The term engineer-to-order (ETO) denotes a style of manufacturing rather than a specific industry segment. Also called “project-based” or “custom” manufacturers, ETO companies typically have distinct characteristics about the way they conduct business that differentiate them from discrete or repetitive manufacturers.


Chuck Stewart, general manager of Cincinnati-based Encompix Inc., an ETO ERP vendor and business unit of Made2Manage Systems, explains, “ETO companies build unique products designed to customer specifications. Each product requires a unique set of item numbers, bills of material, and routings. Estimates and quotations are required to win business. Products are complex, with long lead times typically months or even years and ETO customers are heavily involved throughout the entire design and manufacturing process. Engineering changes are a way of life. Material is purchased not for inventory but for specific projects, with all actual costs allocated to that project and tracked against the original estimate. Once it is completed, the product is typically installed at the customer’s site. In most cases, aftermarket services continue throughout the life of the product.”


Contributing editor of AutomationMedia.com, Thomas R. Cutler, profiled the engineer-to-order market in a recent issue of AutomationMedia.com. The complete article may be read at http://www.automationmedia.com/ARDetail.asp?ID=%2011.


Encompix (www.encompix.com) a business unit of Made2Manage Systems, has filled the manufacturing software requirements of engineer-to-order companies since 1992. The company name reflects a commitment to developing business application solutions that encompass the complex areas of project-based and job-based manufacturing. Encompix provides ETO manufacturers with a competitive advantage by improving bottom line results.

About Made2Manage Systems Inc.

With more than 2,150 customers worldwide, Made2Manage Systems Inc. has a 20-year track record of delivering enterprise resource planning software and a broad range of services that meet the unique market specifications of more than 30 manufacturing sectors, including industrial and commercial machinery, fabricated metals, rubber and plastics, electronics, analytical and measuring equipment, furniture and fixtures, durable goods, and metals, wire and cable. Made2Manage Systems’ sustained leadership position in the ERP marketplace is built on a commitment to fostering productive, long-lasting customer relationships, developing a quality product line based on unique industry specifications, and providing excellence in customer support and professional services.

The above title is my guarantee to you. Modern medicine knows that people can come in contact with the germs that cause the flu and not get it due to a great immune system. What do colds have to do with the cold weather? Why is the flu season during the cold weather? Learn why the body catches a cold and the flu, how to get over them the fastest way and how to avoid them.


If your immune sysem is strong enough then you will not get the flu. When a person’s health is too low, the body’s intelligence tries to strenghten it. Its job is to constantly try to make the person healthy and fit, not fat. Its only goal is the best health possible. But people have many other priorities like entertainment, fun, being sociable, making money and being admired.


So when a person’s health (immune system) drops too low, the body’s intelligence tries to force you to do something about it. A person’s health and immune system are proportional to how clean or free of toxins the body is. It is constantly trying to get rid of toxins but sometimes it gets backed up. Things that help the body detoxify are heavy sweating caused by heat or exercise, sleeping, fasting and eating a light and healthy diet. The opposite things, like lack of sleep, causes the body to get backed up with these toxins.


During cold weather people get less sunlight which means less vitamin D (which is good for the immune system). Also people sweat a lot less during cold weather so saunas can help to cause more sweating. The skin is one of the 4 excretory organs of the body which also include the lungs, liver and kidneys. The colon is not an excretory organ since it is outside the body proper. That is medical talk.


With Bikrams Hot Yoga, you do yoga exercise in a room that is 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Americans have a tendency to over eat and under sleep especially around the holidays. I saw on the forums before thanksgiving that more people are asking what to do about a cold.


So the body’s intelligence allows you to get sick so you will do the things that you were unwilling to do, like taking off work, eating less and sleeping more. Then after the flu, you are healthier than you were before the flu. If you do not do these things then the flu can last a long time.


The quickest way to get over a cold or the flu is fasting, according to Mark Twain and I. That causes the body to detoxify at the fastest rate possible. If you can’t fast, then just eat only fruit, especially fruits high in vitamin C, until you are better. You already know about getting plenty of rest and drinking enough fluids. For more on this, see my website: Colds and the Flu


Copyright 2006 by Chuck Bluestein

Trion, a division of Fedders Corporation, has developed an innovative mist collector called the Mini Mist Eliminator (Mini M.E.). Virtually all screw machines, CNC machines, surface and centerless grinders use water-soluble, synthetic and petroleum coolants to protect cutting tools and parts. The mists associated with these coolants can be harmful to the health of the machine operator through inhalation and contact with the skin and eyes. Based on potential health risks, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has established recommended exposure limits for oil mist.



The Mini M.E. removes oil mist from the air by utilizing the principle of electrostatic precipitation. This principle involves drawing the oil mist through an impinger which removes a majority of the mist, especially large droplets. The remaining mist is drawn through an ionizing section, charging the remaining mist particles which then pass through oppositely charged collector plates. The charged mist particles are attracted to the collector plates like a magnet. These particles then drip back down to be recaptured or drained away. The dirty collector plates can be simply washed clean, eliminating costly filter replacements.



The Mini M.E. also eliminates the need for extensive duct work because it can be easily mounted on the machine, platform or ceiling. This also helps to free up floor space. The Mini M.E. can help save on energy costs by being wired directly to the machine tool control, operating only when the machine tool does. It also helps to reduce maintenance costs by protecting equipment from oil mist.



