The Performance Pyramid - An Interview with Eric Shepherd

Steven Forth is a Co-Founder of TeamFit. See his Skill Profile .

Eric Shepherd has thought long and deep about assessments and the role they play in individual and organizational performance. As the CEO of Questionmark from the beginning of 2000 to the end of 2018, he was at the centre of developments around assessments, contributing to the development of applications, standards (such as Question and Test Interoperability - QTI) and best practices.After leaving Questionmark at the beginning of this year, he took time to reflect on just how complex the field had become and to see if there was a better way to organize it. He also began to catalogue the many different assessments available to make it easier for people to find an assessment fit for purpose. You can engage with this work at the Assessments With A View site.

In this interview, we explore Eric’s work on the Performance Pyramid

TeamFit: It is great to have a chance to catch up and to get your insights into how assessments contribute to the larger question of how we support performance.
Eric: You are very welcome. I am impressed by the work you’re doing and it’s a privilege to be able to contribute to your blog.

TeamFit:  Thank you. Please share something of your background and how you got where you are?
Eric: I grew up a Londoner. The country was in a recession when I was in high school and I wanted to get out and to travel. The best way to do that seemed to be by joining the merchant navy, so I trained to be a radio officer. Just as I was about to go out and seek a career, the shipping industry changed with the move to much larger ships and the demand for officers went down.

So I changed course and joined the computer industry, where my technical training proved relevant and useful. I had the great good fortune to work with a number of entrepreneurs including Clive Sinclair, the British innovator, which inspired me and led me to devote my career to technology and innovation.

In the mid 1980s I moved to the US to help a large telecommunications company with its US go-to-market strategy for a new software product. I spent the next few years helping technology companies get established in the US and learned a lot about running rapidly growing startups, product management, sales training and customer support. This led me to meet John Kleeman, the founder of Questionmark. I founded a company to bring Questionmark to the US and we later combined these into one company where I became the CEO. I stayed in that role with Questionmark for 25 years and became deeply involved with the science of assessments, and the assessment industry, working with many of the world’s leading organizations and contributing to the development of standards.

TeamFit: What are the critical lessons you learned while leading Questionmark?
Eric: It’s all about the people but all entrepreneurs and leaders say that! The first thing is that you need to have big dreams, and then move to make them real. Looking back I can say “wow, that was an incredible journey.” It left me with a desire to look deeply at skills and assessments and to see how all the pieces fit together.

TeamFit:  How did you come up with the Performance Pyramid?
Eric: The world of assessments is multi-dimensional. New systems, tools, processes and science we have enabled new insights to help us better predict performance. There are many types of assessments for many different purposes and that raises questions. People were asking me about when to use which type of assessments and how they could locate valid and reliable assessments (see Assessments With A View). During those conversations, it became clear that there was a need for a new model to explain how specific factors support readiness and performance and so I began developing the Performance Pyramid so that I could answer these questions. 

It took a lot of work to get to this model. I worked through Venn diagrams, block diagrams and flowcharts before finally coming to the pyramid structure. As I represented these various models to friends in the business of recruiting, onboarding, coaching and developing the model developed. And then I started to represent the model to folks responsible for organizational readiness and performance and the model was developed further.(You can see some of the earlier versions below.)

The most recent renditions of the Pyramid is resonating with consultants, managers and leaders and it’s helping them to see the relationships in new and powerful ways. It got conversations focused on what really matters to people and organizations, and helped to eliminate confusion. We have produced a video that is a good introduction to this model. We are continuing to get input and to evolve the model.

TeamFit:  How is the pyramid structured?
Eric: There are three layers. The lower level is about individuals. This is where we get into emotional intelligence and functional skills. Understanding the individual is the foundation of the pyramid and assessments have a role to play here. The pyramid recognizes both personality (traits, values, motives and preferences) and the individual’s physical and cognitive abilities.

