Seeking, Expanding and Integrating Expertise

The Six Boxes™ Model gives us a framework for organizing the things we already know about performance, and for further expanding our expertise – as individuals or teams.

None of us is an expert about everything in The Six Boxes. Because the model prompts us to reach beyond the particular areas we know best, or in which we spend most of our time (e.g., trainers in Skills & Knowledge, compensation specialists in Consequences & Incentives), it helps us pull it all together into a larger comprehensive and integrated whole.

It can also help identify areas of expertise where we need advice, further reading, or additional resources.

An Evolving List of Valuable Resources

This page will evolve over time as a source of information for applying the Six Boxes and gaining expertise. If you have suggestions for additional publications or links, please email us your suggestions with a brief explanation.

Background References and White Papers

Binder, C. (2005). White Paper: What's So New About The Six Boxes™? This white paper outlines our strategy for helping to drive "performance thinking" through organizations using Six Boxes™ workshops and consulting services.

Teodorescu, T.M., and Binder, C. (2004).Competence is what matters. Performance Improvement, 43(8), 8-12. Co-authored with Tina Teodorescu, Carl's former employee and colleague, this article contrasts accomplishment-based performance analysis methods that accompany the Six Boxes Model with the current fad of “competency modeling.” It describes creation of what Binder calls a Best Practices Study and Teodorescu calls a Competence Model.

Binder C. (1998). The Six Boxes™: A Descendent of Gilbert's Behavior Engineering Model. Performance Improvement, 37(6), 48-52. This is a summary of the model, with a focus on how it can help human resources and performance improvement professionals.

Binder, C. (1995). Promoting Human Performance Technology Innovation: A Return to Our Natural Science Roots. Performance Improvement Quarterly, 8(2), 95-113. While this article might be a little scholarly for some readers, it lays out our rationale for strengthening the foundation of performance improvement methodology based on results measurement and behavior science.

Gilbert, T. F. (1978, 1996).Human Competence: Engineering Worthy Performance. Washington, DC: International Society for Performance Improvement. The key publication of our late friend and mentor, this book contains more ideas at more different levels than most books twice its size.

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Box 1: Expectatons & Feedback

Box 1 is about setting expectations and providing feedback. Here are some of our favorite resources.

Beck, D.E.,and Cowan, C.C. (1996).Spiral Dynamics: Mastering Values, Leadership and Change. London. Blackwell Business. This book is a mind-blower. Don Beck has spent most of his career understanding how values, cultures, organizations, and individuals evolve through a series of levels or "memes" as they develop increased ability to deal with complexity. Taking off from the developmental theory of Psychologist Clare Graves, Beck and Cowan articulate a remarkably subtle understanding of the stages of change and a methodology for enabling them to unfold. This book is about expectations and goals in the biggest possible way. (He, for example, was a major influence on both sides in the process that ended apartheid in South Africa and led to a peaceful transition to a new government. He has worked with corporations and governments around the world.) This book applies the authors' model and methodology to organizational management and change. It contains a particularly compelling chapter 7 entitled, "Spiral Alignment: Streaming Visions into Reality." While I disagree with some of the authors' superficial descriptions of behavioral psychology, I highly recommend their book as a whole. Read it in chunks, when you have time to reflect. I think you'll like it.

Binder, C. (2001-2004). Measurement Counts! This monthly column in ISPI's online newsletter contains guidelines, tools, and references for those who want to learn practical measurement tactics for counting behavior and job outputs, graphing results, and providing feedback for decision-making.

Esque, T.J. (1999). No Surprises Project Management: A Proven Early Warning System for Staying on Track. San Rafael, CA: ACT Publishing. This excellent book by our colleague, Timm Esque, gives step-by-step instructions and rationale for a project management methodology that ultimately got the largest microprocessor company in the world back on track with its research and development effort. The focus is on committing to clear measurable expectations and arranging continuous feedback for decision-making.