This quality unit not only traps and removes the oil mist, but also the smoke associated with cutting tools and grinders. The Mini M.E. cleans and recirculates indoor air with up to 95% efficiency rate on 0.3 micron particles. It also offers a great advantage in that it can be seamlessly integrated into pre-existing machine tool systems.



Trion is one of the most trusted names in air purification systems. Trion has produced high quality products for industrial, commercial, military and residential markets since 1947.



About the Author – Chuck Jaymes is an indoor air quality professional and



offers reviews and comparisons about Mist Collector OscarAir, Inc.

Andrew Cohen has a magazine with this title. He claimed that he was enlightened but said that he had doubts about it all the time. So his definition of it included having doubts about himself. I am certain that I am not enlightened and have no doubts about it. But I am also certain about what enlightenment is. It is available to practically every person, but it is optional. This article could also be called East Meets West.



In psychology, they have the flow experience. There are a few books on it like, Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience (© 1990) by Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (last name pronounced “cheeks sent me high”). Dr. Seligman (former president of American Psychological Association) calls him “one towering figure in the social sciences.” The first line of this book says “Twenty-three hundred years ago Aristotle concluded that, more than anything else, men and women seek happiness.”



In his book, Authentic Happiness (2003), Dr. Seligman (author of a dozen books on psychology) describes the flow experience like this: “When does time stop for you? When do you find yourself doing exactly what you want to be doing, and never wanting it to end? Is it painting, or making love, or playing volleyball, or talking before a group, or rock climbing, or listening sympathetically to someone else’s troubles?”



The back of the book, Flow, says “These investigations have revealed that what makes experience genuinely satisfying is a state of consciousness called flow– a state of concentration so focused that it amounts to absolute absorption in an activity.” Absolute is a powerful word. It is used to describe God. People can experience the flow at different degrees. I would play volleyball for hours and feel it during the whole time but at different degrees. Sometimes for a few minutes I would experience the flow experience to the infinite degree. This is the greatest thing that a human being can feel.



A woman had a near death experience and wrote a book about it. She said that while she was dead she felt something nicer than she ever felt when she was alive. This was her encounter with the flow experience. To feel it to the infinite degree, feels totally perfect. It is common for people to never experience it while alive. Although, the most ancient scriptures known to man say that people feel it while in deep sleep. This flow experience to the infinite degree is at the core of a human being.

During it, time stops. I would have a feeling of eternal peace while feeling it. Eternal is a powerful word, but it was a renowned psychologist whose book describes the flow as absolute. When you feel it, you know that it is the secret of life or the meaning of life. It is supreme. It is being one with the universe. So I would think about how if I could play volleyball all the time, without stopping, for the rest of eternity, then I would be really happy. Of course that is impossible. But it can be felt while doing nothing at all. Millions of people around the world do meditation where they are doing nothing at all, physically.



A Harvard Medical School professor (Herbert Benson, M.D.) has written a classic book on meditation called The Relaxation Response (1975) which is now being taught in many medical schools. This book teaches that the very purpose of technology is to make life easier so that people will experience less stress. But it explains that it is not working since people are now feeling more stress than ever before. So enlightenment is the ultimate state that a human can achieve. An enlightened person is someone who is in the flow experience to the infinite degree all the time. This is enlightenment.



According to those ancient scriptures, you will be feeling that infinite feeling the next time you go to sleep even though you do not remember it when you wake up. Several years ago,  the singer Mariah Carey had a nervous breakdown and she said that it was due to lack of sleep. Some people have asked if someone could be enlightened and not know it. So you can see from the above that there is no doubt at all that you would know it if you were enlightened. I would also read non-fiction books for hours since I would feel the flow experience, but not to the infinite degree.



Where does this experience come from? It does not come from the brain. The science of cosmology teaches that if someone wants to know how long it took before the physical world was created or how far do things extend beyond the physical universe, these questions have no meaning. Time and space are only attributes of the physical universe, not the non-physical universe.



You exist in the non-physical universe. Do you only exist there after you die? No, time has no existence there. So you could say that in that world or universe– you are eternal. You have no beginning and no end. That is where the flow experience comes from. A very famous American psychologist, Abraham Maslow (1908-1970), said “I can feel guilty about the past, apprehensive about the future, but only in the present can I act. The ability to be in the present moment is a major component of mental wellness.” Copyright 2007 by Chuck Bluestein. Learn how to Be Happier With Less Stress

In biblical times, fasting was very popular and used to heal or cure many different diseases. The bible has 74 references to fasting. Both Jesus and Moses fasted for 40 days. It was after this fast that Jesus preached and performed miracles like walking on water and bringing the dead back to life. Many ‘dumb’ animals also do fasting.



The New England Journal of Medicine says “Fasting is a valid experience. It can benefit any otherwise healthy person whose calories now have the upper hand in his/her life.” Philippus Paracelsus, a Swiss physician and one of the 3 fathers of Western Medicine (including also Hippocrates and Galen), said “Fasting is the greatest remedy– the physician within.” Elson M Haas M.D. says on his website “Fasting is the single greatest healing therapy.”



