and means to implement courses, activities, and jobs based on accepted purposes; (b) to seek ways to increase the efficiency of an entire educational system, including all of its parts (such as a curriculum, a school, a...

Education is far too costly an enterprise to operate without precise indicators of the successes and consequences of educational interventions. Unfortunately, many educational economists and educators have resisted measuring the societal impacts of educational programs, options, and interventions because a reliable and valid metric did not exist fo...

The means and resources used by an organization are best understood within the context of results and payoffs. Organizations, both public and private, are means to societal ends. In order to be accountable for their value to society, organizations must demonstrate that what they produce and/or deliver is of positive value for the time, money, and r...

Where are the world's organizations headed? What do they see as their primary destination and contribution? What do they commit to deliver and to whom? How rigorous are they in defining their destinations? What label do they use to describe statements of their intended future? To find the answers to these and other questions, we examined 26 of the...

Performance technology is expanding its horizons. We have witnessed an increasingly wider-ang]e concern which has moved from a focus on task components to jobs, and from those to organizational concerns—a movement from the microscopic to the big picture. In making this transition, there are important lessons to be learned from environmentalists: th...

Performance technology is expanding its horizons. We have witnessed an increasingly wider–angle concern which has moved from a focus on task components to jobs, and from those to organizational concerns–a movement from the microscopic to the big picture. In making this transition, there are important lessons to be learned from environmentalists: th...

Most people understand the importance of objectives and the link between having objectives and accomplishing results. However, there is a difference between a well-defined objective and a poorly developed objective both in how they are constructed and in what they ultimately lead to. In this article, we explore three levels of objectives, provide e...

Ethics as part of strategic planning are about adding measurable value to our shared world, not just talking about doing the right things.

Mega planning has a primary focus on adding value for all stakeholders. It is realistic, practical, and ethical. Denning and then achieving sustained organizational success is possible. It relies on three basic elements:1. A societal value-added “frame of mind” or paradigm: your perspective about your organization, people, and our world. It focuses...

Our realities have shifted. What was comfortable and acceptable will no longer provide useful guidance on what any HRD professional uses, does, and delivers. There is a new and overriding focus on external value added for both clients and society. This article gives the rationale and guidance on what it takes to adjust our perspectives in order to...

ata make the world go 'round, or at least useful data do. Therefore, it is essential that data relate to important questions, so that use- ful decisions can be made about what works, what doesn't, what to keep, and what to change. Data collection must consequently be precisely targeted toward useful questions and results, in which case data can pla...

Identifies six critical success factors to rethink performance improvement following the terrorist attacks of September 11. Topics include moving out of traditional paradigms to use wider boundaries for planning and continuous improvement; focusing on end results; levels of planning; ideal visions; preparing clear, measurable objectives; and defini...

Our realities have shifted. What was comfortable and acceptable will no longer provide useful guidance on what any HRD professional uses, does, and delivers. There is a new and overriding focus on external value added for both clients and society. This article gives the rationale and guidance on what it takes to adjust our perspectives in order to...

Introduces a new, comprehensive planning and change concept for universities, "change creation," that encompasses both strategic planning and a transition process for the organization from "what is" to "what should be." After exploring change, why it often fails, and the tenets of change creation, presents its steps. A few are: leadership team prep...

Examines popular approaches to performance and organizational improvement to see what flaws they contain and how continued practice will impede progress. Discusses benchmarking; quality management/continuous improvement; needs assessment; training; downsizing; reengineering; system(s) approach; and strategic planning. Describes the Organizational E...

The future of educational design, development, and improvement lies in integrating "how" with "what" and "why." Critical strategic thinking factors include abandoning comfort zones; focusing on ends, not means; linking all three planning and result levels; starting with an ideal vision; preparing measurable objectives; and properly defining "need."...

El pensamiento estratégico -- El perfil del ejecutivo -- Guía del ejecutivo para la gestión del rendimiento -- Guía del mando para la delegación efectiva -- Guía para el autodesarrollo de ejecutivos -- La información de retorno inmediata --Como gestionar constructivamente las diferencias

For almost 40 years, Donald Kirkpatrick's framework for evaluation has been used as a basic model for the identification and targeting of training-specific interventions in business, government, military, and industry alike. By approaching evaluation from four different perspectives—reaction, learning, behavior, and results—the model has provided a...

Discusses the development of various technologies up through the Internet, and notes that the means have been confused with the ends. Argues that educators and users should first focus on the learning material's content and on performance design that delivers useful results, before selecting the means of delivery (the Internet). (AEF)

Educators who benchmark other "successful" educational agencies and/or private-sector organizations to find "best-practice" ideas face potential pitfalls. The benchmarked organization may have incompatible goals and objectives, obsolete processes and operations, and different primary clients and beneficiaries. Most organizations, public or private,...

This paper describes a joint industry, academy, and government effort to harness technology to maintain a competent national maintenance workforce in the face of accelerating technological change. The study was motivated by a growing awareness that the incidence of first-time successful equipment repairs is generally decreasing, that the incidence...

Discusses the need to shift from the old models for organizational development to the new methods of quality management and continuous improvement, visions and visioning, and strategic planning, despite inappropriate criticisms they receive. (AEF)

An organization needs to establish an ideal and shared "vision" of what it, as well as society in general, should be like in the future. After the vision is set, the organization should define what it will deliver and should work cooperatively toward creating that vision. (AEF)

Every organization needs a plan for achieving its objectives; however, strategic plans are often developed for the wrong reasons. This book presents self-help tools for school leaders interested in assessing the efficacy of their school's strategic plan. Chapter 1 explains why it is important to review educational strategic plans. Chapter 2 identif...

Discussion of quality management and approaches to organizational success focuses on benchmarking and the integration of other approaches including strategic planning, ideal visions, and reengineering. Topics include performance improvement; decision making; internal benchmarking; and quality targets for the organization, clients, and societal good...

Discusses total quality management principles and expands conventional total quality programs to go beyond client satisfaction by including societal usefulness. Highlights include contributing to future well-being; paradigm shifts; and integrating quality management plus and strategic planning to create synergistic organizational improvement. (LRW)

Educators' efforts to employ quality management (QM) and strategic planning (SP) processes often fail because they plan incompletely; view QM and SP as distinct, parallel efforts; or fail to establish systemic responsibility for desired changes. This article introduces a four-phase framework that integrates strategic planning and quality management...

Confusion in educational planning stems from having no clear objectives and no clear knowledge of the real clients. The new educational model involves contributing to socially useful results, not simply teaching subjects and conveying content information. Instead of relying on self-defeating techniques and mind-sets, educators can benefit from bein...

This article presents a concise argument for strategic planning for training effectiveness evaluation for high–risk operations including nuclear power training. The article looks at external criteria for such evaluation including considerations of: (1) the safety of the general population, (2) the safety of employees, and (3) the cost–effective del...

Junior picked up the odd, round piece of glass lying on the coffee table. At three he didn't quite know what it was, but it intrigued him. Outside he went. Down on his hands and knees on the grass, he put it in front of his right eye, and peered into the turf. He let out a scream, dashed into the house, and told his mom that they were being attacke...

Total Quality Management Plus (TQM) goes beyond customer satisfaction to consider quality of life, environmental conditions, crime rates, and health and well-being. Steps to integrate such concerns into the TQM process include being ready for challenges, creating a quality system to collect performance data, defining the ideal school and world visi...