3 Rationale for Problem Analysis

Identifying Warranted Solutions

Training is a solution to closing the gap but not the end all, as non-instructional solutions may offer more effective and efficient remedies. When individuals were self-assessed for performance gaps very few identified the lack of training as the primary barrier to improving their performance (Dean et al., 1996). Most of the participants in their study identified environmental factors, lack of resources, and lack of incentives as barriers to improving their performance. Harless (1973) framed this in his FEA: “Is it a problem that requires instruction?”

One way to determine if a problem warrants an instructional or non-instructional intervention is to use a well-thought-out roadmap for solving performance problems. Mager and Pipe (1997) created a road map based on the tenet that every action has an equal and opposite one. Acknowledging the interrelatedness of every action is systems thinking. Mager and Pipe’s road map provides a decision tree with each question and answer taking you through a critical analysis of an NA. It serves as a job aid to ensure an instructional designer does not omit an important signpost on the road to solving the problem. For example, it determines if one should provide training or a nontraining solution. This stepwise process aids an analyst in avoiding the pitfall of designing unwarranted instructional intervention(s) that could be a wasteful expenditure of time and money. For example, one of their questions on the map is whether people can be trained to resolve the issue.

Professional Standards 

The negative consequence of foregoing PA could not only cost an instructional designer his or her job but also could cost an organization their return on investment. Negligence is magnified by the magnitude and ramifications of the ID task. For example, if you were tasked with creating a more efficient system for aiding veterans’ attainment of their benefits, but failed to fully understand the user, user performance, and performance context, as well as the military culture, history of past attempts to improve the system, et cetera, the problem would never be fully addressed. ISPI’s Performance Technologist Standard Number 6 is to determine the cause. Therefore, it behooves a novice analyst to follow professional standards to serve his or her clients properly.