If you fast too long, you can die but if you drink too much water at one time, you can die. The most common problems of modern day people, like being overweight, having trouble sleeping, feeling tired during the day and headaches, are the things that fasting is best for. On forums, people will ask about cleansing the body and others will say that you do not to do anything since the body is constantly cleansing itself.



But at the same time this cleansing is taking place, you are adding more toxins to the body by eating, which can cause this cleansing to get backed up or way behind. This is similar to the two opposite medical processes that take place in the human body called anabolism and catabolism. These are the processes where the body is breaking itself down while it is also rebuilding itself. At the same time that the body is cleansing itself, you are eating and bringing in more toxins or creating metabolic waste to use medical jargon (2: the technical terminology or characteristic idiom of a special activity or group).



So when they say that you do not need to do anything to cleanse the body, the quickest way to cleanse the body is to do nothing, meaning to eat nothing, drink water and rest. Fasting gives your body a rest or vacation, especially the liver, digestive and elimination systems. Your body knows how to fast. When you are not using your mouth to bring in food, the body makes it into an organ of elimination. This is the very reason that your tongue gets coated while you are on a fast. The best thing to rejuvenate the body and mind is fasting.



John Tilden, M.D., who has fasted over 1,000 people in his Denver center, said “I must say in all seriousness that fasting when combined with a properly selected diet is the nearest approach to a ‘cure-all’ that is possible to conceive– profoundly simple and simply profound!” With juice fasting, people can still work thier job during it. During the water fast, it is best to just rest. A famous scientist, Alex Carrel, M.D., says “The elimination of waste products by fasting increases longevity.”



Gabriel Cousins, MD, says “I often observe in the fasting participants that by four days of fasting, concentration seems to improve, creative thinking expands, depression lifts, insomnia stops, anxieties fade, the mind becomes more tranquil and a natural joy begins to appear. It is my hypothesis that when the physical toxins are cleared from the brain cells, mind-brain function automatically and significantly improves and spiritual capacities expands.”



Prescription for Natural Healing by James Balch M.D. and Phyllis Balch CNC says “Fasting is an effective and safe method of detoxifying the body…A technique that wise men have used for centuries to heal the sick. Fast regularly and help the body heal itself and stay well. Give all of your organs a rest.



Fasting can help reverse the aging process, and if we use it correctly we will live longer, happier lives. Each time you complete a fast, you will feel better. Your body will have a chance to heal and rebuild its immune system by regularly fasting. You can fight off illness and the degenerative diseases so common in this chemically polluted environment we live in. When you feel a cold or illness coming on or are just depressed– fast!” When you lose your appetite, your body is telling you to stop eating. Copyright 2007 by Chuck Bluestein.

You catch a cold or flu virus from someone else but sometimes you do not get it no matter how much contact you have. Why does the immune system sometimes beat it but other times it does not especially in the cold weather. How do you avoid getting colds and flus?



If your immune system is strong enough then you will not get the flu. When a person’s health is too low, the body’s intelligence tries to raise it. The job of the body is to try to make the person fit and healthy, not fat. Its only goal is the best health possible. But people have many other priorities like entertainment, fun, being, getting a lo done, making money and being admired.



So when your health (immune system) drops too low, the body’s intelligence tries to force you to do something about it. How healthy your immune system is, is proportional to how clean or free of toxins the body is. These toxins include the body’s metabolic waste. Your body is constantly eliminating toxins but sometimes it gets backed up. Things that help the body detoxify are heavy sweating caused by heat or exercise, fasting, sleeping and eating a healthy diet. The opposite things, like lack of sleep, causes the body to get backed up with these toxins.



People get less sunlight during the cold weather which means that they get less vitamin D that helps the immune system. During the cold weather people sweat less, so exercise and saunas can help them to sweat more. The skin is one of the 4 excretory organs of the body which also include the lungs, liver and kidneys. The colon is an organ of elimination. It is not an excretory organ since it is outside the body proper. That is medical jargon (2: the technical terminology or characteristic idiom of a special activity or group).



With Bikrams Hot Yoga, you do yoga exercise in a room that is over 100 degrees Fahrenheit and this causes you to sweat a great deal. Americans do have a tendency to over eat and under sleep especially during the holidays. I saw on the forums before Thanksgiving that more people are asking about what to do about a cold.



The body’s intelligence allows you to get sick so you will do the things that you were unwilling to do, like taking off work, eating less and sleeping more. Then after the flu, you are healthier than you were before the flu. If you do not do these things then the flu can last a long time.



The fastest way to get over a cold or the flu is fasting, according to Mark Twain and I. That causes the body to detoxify at the fastest rate possible. The book, Prescription for Natural Healing (by James Balch M.D. and Phyllis Balch CNC), says “When you feel a cold or illness coming on or are just depressed– fast!” If you can’t fast, then just eat only fruit, especially fruits high in vitamin C, until you are better. Fruits require the least amount of digestive energy. You already know about getting plenty of rest and drinking enough fluids.



Here is another variation of fasting that has become popular. Since it is easier and supplies vitamin C in a food form it may be better for colds and flus. When it comes to vitamin pills, try to avoid consuming them. They are not foods. Studies show that they act very differently inside the body than vitamins in foods. Since vitamin C pills are so cheap (about 8 cents each) and each one (500mg) contains the amount of vitamin C in 7 whole oranges, then no one should never get a cold or the flu. But the vitamin C in one whole orange is better for you than 100 vitamin C pills.



