🚀 go-pugleaf

On April 20, 1996, Kevin Brown Wrote:
>I am responding to the comment concerning the lack of an individual
>to take personal responsibility for their education, because a
>professional organization will mandate the specific courses that are
>necessary.
>
>The best way to ensure that the professional CIPS bodies never get
>out of touch with their membership is to get involved. ...

In the spirit of Kevin's invitation to get involved, and as an =
individual who chooses to take responsibility for his own professional =
development, here are my thoughts on the "mandated courses" issue.

While I do not subscribe to the conspiracy theories which the original, =
anonymous, poster of this thread suggested, I do believe that we in CIPS =
have to take a hard look at the recertification criteria for the ISP.  =
Here are my specific beefs: =20

I believe that the emphasis on classroom training is completely =
inappropriate.  First of all, it is the only category of =
"recertification brownie points" that is unlimited.  Secondly, there is =
no category recognizing _real_ skill improvement via on-the-job =
training. =20

Classroom computer training is, in general, over-expensive and =
under-effective.  The majority of these courses can only skim the =
surface of a subject and use nothing but too-simple-to-be-practical, =
canned "practical" examples to make their points.  Furthermore, whatever =
benefit these courses do deliver is usually lost because the training is =
delivered either well too early or well to late to be effectively =
applied by the students in a real-life situation where the skills can be =
internalized.  (This comment may not improve my chances of a Christmas =
card from seminar and course providers, but how many of you would =
_really_ pay $400-$500 a day _of_your_own_money_ for the courses your =
employers have sent you on in the past?)  Given the trend towards =
self-employment, especially in our industry, how many of you would be =
prepared to pay $400-$500 a day _plus_ the money you won't make because =
you aren't working for attending these courses?

Given the modest value of classroom training, not to mention the fact =
that it is getting harder and harder to come by, since employers aren't =
as generous (sloppy?) with their training budgets as they used to be =
these past few years, should CIPS be continuing to emphasize this method =
of ongoing skills improvement above all others?  (Clearly I don't think =
so, what do others think?)  Conversely, should CIPS not be recognizing =
the "school of hard knocks" where all the _actual_ learning takes place, =
involving real-world problems in real-world environments?

I can understand why a casual observer (not to mention an avid =
conspiracy theorist) would wonder why it is that CIPS puts so much more =
emphasis on classroom training than on on-the-job training.  One might =
theorize that, at the time the ISP designation was instituted, classroom =
training was more popular with employers and therefore more accessible.  =
However, I believe that there is really only one reason that this means =
of recertification is still so over-emphasized - administrative =
laziness.  It is much easier to define and measure a commitment to =
ongoing professional development in terms of the number of hours spent =
munching on hotel croissants and staring blankly at overhead projection =
slides than in terms of solving real problems with information =
technology.  One point per hour for sitting in a classroom, but how many =
points for teaching a business analyst your new development methodology =
or getting your new Client/Server system actually serving your clients?

If we are ultimately going to be taken seriously about our commitment to =
ongoing professional development, especially by those poor, =
unenlightened unfortunates who do not yet belong to CIPS <g>, then we =
had better start thinking pretty hard about how we are going to =
reconcile common sense with administrative burdens.  It is not easy to =
explain why membership in CIPS is so important to prospective members =
when they can see that their hard-won skills are not recognized unless =
they were learned in a classroom.  If you don't believe me, try going =
out and talking the next ten IT practitioners you meet into joining CIPS =
and obtaining their ISP - just make sure you show them the =
recertification criteria!  (This would be a noble effort as well as an =
exercise in demonstrating my point.)

While I'm in full rant, ... 100 points for passing an ICCP exam?!?  At =
best, passing one of these exams is a demonstration of what you used to =
know rather than a demonstration that you have been busy getting to know =
more!  This is another example of an "easy", but inappropriate (or at =
least over-emphasized) metric for a person's commitment to professional =
development.

I think we should be re-examining the criteria for certification and =
especially for recertification with an eye towards recognizing the =
realities of ongoing professional development in the IT field, even if =
it means that we are going to have to get creative about how we measure =
an individual's personal commitment to their own professional =
development.

Well there you have it.  I've got my asbestos BVD's on and I look =
forward to your thoughts on this matter (let's take Kevin's advice and =
participate in the organization!).

Joel Brown CCP, ISP
Mooseware Limited
Customer Software & System Consulting