Organizational Intelligence: A Guide to Understanding the Business of Your Organization for HR, Training, and Performance Consulting

Essential resources for training and HR professionals

Kenneth H. Silber and Lynn Kearny

Organizational Intelligence

A Guide to Understanding the business of your organization for HR, Training, and Performance Consulting

Organizational Intelligence

To succeed, those who practice as training, HPT, ID, OD, HR, or IT professionals must understand the "language of business," and the key business issues and measures of the organizations we work for. Organizational Intelligence shows how to use the proven Business Logics Model to gather and synthesize the information needed to understand organizations, and how to align our work to key business issues, explain it in appropriate language, and measure it in a meaningful way.

"Kearny and Silber have taken the complex interrelated aspects of a business and broken them into components and key questions that can help anyone understand the essence of that business." —Julie O'Mara, past president, American Society for Training and Development

"This book should be in your professional library. It provides models to understand how organizations work, and gives you tools to increase your business acumen and think like the CEO. It's your doorway to a seat at the table."
—Dr. Roger M. Addison, CPT; past director, International Society for Performance Improvement, and past president, International Federation of Training and Development Organisations Ltd.

"Nobody can touch Ken Silber and Lynn Kearny for their clarity of thought and their ability to communicate. Organizational Intelligence provides the most useful, simple, and comprehensive approach to understanding your clients. Whether you are a newcomer or an old-timer, buy, borrow, or steal a copy. The job aids alone are worth the price."
—Thiagi (Dr. Sivasailam Thiagarajan), two-time ISPI president, Gilbert Award–winning performance improvement guru

"Organizational Intelligence is the cornerstone text for the HPT field we've been wanting for so long. It provides the organizational context for the work we do in a way that is understandable and useful. Both our new students and expert professors love it."
—Jamie D. Barron, Ed.D., chair, Training & Performance Improvement, Capella University

Kenneth H. Silber, Ph.D. CPT, is President, www.silberperformance.com, and Associate Professor, Emeritus, Instructional Technology, Northern Illinois University. He is also an Adjunct Professor, Training and Performance Improvement at Capella University. For 45 years, he has been working in corporate, academic, and consulting settings to produce results for clients. Ken designed and implemented HPT interventions (ID-based and non-training) that have saved millions of dollars. He taught HPT/ ID skills to over two thousand students and employees. Ken has co-edited ISPI’s ISPI Handbook Training and Improving Workplace Performance, edited ISPI’s From Training to Performance Series, co-authored two chapters for ISPI’s HPT Handbook 3rd Edition, co-authored Writing Training Materials That Work, published 60 articles and made over 100 presentations. He has earned his e-mail handle, wiseoldken@aol.com.

Lynn Kearny, CPT, has headed her own performance consulting firm in Oakland California for over 25 years. She has wide experience assessing organizational needs and designing and developing performance improvement interventions. She also partners with clients to plan and graphically facilitate meetings and think tanks. She specializes in graphics to communicate complex and abstract ideas in a clear, memorable way. Lynn has worked in North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa. Clients include financial, manufacturing, retail, high- tech, governmental, and non-profit organizations. She has received numerous honors and awards from ISPI (International Society for Performance Improvement), including the coveted Outstanding Instructional Product award. Lynn served on ISPI’s international board of directors and is currently faculty for both of ISPI’s HPT Institutes. She has contributed chapters and articles and published five books relating to performance improvement.
She can be reached at lkearny@sprintmail.com, Web page at http://www.ifvp.org/directory/lkearny/index.htm.