Try to buy organically grown produce until the USA becomes as civilized as Russia where it is illegal (a crime) to sell anything but organically grown produce. This alternate fast is discussed on the fasting webpage. It is called Lemonade Diet, Master Cleanse or the Master Cleanser Lemonade Fast. Lemons contain a lot of vitamin C like other citrus fruits. Copyright 2007 by Chuck Bluestein

When you do not know an answer like the above, you could just go by the rule that you can overdo anything. You can drink too much water or eat too much healthy food where your stomach bursts. You can exercise too much or you can do fasting for too long. An MD fasted a fat guy for 8 months and he died. So that is too long. He still had more fat to burn but used up all of his reserve nutrients like minerals. I say that all rules have exceptions, except some. You cannot sleep too long, only as long as you need to. Some people need to sleep 24 hours a day. I know a guy who did that (in a coma) decades ago for many days but he is alive and doing well now. Some depressed people need to sleep 12 hours per day.



Since you cannot control how long you sleep, you cannot do it too much. You can control how little you get but not how much you get. If you doubt this, then try it. Try to sleep 20 hours. You can lie there for 20 hours but will only be asleep if your body decides that you need it. Note that I am not talking about stage 1 sleep where you are drowsy and trying to get to sleep but you are not really sleeping.



They announced on the news, in November 2006, that 70% of American people have trouble sleeping. There is a McDougall website about getting over depression naturally. It says that sleep is depressing so you should not even get the suggested 8 hours. This shows that while there is a limit to genius, there is no limit to stupidity. His other ideas are good, though. Mariah Carey had a nervous breakdown a few years ago and she said that it was due to lack of sleep as a warning to others so the same thing does not happen to them.



I have seen on forums people giving rates of weight loss (weight loss/time) that are too fast. So I checked it and could not find any reliable sources for this. An MD on TV said that people on the same diet can lose weight at different rates. Also MDs think it is safe (and the FDA agrees) to lose many pounds of bodyfat in an hour with liposuction. Like with sleeping, you do not control how fast you lose weight. That is why you cannot lose weight too fast. Remember the above rule about exceptions, where someone with a serious problem can lose weight too fast.



Many have fasted for 5 days (trying to lose weight) and only lost 2 pounds. I have fasted many times but I was never overweight. People would ask how much I would lose but I did not notice any difference. So I got a scale so I could measure it scientifically. I weighed myself at the beginning of a fast and right before the end of a 4 day fast of pure water. I did gain one pound which does happen sometimes when people have reserve nutrients and are consuming air and water.



Someone could say “you just retained more water.” But most people lose water weight during a fast. Regardless of whether I created more bone (people can mend broken bones during a fast) or retained water is the fact that I had no control over the rate of weight loss which in this case was negative one pound.



People can control their efforts to influence this rate. Fasting and exercise gives your body the chance to lose weight the fastest. Some exercise, like yoga, is OK during a fast. Allan Cott M.D. suggests walking 3 hours a day during a fast to lose more weight and for circulation. These are mild exercises. But you have to be careful about doing a lot of strenuous exercise during a fast. My mother could eat large amounts of fattening foods with lots of bad carbs and fat and still be thin without exercising. Copyright 2007 by Chuck Bluestein

You can find many ways to get more visitors to your website. You can go to forums that allow it and answer a question and put up a link to your site. On some of these sites, it helps you to get more traffic from search engines. Sometimes your answer will be ideal for that person asking the question.



Someone on a forum wanted to know what Kevin Trudeau’s miracle cure for being overweight was before spending all that money for his book. I sent him to my site and he read about it. Then he thanked me for saving him all that money which would have made him feel like a sucker who was ripped off. Since then, the F.T.C. Federal Trade Commission) has gone attacked Kevin Trudeau for claiming that you can eat whatever you want on the infomercial while the book says that you should not eat any unhealthy food.



Another way to create more traffic is by finding directories online and putting your link on their website. There are some companies that you can pay to do this for you. Some require you to put a link back to your site, but some do not. These links can help you get more traffic from the search engines. There are hundreds of these directories out there. Some let you use the code to make a keyword (or term) the link instead of the address of the site. So you can make “vampire antidote” the link to your site. Then this will help you when someone does a search on a search engine for “vampire antidote.” This is better than a link that just says “www.henderson.com.”



Another way is to write articles and submit the article to article sites like with what you are reading right now. In exchange, they put up a link to your website. The link is usually in the author or bio information. Some only allow text, so you have to just put up your url like “www.henderson.com.” Some allow html where you put in the code so the link will say “vampire antidote.”



Some of these article sites gets lot of traffic so you can even get people coming to your site from the article. There are others sites that get a small amount of traffic but the links can help you with search engines. To see how much traffic a website gets, see the Alexa.com site. Also you can check on a site’s Google PR rank to see how much a link from them will help you with the search engines.



There are hundreds of these article sites and they are growing everyday. I may put up a list of them on my website in the future. Also I may create my own article site in the future. These articles create a great deal of free information on the world wide web. Reading these articles can help you learn a lot. Also when you get one of these articles put up on a site (published), you can say that you are a writer who writes articles.



