This book details the work required at the outset of all efforts designed to improve an organization's performance at the organization, process, and/or individual levels. The book is divided into four parts that are devoted to the following aspects of conducting the systematic diagnostic analysis required to improve performance: (1) analysis as the key to improving performance (linking improvement programs to real organizational goals, systems thinking as the foundation of diagnosis and documentation, and a case study of analysis for performance improvement); (2) diagnosing organizational performance (concepts for diagnosing performance, the performance diagnosis process, constructing a performance improvement proposal, and data collection methods); (3) documenting workplace expertise (the nature of workplace expertise; documenting job descriptions and developing task inventories; and procedural, systems, and knowledge task analyses); and (4) managing analysis work to improve performance (organizing and prioritizing analysis work for maximum performance impact and progressing from analysis to performance improvement). Appended are master copies of 15 diagnostic forms. Contains 69 references. (MN)