Fundamentals of Performance Improvement: A Guide to Improving People, Process, and Performance, 3rd Edition

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Overview of Performance Improvement

“America is a nation where creative approaches yield real solutions to our problems…. It's clear to me that performance technology is just such an approach.”

President George Bush¹

Society, work, and the workplace have changed dramatically. As the Industrial Era emerged from agriculture and craft orientation, people began working in large groups and living in large communities. Gone were the isolation and independence of farming or as craftspersons in small towns supported by and supporting agriculture. Industry brought large-scale machinery operated by large workforces. The industrial workplace emphasized work design and quality.

With the Information Era, the workplace began to focus on information and ...