This way the information that is out there is not just controlled by the publishers, but it is controlled by the people, like you and me. This is a good example of the first amendment of the United States Constitution at work. It will be interesting to see the changes that happen with the world wide web being so new. Many of the founders of the U.S.A. were writers.



I check out these links and most of them have active links to my site. Sometimes a site will have an inactive link and I will contact them to let them know that it is part of the condition to be able to have my article on their site. There are sites that have problems with getting their site to do what they want. Once in a while they use the code rel=”no follow” which means that they have the intention to benefit from using your article without you benefiting as far as the search engines go. I click on VIEW and then SOURCE to look for this code.



Tell the sites that do this to remove your article. You can also tell them that you will spread the word about them. You can even write an article about it and they may even put it on their site without realizing what they are doing. A few days ago on a forum I saw someone asking if the article sites actually put up a link to you or just use your article without doing anything for you so this has answered that question. Copyright 2008 by Chuck Bluestein

The best way to lose weight is not with diets. Almost all the people gain the weight back. Not eating as much as you want creates stress and this makes your system more acid. This will cause you to crave more salt, fat and sugar. Then eating these things you crave, causes you to dislike yourself and you feel more stress making losing weight even harder. There is a powerful connection between obesity and depression.



Here is how it works. Animals are not taught what foods are good to eat. The animal knows instinctively what is good to eat and what is not good to eat. Humans also have the same instinct. The way it works is just eat whatever tastes good and that will be healthy for you and non-fattening. That is why a baby tastes everything. So again whatever tastes good, is good for you. This is why you will spit out spoiled milk. This instinct can help you lose weight.



I love eating Cabbage Crunch from the salad bar at Whole Foods. It is the largest natural foods chain of supermarkets in America. Cabbage Crunch contains grated red and green cabbage, sliced almonds, poppy seeds, scallions (green onions), olive oil and apple cider vinegar. One of the healthiest foods for cancer and colon health is cabbage. The red cabbage is considered a black food. Like other black foods (black grapes, black beans and eggplant) it contains the antioxidant, anthocyandin, that is good for the cardiovascular system.



One time I got some. As soon as I put it in my mouth, I spit it out. It was spoiled. But I got my money back and they had someone go there to remove it. Salt can dull your sense of taste. Also salt causes you to eat more thereby making it harder to lose weight.



Butter can be kept unrefrigerated for days without going bad. Without ever tasting it, you know it is bad from the rancid (bad) smell. You will smell that it is rancid, meaning having a bad smell or taste. But do not be a person who believes. Be someone who knows. Leave some butter out for days and smell it everyday. Have you ever been behind a garbage truck and could hardly stand the smell? That offensive smell is telling you that you should not eat that stuff.



Mark Twain and fasting experts say that the fastest way to get over the flu or a cold is to fast. This is why you lose your appetite. If someone’s sinuses are very congested, maybe he could eat a rancid meal and not know there is anything wrong with it.



But wait! Mankind has developed a way to create rat poison. It tastes like healthy food (good taste) but kills the rat. So man has done that to you. Note that any food unaltered by man (uncooked) that tastes good, is good for you. So if you are stranded in the woods, that is how you would know what to eat. Just taste everything raw and you will spit out the toxic plants since they will taste terrible.



There are poisonous mushrooms called toadstool mushrooms. If you put some raw ones in your mouth, you will spit them out since they taste horrible. But cook them and add salt and you can eat enough of them to kill you. Carnivorous animals love the taste of blood and raw meat since that is what they are supposed to eat.



So man has created fake fruit. It tastes like fruit that exists in nature, but it is addictive, fattening and terrible for health. It is called sweets. So it is natural to like real sweets called fruit, like a baby does. But they have fooled your sense of taste, just like the rat was fooled. But their goal is not to cause your death. They just want you to become obese so you will buy more of their foods.



This is called good business. You can re-acquire your taste in food and re-learn how to eat. Then you can eat all the great tasting foods you want and be thin, healthy and fit for life. Copyright 2008 by Chuck Bluestein

If you are new to training development and have been thinking of putting together any type of training program, it is important to know and understand the most basic training tool used by professional trainers; it is called the ADDIE model.



The ADDIE model is basically a generic, systematic, step-by-step framework used by instructional designers, developers and trainers to ensure course development and learning does not occur in a haphazard, unstructured way. It is designed to ensure: (1) learners will achieve the goals of the course, (2) allows for the evaluation of learner’s needs, (3) the design and development of training materials, and (4) evaluation of effectiveness of the training program using processes with specific, measurable outcomes.



Background


ADDIE came about with the development of the Cold War after World War II as the United States military struggled with itself to find a way to create more effective training programs for increasingly complex subjects. The result of this struggle for increased effectiveness bore fruit in the form of Instructional Systems Design which in turn, led to the design models that are in use today. You will often hear ADDIE referred to as Instructional Systems Design (ISD), Instructional Systems Design & Development (ISDD), Systems Approach to Training (SAT) or Instructional Design (ID). Most of the current instructional design models you will find in the workplace today are variations or spin-offs of the original ADDIE model.



