Scott M. Graffius’ Insights on AI, Agile, Gaming, XR, and Defense Transformation Cited by MSN in Their Coverage of Innovation and Leadership in the Sector

12 September 2025

BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com

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Introduction

MSN featured Scott M. Graffius’ work in the article “Why True Innovation in Defense Demands Leaders Who Shoulder Risk and Unfreeze the Middle.” The piece spotlights Graffius’ analysis of the Meta-Anduril EagleEye project, a pioneering extended reality (XR) initiative blending gaming-inspired virtual reality (VR), artificial intelligence (AI), and Agile to revolutionize battlefield operations.

In his article, “Meta and Anduril’s EagleEye and the Future of XR: How Gaming, AI, and Agile Are Transforming Defense,” Graffius examines how Meta’s Reality Labs and Anduril’s Lattice platform collaborate to deliver XR headsets for the U.S. Army. These wearables project real-time tactical data—such as drone feeds—into soldiers’ fields of view, mimicking the immersive qualities of advanced gaming. Powered by Agile’s rapid prototyping and AI’s predictive analytics, EagleEye boosts military precision and offers potential for training, medical augmented reality (AR), and other applications.

MSN’s recognition of this work underscores Graffius’ role in illuminating the intersections of technology, Agile practices, and defense innovation.

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Context of the MSN Article

Authored by William Harrison, MSN’s article examines how courageous leadership and adaptable methodologies are essential to overcoming bureaucratic inertia in the defense sector. It highlights Agile practices as critical enablers of rapid iteration and responsiveness. These are key ingredients in the development of high-tech systems like XR platforms.

In this context, the EagleEye project shines as a powerful example of innovation in action. By integrating advanced optics, AI-driven data fusion, and rugged design, EagleEye embodies Graffius’ research on how gaming, AI, and Agile redefine military effectiveness. Notably, MSN cited scottgraffius.com in the article, further affirming the relevance and impact of Graffius’ thought leadership. Excerpts from the MSN article are shown below.

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The bibliography section of this article includes links to the MSN article and Graffius' article.

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Significance of the Recognition

This milestone reflects Scott M. Graffius’ standing as a thought leader at the intersection of technology and defense. MSN’s global platform amplifies his insights, reaching far beyond niche circles and validating the timeliness of his EagleEye analysis.

By distilling complex intersections—XR, AI, and Agile—into actionable insights, Graffius demonstrates how cross-industry collaboration can push boundaries in high-stakes environments. This recognition not only elevates his visibility but also opens doors for future opportunities, from industry partnerships to speaking engagements, where his expertise can inform the next wave of innovation.

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Conclusion

Readers can explore Graffius’ original article, “Meta and Anduril’s EagleEye and the Future of XR: How Gaming, AI, and Agile Are Transforming Defense” (a link is in the bibliography section of this article), for a deeper dive into the project’s innovations and implications.

Scott M. Graffius shares insights and strategies on advanced technology, AI, Agile project management, gaming, and teamwork tradecraft via talks and workshops. He’s spoken at 95 conferences and other events across 25 countries. Book him for your event by completing a speaker engagement request form or emailing him today.

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About MSN

MSN is a major web portal and online news aggregator owned by Microsoft. It offers a wide range of content, including news, weather, sports, finance, technology, entertainment, lifestyle, and more. It operates in dozens of countries and languages, providing localized versions of the portal worldwide. According to recent estimates, MSN receives over 1.4 billion visits per month worldwide, with tens of millions of users accessing it daily. That places it among the top online media destinations. Its audience spans a broad demographic. Because it aggregates content from many respected publishers and balances breadth (covering many topics) with platform reach, being featured in MSN brings visibility to a very large and diverse audience. Visit https://www.msn.com/ to learn more.

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Bibliography

This is the select bibliography. It lists the two publications referenced in this article.