The middle layer is about behaviours and capabilities that are evident on-the-job. These come together as competencies and determine team performance.At the top of the pyramid is performance outcomes. Individuals work through teams to impact the organization’s performance. Looking at performance outcomes is like looking in the rear view mirror, and while that data is great to power retrospective we also want to determine “if we’re ready”. As we progress into the 4th industrial revolution and as our workforces are reskilled, we must take time to understand the factors that influence our readiness to perform.

TeamFit:  How do you see the Performance Pyramid evolving?
Eric: We continue to interview, represent and research aspects of the pyramid and its applications, as well as to develop resources that will help people to understand and apply it. We are currently working on a white paper that will be available later this year. I am even working on a book that will include the Performance Pyramid. The working title is Assessments with a View: Selecting and Using Assessments for Personal, Team, and Organizational Development.

TeamFit: We will look forward to reading that!
Eric: I’ll be sure to send you a copy! I’ve made the Performance Pyramid available under a Creative Commons license to help it develop, grow and become used widely. I would like to see it become a standard model, like Kirkpatrick or more recently 70:20:10 developed by Charles Jenning. The 70:20:10 model has a non profit organization supporting it, and this is what may happen with the Performance Pyramid as well.

TeamFit:  How could we use the Performance Pyramid to shape a Skill and Competency model?
Eric: The pyramid makes clear the relationship between Behaviours and Capabilities that can be documented within competencies and grouped together within a Competency Model.Behaviours are things like ‘a focus on results,’ or ‘teamwork,’ while capabilities are functional skills, like ‘replace the brushes on an electric motor,’ or ‘detect credit card fraud.’ Most evaluation systems have struggled to integrate both, but both are critical to performance.In most models, there are between 4-14 Behaviours, and it is hard to use a model that includes too many Behaviours. On the other hand, depending on the granularity that is required, there could be hundreds of Capabilities or Functional Skills.The Performance Pyramid also helps us to describe what is needed to be ready and deliver performance, including defining the learning opportunities.

TeamFit:  What do you see as the key trends and developments in the HR and talent management space?
Eric: LinkedIn has replaced the résumé. Having done that, it has become a great platform for discovering “talent” and for learning; the Lynda acquisition makes a lot of sense. Connecting one’s work history with learning on a public platform has opened up all sorts of new possibilities.There is going to be a big focus on reskilling over the next decade both within established organizations and for the “gig” economy. People are going to want to dip into many different topics and then decide where they want to go deep. Having systems to quickly understand the specific skills or behaviours required for a new role or gig will be quickly adopted. Assessments can be a guide for this. Assessments can help people learn what they need to learn and can even suggest things to people that they are not even aware of. Assessments can take us well beyond simple learning search.

TeamFit:  You live in Miami, a fascinating place, what are the things you love about where you live?
Eric: I love living in Miami. I came here in my 20s and it feels like I have grown up with the city. I was originally attracted by the weather. These days it is really exciting is the way that Miami is emerging as an innovation hub.

This is the Marrakesh effect. Innovation takes place where different cultures come together. In Miami, the Latin American, European and North American cultures come together in new ways. I host a regular dinner for local founders, technologists, filmmakers, artists and other people who are making a difference. I am so lucky to live within such a vibrant community.When I first came here Miami had a reputation as being a party town. It attracted students from the cold-white north to enjoy our universities in the sun. Over the years many of those students stayed and our city has progressed and now incubates much more of a learning and innovation culture. The city and state are working together to create innovation spaces. Miami is now able to cultivate its own talent and also attract people in from elsewhere.

TeamFit: We hear the food scene is also amazing.
Eric: (Laughs) Yes, we enjoy a great foodie scene with lots of award-winning chefs with everything from the South Beach Diet to Brazilian grills. And I’m lucky to have some great friends who are also great chefs! I’m hoping to host some conferences here in Miami so that everyone can enjoy Miami and learn more about the Performance Pyramid!