“All models are wrong, some are useful.”

The statistician George Box (1976) coined the phrase “All models are wrong, but some are useful.” I have used this quote many times… in workshops, as content in lessons for clients on modeling and simulation and at cocktail hour. Okay not at cocktail hour!!

If you are one of the seven avid followers of this blog, you have seen the continual efforts to make the Performance Improvement Process Model, (PIPM) now in it’s tenth iteration, useful. Every time I post an update or use it in an article, I get more feedback that moves me and the model closer to that goal.

Recently I received a comment from my friend and colleague Dr. Jim Hill, the CEO of Organizational Performance Systems, regarding the PIPM on LinkedIn. Jim reminded me that part of the value consultants bring to their clients is the adaptation of “our” models (there are soooo many) to fit their processes and language. So very true!

Another good friend and colleague of mine, Lieutenant Commander Janice Kirk, is doing exactly what Jim described, using the PIPM and a host of other models to inform the creation of a process model for the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) Materiel Division (the folks that buy the big equipment aka tanks, planes and submarines) to clearly explain to project stakeholders what the differences are between Needs Assessment/Analysis and Training Needs Analysis. With her permission, I am sharing it below.

I know… hard to read in this form! If you right click the image and select “open in a new tab” you can see a larger image that’s much easier to read. (You’re welcome!) If you are a “keener” and compare this model to the PIPM, you will see that the major steps are the same… it’s the bits in between that:

1. Drill down more,
2. Address the ADM Mat specific requirements, and
3. Link to the military guidance (Canadian Forces Individual Training and Education System (CFITES) policies and processes.

It’s a great example to underscore Dr. Hill’s advice that we need to work within and adjust to the client’s processes and just as importantly, speak their language. If you did open up Janice’s diagram in a new tab, you have seen it is rife with “CAF” TLA’s (Three Letter Acronyms) and more! Just for fun, I have included them below under TLA’s in case you are REALLY interested 🙂

References
Box, G.P. (1976). Science and statistics. Journal of the American Statistical Association 71(356) pages 791-799.

TLAs

ICT: Initial Cadre Training – training which enables CAF members to perform the tasks associated with new equipment, systems or directives upon their fielding, delivery or initiation. The responsibility for this training rests with the Project Management Office/Contractor for new equipment and systems, unless specified otherwise in the statement of requirements.

JBS: Job Based Specification – the document that describes the tasks, medical requirements etc for specific jobs.

MES: Military Employment Structure – The arrangement of CF [Canadian Forces] jobs into structural elements, consisting of military career fields, occupations and sub-occupations that collectively provide the necessary management framework for the personnel life cycle of activities across all components of the CF and throughout the spectrum of conflict.

MOS: Military Occupation Structure- The arrangement of Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) jobs into structural elements, consisting of military career fields, occupations and sub-occupations that collectively provide the necessary management framework for the personnel life cycle of activities across all components of the CAF and throughout the spectrum of conflict. It is a structural arrangement of the work performed by members of the CAF.

MOS ID: Military Occupation Specification Identification Code – Equivalent to a National Occupation Code.

QS: Qualification Standard – Describes how well the job should be done using Performance Objectives (POs).

QSP: A combined QS and TP. Far more efficient.

RQ: Rank Qualification – A qualification, obtained via formal training, that enables a member to perform one or more entry level occupational jobs, where required to attain a new substantive rank (RQs replace former occupation qualification levels, such as QL3, QL5, etc.)

SST: Steady State Training – training identified in the QS/RQ for normal career progression.

TP: Training Plan – describes the instructional programme which will enable the learner to achieve, at optimum cost, the performance objectives from the QS.