Graffius, Scott M. (2025, June 2). Meta and Anduril’s EagleEye and the Future of XR: How Gaming, AI, and Agile Are Transforming Defense. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/meta-and-anduril-eagleeye-and-the-future-of-xr-how-gaming-ai-and-agile-are-transforming-defense.html.

Harrison, William (2025, June 5). Why True Innovation in Defense Demands Leaders Who Shoulder Risk and Unfreeze the Middle. MSN. Available at: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/why-true-innovation-in-defense-demands-leaders-who-shoulder-risk-and-unfreeze-the-middle/ar-AA1G8Rht.

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About Scott M. Graffius

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Scott M. Graffius is a globally recognized technology leader who drives innovation in AI, Agile, and Project Management/PMO leadership.

He’s a practitioner, researcher, thought leader, award-winning author, and keynote speaker who’s taken the stage at 95 conferences and other events across 25 countries.

He’s delivered over $2.3 billion in value for Fortune 500 companies and other leaders in technology, entertainment, financial services, healthcare, and beyond.

Businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities use Graffius and feature his work. Examples include Adobe, Bayer, Boston University, Ford, Gartner, Harvard Medical School, IEEE, Johns Hopkins University, Microsoft, MSN, National Academy of Sciences, Oracle, Pinterest Inc., Project Management Institute, UC San Diego, Verizon, Yale University, and others.

The following sections provide additional information on his experience, contributions, and influence.

Experience

Graffius heads the professional services firm Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, along with its subsidiary Exceptional Agility. These consultancies offer strategic and tactical advisory, training, embedded expertise, and consulting services to the public, private, and government sectors. They help organizations enhance their capabilities and results in agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership, supporting innovation and driving competitive advantage. The consultancies confidently back services with a Delighted Client Guarantee™.

Graffius is a former VP of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more.

He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets.

Award-Winning Author

Graffius has authored three books.

Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions, his first book, earned 17 awards.
Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change, his second book, was named one of the best Scrum books of all time by BookAuthority.
Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum, his third book and his first work of fiction, was released in April 2025. The book trailer is on YouTube.

International Public Speaker

Organizations worldwide engage Graffius to present on tech (including AI), Agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership. He crafts and delivers unique and compelling talks and workshops. Graffius has conducted 95 sessions across 25 countries. Select examples of events include Agile Trends Gov, BSides (Newcastle Upon Tyne), Conf42 Quantum Computing, DevDays Europe, DevOps Institute, DevOpsDays (Geneva), Frug’Agile, IEEE, Microsoft, Scottish Summit, Scrum Alliance RSG (Nepal), Techstars, and W Love Games International Video Game Development Conference (Helsinki), and more.

With an average rating of 4.81 (on a scale of 1-5), sessions are highly valued.

The speaker engagement request form is here.

Thought Leadership and Influence

Prominent businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities have showcased Graffius and his contributions—spanning his books, talks, workshops, and beyond. Select examples include:

Adobe,
American Management Association,
Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
Bayer,
BMC Software,
Boston University,
Broadcom,
Cisco,
Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts - Germany,
Computer Weekly,
Constructor University - Germany,
Data Governance Success,
Deimos Aerospace,
DevOps Institute,
Dropbox,
EU's European Commission,
Ford Motor Company,
Gartner,
GoDaddy,
Harvard Medical School,
Hasso Plattner Institute - Germany,
IEEE,
Innovation Project Management,
Johns Hopkins University,
Journal of Neurosurgery,
Lam Research (Semiconductors),
Leadership Worthy,
Life Sciences Trainers and Educators Network,
London South Bank University,
Microsoft,
MSN,
NASSCOM,
National Academy of Sciences,
New Zealand Government,
Oracle,
Pinterest Inc.,
Project Management Institute,
Mary Raum (Professor of National Security Affairs, United States Naval War College),
SANS Institute,
SBG Neumark - Germany,
Singapore Institute of Technology,
Torrens University - Australia,
TBS Switzerland,
Tufts University,
UC San Diego,
UK Sports Institute,
University of Galway - Ireland,
US Department of Energy,
US National Park Service,
US Soccer,
US Tennis Association,
Verizon,
Wrike,
Yale University,
and many others.