The Model


The literature on ADDIE estimates that there are well over 100 different ISD variations in use today, with almost all being based on the generic ADDIE model, which stands for Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation; with each step or phase leading into the next as illustrated below:



Analysis ? Design ? Development ? Implementation ? Evaluation



One commonly accepted improvement to the ADDIE model that almost everyone uses whether consciously or unconsciously, is the use of what is often referred to as rapid prototyping which attempts to catch design flaws while they are still easy to fix. This is done by receiving ongoing feedback throughout all phases of the ADDIE model and making changes while moving forward.



During the Analysis phase, we define and develop as clear of an understanding of the audience’s needs, constraints, existing knowledge, skills and the desired outcome of the training that we can. The Design phase endeavors to identify specific learning objectives, topic content, presentation methods and media, learner exercises and assessment criteria to be used. The Development phase creates and begins production of the learning materials to be used in the training. Implementation delivers the material by actually presenting and/or delivering the developed plan to the intended learning group or audience. After delivery, the Evaluation phase assesses the effectiveness of the topic content and training materials utilized in the training program and makes improvement changes for the next implementation or presentation. Let’s take a look at each phase individually.



The Phases


The Analysis phase is the most important phase in the ADDIE model. It identifies areas requiring or needing training taking into account views of subject matter experts, the target audience, and the ultimate objectives and goals of the training.



During this phase, we define and develop as clear of an understanding of the audience’s needs and constraints, existing knowledge, skills, and the desired outcome of the training as we can. It is here that we identify the learning problem, set the goals, objectives, any other relevant characteristics of the desired training, and consider the learning environment, available delivery options, and the timeline for the project.



Here are some areas that should be addressed during the analysis phase:



1) Who is the target audience; What is the minimum/maximum current knowledge of the participant audience? What are their characteristics? What are their special needs?


2) What knowledge and skill deficiencies currently exist?


3) What are the tasks currently performed by the target audience and what new skill level is required following the training.


4) What are the available delivery options and methods for transferring the new skills to the workplace?


5) What is the instructional setting; e.g. classroom, on-the-job, self study, etc?


6) How do these skills connect to the intended audience?


7) What is the timeline for project completion?

What are the program constraints? Technological, timing and duration.


9) What is going to cost to provide the training?


10) Create performance measures for the tasks to be trained.



The Design phase is the systematic process of research, planning, identifying and specifying the complete design of the course objectives, lesson planning, topic content, training methodology, media, learner exercises, courseware content, and assessment criteria. Typically detailed prototypes are developed at this time, and the look, feel, design and content are determined.



During this phase, the following should be taken into account:



1) The entry criteria or knowledge level the learner must demonstrate prior to


training.


2) Develop learning objectives for each task to be covered.


3) Identify, structure and sequence the learning steps required to perform the task from easiest to most difficult.


4) Based on the time allocated for the training, determine approximately how long it will take to deliver the program taking into consideration the instructor’s pace, course format and mode of delivery adjusting content and format accordingly.


5) Develop participant assessments, program evaluation methodology, data collection method, and reporting formats that will be use to determine mastery of the tasks to be delivered.


6) If possible, conduct mini knowledge presentations to validate the program will meet the designated learning requirements.


7) Review implementation and evaluation costs, effort required and schedule.


The Development phase is the actual production and assembly of the materials that were developed in the design phase. At this point it is important to include whoever is responsible for which elements, time schedules, and deadlines. In this phase, all audio, video, and courseware materials are collected, prepared, created and ready to be tested.



During this phase, the following need be taken into account:



1) List activities that will help the target audience learn the task.


2) Select the delivery method most appropriate to the learning group.


3) Develop and produce program materials, aids and instructional


courseware.


4) Combine the courseware into a smoothly transitioning presentation.


5) Validate the material and presentation to ensure it meets all goals and


objectives.


6) Develop trainer guides, learner guides, job aids and participant resources as necessary.


7) Prepare coaches and mentors who will be assisting with the training.

Book venue, accommodations and travel arrangements.


9) Schedule participants.



The Implementation phase is where the developed course is actually put into action, and the final product, developed based on needs and errors discovered while testing with a prototype product, is presented to the target audience.



Depending on the size of the audience and amount of time and resources allocated to this endeavor, the following considerations should be taken into account the day before or the morning of presentation day.



1) Set up and prepare venue.


2) The learning environment, i.e. room, is set-up and prepared prior to the arrival of the learners.


3) Student registration area set when necessary with registration materials, instruction books, etc.


4) Hands on equipment, computers, tools, software, etc. are in place at each station or seat. Make sure that if using a learning application, an external link, web-site or Internet connection that it is live and functioning.


5) Conduct training session.



After delivery, the Evaluation phase, in a systemic process, considers feedback from the learners. The feedback gathered during this phase measures reaction, identifies what is working and not working, determines the effectiveness and quality of the delivery, and is designed to fine-tune the program. It validates whether the course satisfied its objectives and the effectiveness of the training materials used. It finds out whether the learning went as planned, and it may also uncover any obstacles that may have emerged, then, by making revisions, adjustments and corrections as needed, insures the success of the next presentation.



Use a well-designed post presentation questionnaire, evaluation and/or survey that provides for anonymous feedback if desired by the participant. Some or all of the following should be included in the evaluation:



1) Was the information and/or message presented clear and understandable?


