The cure for the OCD (objectives-compulsive disorder)

Abstract

According to an April 2006 issue of "HealthDay News," an online medical advisory newsletter, "an Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder is characterized by an unusually high level of concern or anxiety about a particular subject. It is believed to be caused by a brain abnormality that affects the way information is processed." Using this disorder as an analogy, this author argues that, in the field of training and performance improvement, objectives are still being written poorly because individuals have developed an "Objectives-Compulsive Disorder" about the precision with which they must be written. People have agonized over, debated, and discussed the wording of each objective to the nth degree but have forgotten the purpose of an objective, which is to clearly state what learners need to "know," what they need to "do," and how they should "react" after an "intervention" (which may be a training program, performance enhancement system, organizational change effort, or data management solution). The author identifies five prescriptions (or antidotes) for curing "Objectives-Compulsive Disorder": (1) Substitute common terms for technical terms; (2) Limit the number of objectives; (3) Eliminate lesson or learning objectives; (4) Integrate objectives into the intervention; and (5) Create an evaluation plan. (Contains 2 tables.)