Graffius has played a key role in the Project Management Institute (PMI) in developing professional standards. He was a member of multiple teams that authored, reviewed, and produced:

Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures—Second Edition.
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge—Sixth Edition.
The Standard for Program Management—Fourth Edition.
The Practice Standard for Project Estimating—Second Edition.

Additional details are here.

He was also a subject matter expert reviewer of content for the PMI’s Congress. Beyond the PMI, Graffius also served as a member of the review team for two of the Scrum Alliance’s Global Scrum Gatherings.

Acclaimed Authority on Teamwork Tradecraft

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Graffius is a renowned authority on teamwork tradecraft. Informed by the research of Bruce W. Tuckman and Mary Ann C. Jensen, over 100 subsequent studies, and Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his 'Phases of Team Development' as a unique perspective and visual conveying the five phases of team development. First introduced in 2008 and periodically updated, his work provides a diagnostic and strategic guide for navigating team dynamics. It provides actionable insights for leaders across industries to develop high-performance teams. Its adoption by esteemed organizations such as Yale University, IEEE, Cisco, Microsoft, Ford, Oracle, Broadcom, the U.S. National Park Service, and the Journal of Neurosurgery, among others, highlights its utility and value, solidifying its status as an indispensable resource for elevating team performance and driving organizational excellence.

The 2025 edition of Graffius' "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property is here.

Expert on Temporal Dynamics on Social Media Platforms

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Graffius is also an authority on temporal dynamics on social media platforms. His 'Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts' research—first published in 2018 and updated annually—delivers a precise quantitative analysis of post longevity across digital platforms, utilizing advanced statistical techniques to determine mean half-life with precision. It establishes a solid empirical base, effectively highlighting the ephemeral nature of content within social media ecosystems. Referenced and applied by leading entities such as the Center for Direct Marketing, Fast Company, GoDaddy, Pinterest Inc., and PNAS, among others, his research exemplifies methodological rigor and sustained significance in the field of digital informatics.

The 2025 edition of Graffius "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts" research is here.

Education and Professional Certifications

Graffius has a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a focus in Human Factors. He holds eight professional certifications:

Certified SAFe 6 Agilist (SA),
Certified Scrum Professional - ScrumMaster (CSP-SM),
Certified Scrum Professional - Product Owner (CSP-PO),
Certified ScrumMaster (CSM),
Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO),
Project Management Professional (PMP),
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB), and
IT Service Management Foundation (ITIL).

He is an active member of the Scrum Alliance, the Project Management Institute (PMI), and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Advancing AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management

Scott M. Graffius continues to advance the fields of AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management through his leadership, research, writing, and real-world impact. Businesses and other organizations leverage Graffius’ insights to drive their success.

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Check out Scott’s books:

Follow and connect with Scott on social media:

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How to Cite This Article

Graffius, Scott M. (2025, September 12). Scott M. Graffius’ Insights on AI, Agile, Gaming, XR, and Defense Transformation Cited by MSN in Their Coverage of Innovation and Leadership in the Sector. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/msn-cites-scott-m-graffius-insights-on-ai.html.

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Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

DOI: (coming soon)

Content Acknowledgements

This article refers to two publications:

MSN's "Why True Innovation in Defense Demands Leaders Who Shoulder Risk and Unfreeze the Middle" article is available at: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/why-true-innovation-in-defense-demands-leaders-who-shoulder-risk-and-unfreeze-the-middle/ar-AA1G8Rht.
Scott M. Graffius' "Meta and Anduril’s EagleEye and the Future of XR: How Gaming, AI, and Agile Are Transforming Defense" article is available at: https://www.scottgraffius.com/blog/files/meta-and-anduril-eagleeye-and-the-future-of-xr-how-gaming-ai-and-agile-are-transforming-defense.html.

