Knowledge + Learning = Performance

KLP stands for Knowledge + Learning = Performance. Why this equation? Well, after nearly 20 years of experience in the workplace learning and performance improvement field, I've seen many evolutions take place. There’s been the shift from predominantly classroom training to the wide-spread use of elearning solutions. There’s been a shift from long multi-day (and even multi-week) courses to short modularized courses. There’s been a shift from big curriculums that are defined and controlled by the employee’s organization to personalized instruction customized to each individual’s needs. These are but a few of the biggest trends I’ve seen and I’m sure there are more to come.

One thing that many in the field agree upon is that the focus really needs to be on the performance side of the equation (looking at both individual performance and organizational performance or business results). However, some will argue that learning is what gets you there. Some say it's knowledge. I, and perhaps you as well, think it takes both. I believe we need to bring together the multiple disciplines of organizational learning, instructional design, knowledge management, and others in order to maximize performance—for the sake of individuals as well as organizations.

Through this blog, I will explore the areas of knowledge and learning and how they help to maximize performance. I’ll also share ways that we can utilize technology to better enable performance. I’ll also discuss management considerations—because without both project management and change management, even the best designed performance improvement solution runs the risk of failure.

So please join me on this journey and perhaps together we can share our own knowledge and learning to improve the performance of individuals and organizations!

- Robin

Copyright Robin Donnan 2007. All Rights Reserved.
Performance Associates, Inc.

In my work facilitating web conferences and leading geographically-dispersed teams, I’ve found it really helps to share photos to bring a human element to the electronic medium. So for those of you who haven’t met me in person, this is me:

And a little more about my background…

I’ve been working in the workplace learning and performance improvement field since 1988 when I earned my Master’s degree in Instructional Technology from Rochester Institute of Technology. During the first eight years of my career, I held corporate training positions with Accenture, Waste Management, and Arthur Andersen. Then in 1995, I started my own company, Performance Associates, where we design and develop creative technology, self paced, and classroom delivered performance solutions. I’ve had the pleasure of working on numerous workplace learning and performance improvement projects with many great clients over the years. Depending on the performance need, our custom solutions may include classroom training, e-learning courseware, simulations, games, help systems, job aids and/or reference manuals, web sites, synchronous or asynchronous web conferencing, or other solutions. Bottom line, I really love the work I do! The variety of content, clients, and solutions always keeps things interesting, and I truly enjoy the creative side of designing and developing effective learning solutions.

Now fast forward to December 2006… I’ve started pursuing a doctorate in Learning Management from Walden University. I selected Walden University because of the program offerings, the school’s accreditation, and the ability to complete the program online (with just 20 days of face-to-face time via residencies). I know it’s going to be a long road (I’m estimating it will take approximately 4 years), but I’m happy to be on my way. Since I was 19, I’ve always planned on getting my PhD once I was in my 40s; so it’s very fulfilling to be realizing one of my lifelong goals. My practical goal is to use the additional credentials as a way to break into presenting, publishing, and adjunct teaching. My more esoteric goal is to apply my current knowledge of instructional design and performance improvement, add to it from the relatively new field of knowledge management, and then marry the two together to help improve individual and organizational effectiveness—particularly for small to mid-sized businesses (which represent the majority of businesses in the world, plus whom I believe are where the true source of innovation and future economic sustainability is likely to come in the future). Whew! That’s quite a mouthful, isn’t it? ;-)

If you’d like to read my detailed credentials, please check out my profile on LinkedIn. (And if you haven’t tried LinkedIn yet, I highly recommend it! It’s an excellent networking tool.)

- Robin

Copyright Robin Donnan 2007. All Rights Reserved.
Performance Associates, Inc.

Definitions of knowledge vary greatly. Some are simple, such as “specific information about something” (American Heritage Dictionary). Some are more complex and begin to bring in other elements such as understanding and awareness of objects such as facts, data, and information. There is the question of how knowledge can be gathered or created. And then there is the whole question of what is the value of knowledge if it can’t be applied—which brings us to the need for such topics as knowledge sharing and knowledge transfer.

Philosophers have debated the nature and meaning of knowledge all the way back to Plato and Aristotle. Not being a philosopher myself, I am not able to enter that debate. However, coming from the perspective of helping adults learn and acquire knowledge, I believe that knowledge provides a foundational building block upon which higher-level skills and thinking can flourish. Knowledge can come in many forms (data, information, stories, or even learned physical responses such as that possessed by a surgeon or dancer). Knowledge can be easy to access and well defined (explicit) or it can be elusive and hard to capture (tacit). And, beautifully, knowledge can grow and be the basis of future innovation.

