HPI sound

The authors compare the development of human performance improvement with c reating chicken soup: "The ingredients for chicken soup can vary tremendous ly. Everyone who makes it will swear that their soup is the most traditiona l, tastes the best, or has the greatest medicinal value. If you aren't a so up connoisseur, such distinctions are often difficult to see." And so it is with HPI, a product with many ingredients that vary depending on who the cook is: behaviorists, instructional designers, organizational d evelopment specialists, systems theory people, and so forth. After providin g a refresher course in many of those disciplines, the authors document and describe in detail the contributions of many of the chefs who have stirred the HPI soup, including Chris Argyris Peter Drucker Robert Gagne Joe Harless Susan Markle Donald Tosti. Sanders and Ruggles begin the article by tracing the origins of HPI, with a timeline that documents notable advances ill the field. They then turn the ir focus on the future, asking and answering the question, Where does the f ield go from here? Their answer: "We must begin to understand which of the theories has the gr eatest chance of success. These theories will become the essential ingredie nts of HPI soup, which in turn will increase the acceptance and value of pe rformance consulting work."