Names, marks, and content are the property of their respective owners.

MSN name and logo are trademarks of Microsoft. Content on MSN is the property of Microsoft or its content providers.

This article uses limited excerpts from the MSN article, attributed and used under fair use for news reporting and analysis.

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Top 5 Hashtags

#Agile
#ArtificialIntelligence
#DefenseTech
#ExtendedReality
#ThoughtLeadership

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Post-Publication Notes

If there are any supplements or updates to this article after the date of publication, they will appear here.

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Copyright

Copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

Content on this site—including text, images, videos, and data—may not be used for training or input into any artificial intelligence, machine learning, or automatized learning systems, or published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.

Tags: EagleEye • Defense Technology • Artificial Intelligence • Extended Reality (XR) • Agile Project Management

Top Predictions of 2024, Tested in 2025

06 September 2025

BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com

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Introduction

How well can experts predict the future of technology in a rapidly innovating world? The IEEE Computer Society’s Technology Predictions Report 2024, released in February 2024, offered insights into emerging trends. Scott M. Graffius shared the report’s top five predictions on social media and, one year later, posted follow-up comments evaluating their accuracy. This article revisits and provides a deeper dive on those predictions—Generative AI Applications, Next-Generation AI, Advances in Cybersecurity, Managing Misinformation, and Remote Healthcare/Monitoring Sensors—to assess how they held up. This evaluation:

Features brief excerpts from the IEEE Computer Society’s top 5 tech forecasts made in 2024.
Incorporates content from Graffius’ follow-up posts on social media in 2025.
Provides an expanded evidence-based analysis, classifying each prediction as a "Hit," "Partial Hit," or "Miss."

This article evaluates the IEEE Computer Society report’s foresight and practical value for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers in a rigorous yet accessible way.

See the bibliography section of this article for sources.

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Prediction 1: Generative AI Applications

Excerpt from IEEE Computer Society’s Technology Predictions Report 2024:

"Generative AI use will increase with rapidly expanding efficiency and new applications and services both beneficial and detrimental. Ethical and societal issues will continue to rise. Expect strong short-term impacts on business, education and society."

Excerpt from Graffius’ 2025 Post with an Abridged Assessment of the Prediction:

"With 71%+ of organizations employing generative AI, use is widespread. But there are significant ethical and societal issues."

Expanded Assessment:

The IEEE’s prediction about generative AI was remarkably accurate. By 2025, generative AI has become deeply woven into daily professional and personal life. In business, organizations deploy generative AI for customer service, coding assistance, marketing content, and product design. In education, AI tools are utilized for tutoring, research support, and accessibility, while simultaneously sparking debates over plagiarism, learning outcomes, and the integrity of assessments.

Societally, generative AI is a double-edged sword: it drives productivity and creativity but also raises ethical concerns. Bias in outputs, the spread of misinformation through AI-generated text and media, and the challenge of “AI hallucinations” have become widely recognized issues. Regulatory efforts—such as the European Union’s AI Act—reflect the urgency of addressing these concerns.

In short, the IEEE foresaw both the opportunities and the challenges of generative AI.

This prediction earns a ‘Hit’ for its accuracy.

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Prediction 2: Next Generation AI

Excerpt from IEEE Computer Society’s Technology Predictions Report 2024:

"The evolving advancements and developments in the field of artificial intelligence that push the boundaries beyond current capabilities. It is the next generation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) that is expected to be more advanced and sophisticated than the current AI systems."

Excerpt from Graffius’ 2025 Post with an Abridged Assessment of the Prediction:

"Advancements such as more sophisticated LLMs and multimodal systems pushed beyond previous capabilities with broader adoption and impact."