2) Were the examples, illustrations, and demonstrations useful?


3) Was the information presented personally relevant to the learner?


4) Was the instruction interesting and, most importantly, motivating?


5) How did the instruction impact the learner? If so, in what way. If not, why.


6) What should be done differently?


7) Of the material presented, what was most important to the learner? What was least important?

What would the learner change, modify or adjust?


At the end of the program, collect the evaluations, review the program data, prepare and report performance results. In reviewing the program data the report should include but not be limited to the number of participant learners trained, percent of participants who passed the course, and their satisfaction with the material presented and how it was presented.



An honest evaluation of the program results at this point will yield a bountiful amount of information that can be used to perfect and insure the success of all future presentations. Use this information positively, and you will be rewarded with a superb result!



Note: Information for this article was collected from a number of sources located on the internet by searching under the criteria ADDIE.



Copyright© Chuck Castagnolo 2008 All rights reserved worldwide

Conflict is present in all intimate relationships. Whether conflict is resolved constructively or acted out destructively is what determines its impact on the relationship. The following suggestions are designed to help couples resolve conflict by teaching them how to fight fairly.


• Create a “circuit breaker” that will prevent fights from escalating out of control. Establish a special code word (e.g. “time-out!”) that signals a “cease fire.” Even a comical word can break the cycle of tension. If you feel out of control, you will probably need to temporarily remove yourself from the situation. If so, make a definite time and place to continue the conversation.


• Avoid “letting it all hang out.” Tragically, cruel statements made in the heat of battle tend to be long remembered and seldom forgiven. Anger research demonstrates that venting aggression doesn’t resolve anger, but merely rehearses it. Repetitive explosions in the service of “telling it like it is” may push partners even further away and rarely alter the circumstances that are making one feel angry in the first place.


• Identify the feelings underlying your anger. Anger often functions as a protective shield against feelings that are more difficult to express, such as sadness, powerlessness or a fear of intimacy.


• Avoid the tendency to chronically complain. Many couples seem unable to distinguish between ordinary life events and issues that really matter. Before complaining, reflect on questions such as: “Is my partner’s behavior really bad for our relationship?” This allows one to see the Big Picture rather than the Little Behavior.


• Cultivate an attitude of respect. The word respect is derived from respicere, a Greek word which means “the willingness to look again.” Our willingness to see our partners as human beings who deserve to be treated with dignity and kindness is basic to a healthy relationship. Without this respect, a healthy relationship isn’t possible.


• Change yourself and your relationship will change. Most power struggles are rooted in trying to get someone else to change. This battle usually becomes the biggest obstacle to change and healing. As an experiment, focus on what you can do differently instead of on what you feel your partner “should” be doing.


• Remember that timing is everything. Many destructive fights occur when one partner feels “ambushed.” Before unloading on your partner, try an approach such as: “Something has come up for me – is now a good time to talk about it?” This can create an appropriate context for dialogue at a time when you are both open to it.


• Beware of the ABC’s inherent in most arguments – Accusation, Blame, and Coercion. Consider changing your focus from asking “Who’s to blame here?” to “How do we get on the same team?” Speak about your experience and feelings. For example: “I feel upset that you criticized me in front of your family.” “I” statements promote self-responsibility and avoid the blaming quality of “You!” statements.


• While your partner is talking listen as non-defensively as you can. If you’re already preparing your rebuttal in your head, you aren’t really listening.


• Be willing to acknowledge and validate your partner’s feelings. Many times in couples work, this is the point where one spouse turns to me and says: “But I don’t agree with what she’s saying!” Validating your partner doesn’t mean that they are right, or that you agree with them. It simply means that you are demonstrating your willingness to understand. Use reflective listening statements such as: “Let me see if I understand you – I hear you saying that….” This will allow your partner to feel heard and ensures that you understand, rather than assume, what is being shared.


• Avoid trying to fix the problem immediately. Make sure both of you fully understand the issue before attempting a “quick fix.” Communication is a process that takes time.


• Ask clearly and directly for what you want – and wait! Individuals who are not experienced in assertive communication have a tendency to prematurely “erase” their request – “Oh, forget it – I knew it was too much to ask.” Give your partner time to internally process the request, even if it means coming back to it in a few days. You then have a better chance of reaching a lasting agreement that will work for both of you. It would be naïve to suggest that these skills will be mastered by reading one article – it takes practice. However, making a positive intention to “fight fairly” and then taking a simple step, such as creating a weekly couples meeting, can lead to immediate improvement. Finally, if you find yourself getting stuck, consider seeking short-term help from a counselor with specific expertise in couples’s communication and conflict resolution. Great relationships are worth fighting for.


©2006, Chuck Barr, all rights reserved.

The words wheat and rice are referring to refined wheat and white rice. These foods are not whole grains like whole wheat and brown rice. What makes them so unhealthy for you is the good stuff was taken out and the unhealthy stuff was left in. It is like taking a person and taking the good out of them and leaving all the evil in them. So when you eat these foods they need to rob your body of the nutrients that were in them originally so you can digest them.