As a doctoral student in Knowledge Management, my own definition of knowledge is evolving and I’ll share its continuing evolution within this blog. For now, I present one definition that comes from the classic Knowledge Management text, Working Knowledge: How Organizations Manage What They Know. In the first chapter of this book, Davenport and Prusak themselves work to define knowledge. They introduce the concepts of data versus information versus knowledge and then present the following definition of knowledge:

“Knowledge is a fluid mix of framed experience, values, contextual information, and expert insight that provides a framework for evaluating and incorporating new experiences and information. It originates and is applied in the minds of knowers. In organizations, if often becomes embedded not only in documents or repositories but also in organizational routines, processes, practices, and norms.” (Davenport & Prusak, 2000, p. 5)

Having a definition such as this will be helpful as we explore how knowledge, learning, and performance are intertwined. Key ideas in Davenport and Prusak’s definition that are important to point out include the concepts of fluidity or the ever-changing nature of knowledge and how it is often embedded in hard-to-reach places such as “the minds of knowers” and within “organizational routines, processes, practices, and norms.” These two concepts in particular point to the challenges of working with knowledge—it is ever changing and often difficult to access.

However, I believe that by tapping into—or helping individuals and organizations learn ways to tap into their—knowledge in a systematic way, true innovation occurs and maximum potential can be realized. So for my working definition of knowledge, I will say that knowledge feeds learning, learning provides an environment that enables the learner to not only acquire knowledge but also create new knowledge, and performance is the result of what happens when knowledge and learning work in concert with one another. Let us see how this working definition evolves in the coming months and years as I continue my doctoral studies.

References:

Davenport, T., & Prusak, L. (2000). Working knowledge: How organizations manage what they know (Paperback ed.). Boston: Harvard Business School Press. (Original work published 1998)

Knowledge. (n.d.). The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Retrieved July 27, 2007, from Answers.com Web site: http://www.answers.com/topic/knowledge

- Robin

Copyright Robin Donnan 2007. All Rights Reserved.
Performance Associates, Inc.

Yesterday, we explored a definition for knowledge. Today, let’s look to defining learning and how it differs from knowledge. Returning to the American Heritage Dictionary, learning can be defined as “the act, process, or experience of gaining knowledge or skill; knowledge or skill gained through schooling or study.” Aha! So there is an acknowledged link between knowledge and learning! However, it’s important to note that learning includes the idea of skill acquisition as well.

So let’s return to my working definition of knowledge and break it down in light of this basic definition of learning:

- Knowledge feeds learning

This seems very consistent with the basic definition of learning.

- Learning provides an environment that enables the learner to not only acquire knowledge but also create new knowledge

The American Heritage Dictionary definition of learning addresses the acquisition of knowledge, but it does not address the higher-order thinking skills related to creating new knowledge. It also suggests that learning may be restricted to only formal education, but we know that much learning occurs informally and even on-the-job.

- Performance is the result of what happens when knowledge and learning work in concert with one another.

Looking at the definition of learning, I must consider whether my equation of Knowledge + Learning = Performance is flawed. If I convert the equation to reflect the learning definition, it would read: Knowledge + Knowledge + Skill = Performance. Or would that be 2K + S = P? But I digress (especially considering that we are using the term "equation" somewhat loosely—as a conceptual equation rather than a purely mathematical one).

The important thing for us to remember from this discussion is that knowledge is an integral portion of learning and both knowledge and learning need each other to yield the desired performance.

References:

Learning. (n.d.). The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Retrieved July 28, 2007, from Answers.com Web site: http://www.answers.com/topic/learning

- Robin

Copyright Robin Donnan 2007. All Rights Reserved.
Performance Associates, Inc.

Instead of looking to the American Heritage Dictionary for our definition of performance, today I’ll lead with what I believe performance is (based on my experience as a workplace learning and performance improvement professional). I would say that performance can be defined as:

The ability of individuals and organizations to take action in a desired manner, as measured based on observable skills (in the individual) and changes in business results (for the organization).

Given this definition, one can begin to see how it is that knowledge and learning provide the building blocks for achieving desired performance, for without knowledge and learning how can an individual or organization be expected to perform as desired? (Unless by serendipity or an amazing stroke of luck!)

As I pursue my doctoral studies, I’ll be exploring this concept of the interaction of knowledge, learning, and performance. Specifically, my aim is to apply my existing knowledge of workplace learning and performance improvement, add to it from the emerging field of knowledge management, and combine these to maximize organizational and individual performance.

I sincerely believe that there is untapped potential between the two fields of instructional design and knowledge management that can be used to help people and organizations to be the best they can be, e.g., helping them maximize their knowledge assets, getting them the right information and skills just-in-time and just-in-place, and creating an environment where they can innovate and create new knowledge and continuous learning.

Thus by combining the best of both these fields in a practical manner, I hope to maximize the effectiveness—and performance—of individuals and organizations. This in turn can help improve the profitability and viability of individuals and organizations in the increasingly complex and demanding corporate world.

- Robin

Copyright Robin Donnan 2007. All Rights Reserved.
Performance Associates, Inc.