Expanded Assessment:

The IEEE’s forecast of “next generation AI” anticipated that new models would surpass the systems available in 2024. In hindsight, that framing was well-judged. Over the past year, breakthroughs have centered on three areas:

Multi-modality: Models now handle text, images, audio, and video within unified frameworks, enabling richer interaction and broader application.
Agentic systems: AI is increasingly deployed as autonomous or semi-autonomous “agents” capable of reasoning, planning, and executing tasks across digital environments with minimal human intervention.
Efficiency and scaling: Advances in model compression, specialized hardware, and algorithmic design have improved performance while reducing energy demands and latency.

Although the field is still at an early stage, these trends clearly move AI “beyond current capabilities,” as the IEEE predicted. The term “next generation” fits: these are not incremental tweaks but foundational shifts in how AI is conceived and applied.

This prediction earns a ‘Hit’ for its accuracy.

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Prediction 3: Advances in Cybersecurity

Excerpt from IEEE Computer Society’s Technology Predictions Report 2024:

"Advances in Cybersecurity will enhance public confidence and will enable reliance on the cyber infrastructure for large scale applications including energy production and distribution."

Excerpt from Graffius’ 2025 Post with an Abridged Assessment of the Prediction:

"AI-driven threat detection has bolstered trust and supported critical applications. But rising ransomware and phishing attacks persist."

Expanded Assessment:

The prediction that cybersecurity would advance significantly—particularly in ways that bolster public confidence—has proven largely accurate. In 2025, three developments stand out:

AI-driven defenses: Security platforms increasingly integrate machine learning to detect anomalies, identify threats in real time, and automate responses. This has improved resilience against phishing, ransomware, and supply chain attacks.
Zero-trust architectures: Organizations have accelerated adoption of zero-trust principles, ensuring that no user or device is inherently trusted. This shift has been critical in protecting remote and hybrid workforces.
Critical infrastructure protection: Governments and private sector stakeholders have prioritized safeguarding energy grids, healthcare systems, and financial networks. Initiatives in North America, Europe, and Asia have strengthened baseline defenses for these vital systems.

Cybersecurity remains a dynamic challenge. Ransomware groups, state-sponsored attacks, and vulnerabilities in emerging technologies continue to pose serious risks. However, the IEEE was correct that the net effect of recent advancements has been to increase trust in cyber infrastructure, particularly for large-scale applications.

This prediction earns a ‘Hit’ for its accuracy.

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Prediction 4: Managing Misinformation

Excerpt from IEEE Computer Society’s Technology Predictions Report 2024:

"AI deepfakes (text, audio, visual) will become regular tools that will require careful management."

Excerpt from Graffius’ 2025 Post with an Abridged Assessment of the Prediction:

"AI-driven deepfakes and misinformation escalated, spreading across digital platforms and demanding robust countermeasures throughout."

Expanded Assessment:

The IEEE’s prediction was prescient. In 2024 and 2025, AI-generated misinformation—especially deepfakes—became a defining feature of political communication. During election cycles around the globe, fabricated audio of candidates, manipulated images, and synthetic videos circulated widely across social media. These were used not only for disinformation campaigns but also for satire, further blurring the line between parody and deception.

In response, platforms have taken steps to introduce AI-content labeling and watermarking mechanisms, but these measures remain inconsistent and easily circumvented. Governments have likewise begun exploring regulatory frameworks: for instance, the European Union and the United States both advanced proposals targeting transparency and accountability for synthetic media. Still, implementation lags behind the speed of innovation.

The prediction’s emphasis on “careful management” captures the current state well. Managing misinformation is less about eliminating deepfakes—an unlikely outcome—and more about mitigating their societal impact through education, detection tools, and policy interventions.

This prediction earns a ‘Hit’ for its accuracy.

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Prediction 5: Remote Healthcare/Monitoring Sensors

Excerpt from IEEE Computer Society’s Technology Predictions Report 2024:

"Remote Healthcare, monitoring sensors and system-level data integration will enable patients to obtain remote medical assistance, physicians to improve diagnosis and treatment, optimal utilization of individuals’ medical history, and efficient health care delivery protocols."

