Nash Equilibrium in Employee/Employee Relations

Did you see the movie A Beautiful Mind? I think the Nash equilibrium (governing dynamics) shown in the bar scene, with the guys trying to get girls, applies in the relationship between employers and employees--i.e., if employers make decisions that balance what is best for the company and what is best for the employees, the result is optimal for both. Same thing goes for employees; however, I think the employer must initiate the process to develop the trust needed for employees to do the same. Why the employer? Because the power balance favors the employer; thus the employer is the only one who can eliminate fear by being just.

Of course, all this is a way to restate the Golden Rule and "Love thy neighbor as thyself" in a mathematical way.

David Orr

"Lean" Training Development

Formal instructional design processes, like the standard ADDIE system (Analyze, Design, Develop, Implement and Evaluate), have long been responsible for creating expensive training. In a manner similar to the movement away from cumbersome, linear, waterfall software development systems to more "lean," iterative methods, instructional design is moving to lean methods also.

Elsewhere in this blog I outlined a FAST development methodology for training, which you may want to check out. http://tipsbuscom.blogspot.com/2007/03/fast-training-development.html.

Sivasailam Thiagarajan, also known as "Thiagi," has been one of the more creative forces in instructional design for years. He has addressed lean approaches to instructional design in his article "Rapid Instructional Design" http://www.thiagi.com/article-rid.html. Here is a wealth of tips and techniques that every instructional designer or manager seeking faster training development ought to read.

David Orr