Kaufman, R., Oakley-Brown, H., Watkins, R., and Leigh, D. (2003). Strategic Planning for Success: Aligning People, Performance, and Payoffs. Pfeiffer. Roger Kaufman is a master of needs analysis and strategic planning, and this is perhaps the best of his books on the subject for managers and executives. One of the things I appreciate about Kaufman's approach is what he calls "mega planning" – taking into account the highest societal benefit and goals while planning for an organization. This is beneficial for at least two reasons. First, by recommending that corporate leaders plan for the benefit of society, he raises the ethical bar for strategic planners, which I believe is important in this era of widespread ethical transgression at the tops of some large organizations. Second, taking the largest possible context for an organization into account is becoming more and more directly relevant to business succes in these days of a shrinking world, ecological and health crises and increasingly interdependent economies. Mega planning increases the likelihood that efforts to achieve an organization's strategic objectives will be successful because they will be aligned with surrounding conditions. Kaufman and his colleagues have written a smart book for establishing Box 1 expectations at the highest level and cascading them down to the detailed individual and small group levels in any organization.

www.Zigonperf.com. Our colleague, Jack Zigon, specializes in helping companies set clear measurable expectations for individuals and groups by defining accomplishments or job outputs, especially for white collar workers and teams. There is a natural link between Zigon’s work and The Six Boxes: once you identify clear measurable expectations it is far easier to define the behavior and the behavior influences needed to optimize results.

Box 2: Tools & Resources

While there are many resources about providing better tools and resources to support performance, here are a few of our favorites.

Rummler, G.A., and Brache, A.P. (1995). Improving Performance: How to Manage the White Space in the Organization Chart. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. At the highest level in an organization, box 2 is about understanding and improving business processes, from the interaction the organization has with its external customers all the way down to how the individual contributor participates. This book offers a practical methodology for process improvement.

Smith, P., and Kearny, L. (1994). Creating Workplaces Where People Can Think. San Francisco: Pfeiffer. This is a fantastic box 2 book focused on the ergonomics of environments for knowledge workers.

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Box 3: Consequences & Incentives

Many experts claim to understand how to arrange consequences and incentives to optimize performance. The following books are among the best in laying out the scientific basis for behavior consequence management, providing practical strategies and tactics for doing so.

Daniels, A.C. (1999). Bringing Out the Best in People. New York: McGraw-Hill. This is an excellent description of how to manage consequences for optimal motivation and performance.

Daniels, A.C. (2000). Other People's Habits: How to Use Positive Reinforcement to Bring Out the Best in People Around You. New York: McGraw-Hill. Another book by Daniels, applying principles of consequence management to relationships at work and at home.

Daniels, A.C., and Daniels, J.E. (2004). Performance Management: Changing Behavior that Drives Organizational Effectiveness. Tucker, GA: Performance Management Publications. This is a re-write of the “big” book on using consequences and incentives to motivate behavior.

Pryor, K. (1999). Don’t Shoot the Dog!: The New Art of Teaching and Training. This entertaining book extends the basic principles of consequence management discovered in the laboratory to applications with both people and animals in everyday life. It’s a fun, easy read with a great deal of insight and practical recommendations for using positive reinforcement.

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Box 4: Skills & Knowledge

Of course we have a bias. Our research has shown that when skills and knowledge do not achieve fluency, they are unlikely to be remembered or applied. This is one of the main reasons that education and training fail so often.

Mager, Robert F. (1999). What Every Manager Should Know About Training: An insider’s guide to getting your money’s worth from training. Atlanta, GA: CEP Press. This great little book gives managers practical insights and tips for deciding when training is part of a performance solution, focusing on what training ought to address, selecting cost-effective training programs, and even conducting training when necessary. While it does not use The Six Boxes in its exact form, Mager definitely takes the Six Boxes categories of performance influence into account. This is a humorous, quick read. And it’s the kind of book you'll want to purchase by the bushel and give away to your colleagues, managers, and friends.

www.Fluency.org This one-page not-for-profit web site contains dozens of downloadable publications about fluency research and the practice of fluency-based instruction and coaching.

The FluencyBuilding™ Workshop Binder Riha Associates is the parent organization of SixBoxes.com. The FluencyBuilding Workshop gives corporate training departments a methodology for achieving exceptional levels of sales, service, and other types of performance by building fluent behavior – a critical positive influence in box 4.

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Box 5: Selection & Assignment (Capacity)

Check back later as we accumulate new links and references.

Box 6: Motives & Preferences (Attitude)

As we often say, if you take care of the other five boxes, Box 6 takes care of itself. If you don’t take care of the first five, there’s not a lot you can do directly to sustain positive motives, preferences and attitude. We’ll see what appears here over time. We’re not sure yet if we’ll include anything in this one!

Audio

Visit this page again in the coming weeks to hear brief audio presentations of key Six Boxes ideas and rationale.

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