Excerpt from Graffius’ 2025 Post with an Abridged Assessment of the Prediction:

"Telehealth surged. Wearables advanced monitoring. Data integration improved diagnosis. Full medical history use, etc. still progressing."

Expanded Assessment:

The IEEE correctly anticipated the continued rise of remote healthcare and monitoring technologies. Since 2024, wearable devices—from smartwatches tracking vital signs to medical-grade biosensors—have seen broader adoption. Healthcare providers increasingly integrate these data streams into patient records, enabling more personalized and proactive care. Similarly, telemedicine platforms have matured, offering virtual consultations, chronic disease management, and remote monitoring that reduce the need for in-person visits.

However, progress has been uneven. Integration across healthcare systems remains fragmented, with interoperability challenges slowing widespread adoption. Privacy and security concerns also loom large, as sensitive health data transmitted across networks remains an attractive target for cyberattacks. Moreover, issues of equity and access persist: while urban and affluent populations benefit from connected health solutions, rural and underserved communities often face barriers such as limited internet connectivity, lack of insurance coverage, or prohibitive device costs.

Overall, the IEEE’s forecast captured the direction of change but overstated the universality of its impact. Remote healthcare has advanced, but the promise of widespread, efficient system-level integration is not yet fully realized.

This prediction earns a ‘Partial Hit’ for its accuracy.

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Conclusion

The IEEE Computer Society’s Technology Predictions Report 2024 demonstrated remarkable foresight. Across five key areas—Generative AI Applications, Next-Generation AI, Advances in Cybersecurity, Managing Misinformation, and Remote Healthcare/Monitoring Sensors—the predictions were largely validated by subsequent developments.

Generative AI and Next-Generation AI delivered rapid, transformative progress, reshaping business, education, and society as anticipated. Cybersecurity advancements bolstered trust in critical infrastructure despite ongoing threats. The rise of AI-generated misinformation underscored the need for careful management, as predicted. Remote healthcare and monitoring sensors progressed significantly, though challenges resulted in a partial hit.

These outcomes highlight the value of thoughtful technology forecasting. Predictions are not certainties but provide a framework for understanding trends, preparing organizations, and guiding policy and research. The IEEE report shows how informed projections can help society navigate opportunities and challenges, even as the pace of technological change remains uneven and complex.

In sum, revisiting these predictions a year later offers both affirmation and insight. The IEEE Computer Society’s 2024 report largely hit its mark, underscoring the need for continued vigilance and evaluation. As technology evolves, such analyses will remain critical for shaping innovation, informing policy, and ensuring equitable outcomes in an increasingly connected world.

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About the IEEE

The following is an excerpt from the IEEE (here).

IEEE is the world’s largest technical professional organization and is a public charity dedicated to advancing technology for the benefit of humanity. Through its highly cited publications, conferences, technology standards, and professional and educational activities, IEEE is the trusted voice on a wide variety of areas ranging from aerospace systems, computers and telecommunications to biomedical engineering, electric power and consumer electronics. Learn more at https://www.ieee.org.

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About the IEEE Computer Society

The following is an excerpt from the IEEE Computer Society (here).

Engaging computer engineers, scientists, academia, and industry professionals from all areas and levels of computing, the IEEE Computer Society (CS) serves as the world’s largest and most established professional organization of its type. IEEE CS sets the standard for the education and engagement that fuels continued global technological advancement. Through conferences, publications, and programs that inspire dialogue, debate, and collaboration, IEEE CS empowers, shapes, and guides the future of not only its 375,000+ community members, but the greater industry, enabling new opportunities to better serve our world. Visit https://computer.org for more information.

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Bibliography

Here's the select bibliography for this article. It features several of Graffius' articles, as they address related topics.

