Why Should We Hire You? That question seems a bit too much like “Tell Us Something that Makes You Unique.” Your qualifications are on your résumé (I assume), but instead of asking clarification questions about your stated experience they seem to try and get some deep or profound answer […]
We all need to take charge of our education and careers, and one of the cheapest and easiest ways to do this is by utilizing online education options. Online options can provide a way to advance or maintain existing skills or gain new skills in a much more […]
Kanban is an operational methodology that tries to streamline business processes and reduce waste. As the use of Kanban increases, being educated in Kanban becomes more valuable and more critical to organizations. Successful adoption of Kanban practices relies on knowledgeable employees supporting its implementation. You can learn more […]
I believe an expert is a person who has been wrong so many times that it permanently limits how confident they will ever get in their abilities. The master of a craft is more accepting of the fact that they could learn something new to further their knowledge. […]
The Dunning-Kruger effect is a cognitive bias (See Controlling Your Personal Bias) where you are essentially blinded by your own perception of your abilities. In summary, the Dunning-Kruger effect simply means that you don’t know what you don’t know, so you may believe that you know more than you […]
Expectancy Theory was proposed by Victor Vroom in his 1964 paper “Work and Motivation.” It differs slightly from other motivational theories (Like Herzberg and Maslow‘s theories) in that it doesn’t attempt to explain what motivates people but instead focuses on the related thought processes that can motivate people (Luneneburg, […]
In 1960, Douglas MacGregor, a student of Abraham Maslow, introduced the management concept of Theory X and Theory Y (Rice University, N.D.). They are essentially different approaches to management. Within the XY Theory of management, employees are believed to fit within one of two distinct and opposing groups […]
The short, simple answer to this question is “no, not really.” The only real way to get rid of task switching is to actively work to reduce task switching. The longer answer is a little more complicated than just saying, “No.” Agile frameworks and methodologies, including Scrum […]
The real issue here is task switching. For the most part, it is actually nearly impossible for us to work on more than one complex activity at the exact same time. This is why texting and driving are illegal in many places because your mind is not able […]
Most people are familiar with Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs (Model Shown Above) and the five motivational levels it contains. Anyone who has taken a basic psychology course has probably encountered it at some point during their education. This 5-stage model was conceptualized in 1943 by Abraham Maslow in […]
Abraham Maslow first developed the idea of a hierarchy of needs in 1943 (Cherry, 2018). The purpose of the hierarchy was to show what motivated people and when that motivation would occur. As the needs are met on the lower levels of the pyramid model, people are motivated […]
I started Agile-Mercurial to help me improve my writing. I make simple mistakes. I rush through to get it done and use “Their” instead of “They’re” more often than I care to admit. I get a bit wordy and go off in random directions sometimes; you should read […]
Orientation Trust Building Goal Definition Commitment Planning Implementation Reassess and Renew Most people have some familiarity with Tuckman’s Model – 5 Stages of Team Development. It’s simple and easy to understand, but it may not show the whole story and sometimes it is nice to have a bit of […]
You have a big project coming up that seems like it may take months or even years to complete. You know generally what you want, but you aren’t quite sure yet how to get there. The path seems long, complex, and things may change along the way as […]
One of the reasons user stories are used over a traditional requirements list is that they can become part of a persona for the users of the end product of the project. It helps the project manager, developers, and other members of the project and other stakeholders view […]