Over time this destroys your health. Then they create all these foods with wheat like pancakes, waffles, french toast, cream of wheat, bread, pasta, muffins, biscuits, soft and hard pretzels, cakes, cookies, crackers, donuts, bagels, blintzes, perogies, lasagna, sandwiches, burgers, pies, pizza and strombolis. Whole wheat and brown rice are whole grains and so are not unhealthy.


The whole wheat is not great for health though, but it is cheap. It is better to use other grains like rye, barley, kamut, spelt, quinoa, millet and wild rice. Wild rice is not a rice. It is the only grain that is native to North America. The wheat and rice is originally with 3 parts. To refine it, they take off the bran. This part of the grain has most of the fiber and is loaded with anti-oxidants that you need. This is then sold in the heath food store. The wheat and rice are sold in the fat and sick food store.


Then they take off the germ and that is sold in the health food store. It has most of the nutrition. Endosperm is the name of this part that is left. Rice endosperm and wheat endosperm are the precise terms for rice and wheat. It is mostly carbohydrates. So that is why this food makes you fat and sick. Whole wheat may be bland but brown rice tastes as good as white rice. It has a nuttier taste. Many Indians have switched from basmati rice to brown basmati rice.


Near me, there is a Japanese/Chinese restaurant that has 50% of their customers requesting the brown rice instead of the white rice. It is healthy to eat cracked wheat since it is raw. A friend of mine likes to cook quinoa since it only takes 15 minutes to cook. Instead of cream or wheat, you can buy buckwheat groats and make that as a hot cereal. You can sweeten it with blackstrap molasses or maple syrup. A very healthy grain to cook is amaranth. This only takes 15 minutes to cook. The grain, wild rice, would take 50 minutes to cook but Trader Joes has it already cooked and vacuum packed and you only need to heat it up. Copyright 2008 by Chuck Bluestein

I cannot tell you how many times I have read a job description or a bullet in a job description and have shouted out in frustration “What does this mean!?”



What brought me to write about this was a Dilbert cartoon by Scott Adams in The Argus of Fremont, Newark and Union City, California, Saturday Edition, December 22, 2007, in the Living Section, Page 8. You may have seen this one in the syndicated comics of your own hometown paper. There are three frames but only the first two have relevance for this topic. The first frame caption is “What have you done lately to enhance our strategy into the next adjacency?” The second frame is “I don’t know what that means, so I’m going to say ‘Everything’.”



Now, let me ask the H.R. (Human Resources) professionals reading this: What thesaurus or dictionary do you read to come up with the words and phrases used when writing a job description? Is it Roget’s Thesaurus of English words and phrases? Or perhaps it’s Ebenezer Cobham Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. I myself am not sure. I can only guess that you are using both or you have way too much time on your hands.



Thinking back to my college days in business writing class, one of the tenants stressed over and over again was to write in simple words and sentences. Write so your message was clear and able to be understood by the reader. I don’t think “…strategy into the next adjacency…” meets those criteria.



I know you H.R. folks do not consider yourselves to be in “sales”, but the job description you post is really an advertisement for your company, it is a reflection of your company’s personality and its culture not unlike an ad the marketing department would produce to sell your company’s product or service.



The purpose of the job description, like any advertisement, is to attract, in advertising jargon, the appropriate “demographic” i.e. a qualified job applicant, to your “product”, i.e. the job opening. If your advertisement is not attractive, attention getting or ambiguous in its meaning, the prospective applicant is going to move onto the next company’s job posting. For those of you who like fishing, think of it as tossing your lure or bait into the water. There may be plenty of fish around, but if none are biting, maybe you don’t have the right bait.



If you are not getting the types of applicants you would like, revisit your posting and do a postmortem. See where the description can be improved rather than reposting it again because “We just can’t seem to find the right candidate.”



Okay, let’s take a look at how one might improve on a description. In doing my research for this article I found what I believe to be the bedrock techniques for writing exceptional job descriptions. Here they are:



Job descriptions should be written in brief and clear sentences.



Keep sentence structure as simple as possible omitting unnecessary words that do not contribute pertinent information.



In other words, write to attract a candidate, not to stoke your ego.



Let’s take a look at some bullet points culled from actual job postings found on the web and see how we might improve on them.



Partner with subject matter experts to research, design and develop training and product knowledge solutions to include project management and resource allocation on key projects and cross-functional teams.



Huh? What does this mean? I think this could have been rewritten as follows:



Work with various company departments and personnel to develop training as needed.



No fancy words and reduced the word count from 29 to 12.



How about this one:



Understanding of cross-functional impacts relative to the end-user groups and work-flows.



I think what is being said here is the applicant must understand their work will have an effect on several different departments. I might be rewritten this way.



Experience making decisions that will have a direct impact on several departments.



Now, what does this one mean?



High caliber degree from a leading academic institution.



So, if I have a degree from an “Institute” or trade school should I not bother to apply? How do I know if my University or State College degree is “high caliber” enough?



Let’s take a look back at the Dilbert cartoon that started this piece and see if we can translate “…enhance our strategy into the next adjacency?” into something more meaningful. How about “What are you doing to help us get ahead? At least we know what that means.



Note: Information for this article was collected from a number of sources located on the internet by searching under the criteria “Writing job descriptions.”



Copyright© Chuck Castagnolo 2008 All rights reserved worldwide.