Bhattacharya, P., Mukherjee, A., Bhushan, B., Gupta, S. K., Gadekallu, T. R., & Zhu, Z. (2025, July 2). A Secured Remote Patient Monitoring Framework for IoMT Ecosystems. Scientific Reports, 15 (1): 22882. Available at: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-04774-y.

Brown, Sara (2025, June 2). Machine Learning and Generative AI: What Are They Good For in 2025? MIT Sloan Management Review. Available at: https://mitsloan.mit.edu/ideas-made-to-matter/machine-learning-and-generative-ai-what-are-they-good-for.

Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) (2024, September 27). Teaching AI What It Should and Shouldn’t Do. Available at: https://www.darpa.mil/news/2024/teaching-ai.

Dragos (2025). 2025 OT Cybersecurity Report: 8th Annual Year in Review. Dragos. Available at: https://www.dragos.com/ot-cybersecurity-year-in-review/.

Graffius, Scott M. (2024, September 26). How Algorithms Shape the User Experience on Social Media Platforms. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/algorithms-and-the-user-experience.html. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.29149.01767.

Graffius, Scott M. (2025, June 2). Meta and Anduril’s EagleEye and the Future of XR: How Gaming, AI, and Agile Are Transforming Defense. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/meta-and-anduril-eagleeye-and-the-future-of-xr-how-gaming-ai-and-agile-are-transforming-defense.html.

Graffius, Scott M. (2025, July 18). Harness Sci-Fi and Speculative Design While Embracing Imperfection to Drive Innovation and Proactively Predict and Prepare for the Future. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/harness-scifi-and-speculative-design-while-embracing-imperfection-to-drive-innovation-and-proactively-predict-and-prepare-for-the-future.html.

Graffius, Scott M. (2025, August 8). Exotic Team Dynamics: The New Frontier of Human–AI Collaboration. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/exotic-team-dynamics.html.

Graffius, Scott M. (2025, August 18). AI Institute of Switzerland Features Scott M. Graffius’ Work on Algorithms. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/ai-institute-features-work-of-scott-m-graffius.html.

Graffius, Scott M. (2025, August 22). Scott M. Graffius Premieres His New "Exotic Team Dynamics: Human-AI Collaboration" Talk at Corporate Event in Las Vegas. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/scott-m-graffius-premieres-talk-on-human-and-ai-exotic-team-dynamics.html.

Graffius, Scott M. [@scottgraffius]. (2024, February 15). 🔮 Top 5 Technology Predictions for 2024 🔮 #IEEE is the world's largest technical professional organization dedicated to advancing #technology for the benefit of humanity, and I'm proud to be a member. The IEEE's Computer Society released #predictions for 2024. First on the top five list is Generative AI Applications. Here's an excerpt from the report: “Generative AI use will increase with rapidly expanding efficiency and new applications and services both beneficial and detrimental. Ethical and societal issues will continue to rise. Expect strong short-term impacts on business, education, and society.” Other predictions from the top five list are highlighted in separate Tweets. [Post]. X. Available at: https://x.com/ScottGraffius/status/1758178136137826491.

Graffius, Scott M. [@scottgraffius]. (2024, February 15). 🔮 Top 5 Technology Predictions for 2024 🔮 #IEEE is the world's largest technical professional organization dedicated to advancing #technology for the benefit of humanity, and I'm proud to be a member. The IEEE's Computer Society released #predictions for 2024. Second on the top five list is Next Generation AI. Here's an excerpt from the report: “The evolving advancements and developments in the field of artificial intelligence that push the boundaries beyond current capabilities. It is the next generation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) that is expected to be more advanced and sophisticated than the current AI systems.” Other predictions from the top five list are highlighted in separate Tweets. [Post]. X. Available at: https://x.com/ScottGraffius/status/1758205743969550376.

