Comments on: How Geary Rummler helped me get leaner

By: Dave

Dave — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 17:52:01 +0000

Chuck, I took the U. of M. programmed learning workshop in the spring of ’77. I didn’t mean Rummler then, though I did a few years later, but the overall approach has helped me enormously. Like you, I don’t see it as an instructional religion to adhere to rigidly, but the systems viewpoint and the focus on results have kept me from doing much more damage than I would have otherwise.

Thanks for commenting.

By: Chuck Woods

Chuck Woods — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 16:45:00 +0000

I just ran across this article. Sorry to hear about Geary. I too took his programmed instruction program at the University of Michigan back in the mid-late 70s. Although I have not used the strict construction of it for some years, I have been designing training for 30+ years, and always start with the “final exam” as a way to start the design. It became second nature. People still have difficulty seperating the “know” from the “do”. That one or two weeks with Geary and his staff may have been the most important time of self development in my career. He then, of course moved on to lean and six sigma, but even now, we use his ideas on a reagular basis to design process, etc. A lot of people still want to design processes without first describing the end product of all the steps involved.

Its good to remember where and when you learned something that you take for granted after so many years.

By: Learning Pulse | Xyleme Learning Blog

Learning Pulse | Xyleme Learning Blog — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 10:41:32 +0000

[...] Whiteboard: Dave remembers Geary Rummler, who helped him get leaner in instructional [...]

By: Dave

Dave — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 15:40:11 +0000

Kevin: the combination of lean programming and developmental testing really paid off when I was in charge of training for the Amtrak reservation system. I wrote about this back in March (http://www.daveswhiteboard.com/archives/211” rel=”nofollow”>Training: Getting to Lean); that post even has a try-it-yourself example.

Laurie: thanks for the link to Grant. I hadn’t seen this before.

By: Laurie

Laurie — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 14:19:18 +0000

Hi Dave,

You might be interested in Grant Wiggins and his Understanding by Design. The concept is similar to what you write “as working backward from the result you want to achieve.”

Here is his site: http://www.grantwiggins.org/
and here is a Teachers College presentation that sums up the ideas:
http://tinyurl.com/2lzxx8

Regards,
Laurie