Confusing Means and Ends

Ends are what you are trying to achieve while means are how you get there. Sometimes these get confused. For example, these are means: Process Improvement Education & Training Compensation Technology Quality So anyone pushing training (including e-learning) is selling a means to an end. First, you have to know what ends you’re trying to achieve. Ends can be 1) outcomes, 2) outputs or 3) performance. Training can help improve performance, but before you put on your instructional designer hat and get down to creating stuff, you need to align the means with the ends. That’s where performance analysis comes in. If you subscribe to the ADDIE process, or some variant of it, you still have to get to the point of establishing (or confirming) the ends that you are trying to achieve. For training development shops, the model should look something like this: And so...