Graffius, Scott M. [@scottgraffius]. (2024, February 15). 🔮 Top 5 Technology Predictions for 2024 🔮 IEEE is the world's largest technical professional organization dedicated to advancing technology for the benefit of humanity, and I'm proud to be a member. The IEEE's Computer Society released predictions for 2024. Third on the top five list is Advances in Cybersecurity. Here's an excerpt from the report: “Advances in Cybersecurity will enhance public confidence and will enable reliance on the cyber infrastructure for large scale applications including energy production and distribution.” Other predictions from the top five list are highlighted in separate Tweets. [Post]. X. Available at: https://x.com/ScottGraffius/status/1758218228399325458.

Graffius, Scott M. [@scottgraffius]. (2024, February 15). 🔮 Top 5 Technology Predictions for 2024 🔮 #IEEE is the world's largest technical professional organization dedicated to advancing #technology for the benefit of humanity, and I'm proud to be a member. The IEEE's Computer Society released #predictions for 2024. Fourth on the top five list is Managing Misinformation. Here's an excerpt from the report: “AI deepfakes (text, audio, and visual) will become a regular electioneering tool that will require careful management.” Other predictions from the top five list are highlighted in separate Tweets. [Post]. X. Available at: https://x.com/ScottGraffius/status/1758225882278416535.

Graffius, Scott M. [@scottgraffius]. (2024, February 15). 🔮 Top 5 Technology Predictions for 2024 🔮 #IEEE is the world's largest technical professional organization dedicated to advancing #technology for the benefit of humanity, and I'm proud to be a member. The IEEE's Computer Society released #predictions for 2024. Fifth on the top five list is Remote Healthcare/Monitoring Sensors. Here's an excerpt from the report: “Remote healthcare, monitoring sensors, and system-level data integration will enable patients to obtain remote medical assistance, physicians to improve diagnosis and treatment, optimal utilization of individuals’ medical history, and efficient health care delivery protocols.” Other predictions from the top five list are highlighted in separate Tweets. [Post]. X. Available at: https://x.com/ScottGraffius/status/1758309611315294543.

Graffius, Scott M. [@scottgraffius]. (2025, August 2). Predictions Follow-up. #IEEE #ComputerSociety's top #predictions from a year ago included #RemoteHealthcare (see below)? 🎯 Hit or miss? Hit. Telehealth surged. Wearables advanced monitoring. Data integration improved diagnosis. Full medical history use, etc. still progressing. [Post]. X. Available at: https://x.com/ScottGraffius/status/1951824321334419750.

Graffius, Scott M. [@scottgraffius]. (2025, August 2). Predictions Follow-up. #IEEE #ComputerSociety's top #predictions from a year ago included #Misinformation (see below). 🎯 Hit or miss? Hit. AI-driven deepfakes and misinformation escalated, spreading across digital platforms and demanding robust countermeasures throughout. [Post]. X. Available at: https://x.com/ScottGraffius/status/1951864035630276964.

Graffius, Scott M. [@scottgraffius]. (2025, August 4). Predictions Follow-up. #IEEE #ComputerSociety's top #predictions from a year ago included Next Gen #AI (see below). 🎯 Hit or miss? Hit. Advancements such as more sophisticated LLMs and multimodal systems pushed beyond previous capabilities with broader adoption and impact. [Post]. X. Available at: https://x.com/ScottGraffius/status/1952427998839476336.

Graffius, Scott M. [@scottgraffius]. (2025, August 6). Predictions Follow-up. #IEEE #ComputerSociety's top #predictions from a year ago included #Cybersecurity (see below). 🎯 Hit or miss? Hit. AI-driven threat detection has bolstered trust and supported critical applications. But rising ransomware and phishing attacks persist. [Post]. X. Available at: https://x.com/ScottGraffius/status/1953132783980954002.

Graffius, Scott M. [@scottgraffius]. (2025, August 6). Predictions Follow-up. #IEEE #ComputerSociety's top #predictions from a year ago included #GenerativeAI (see below). 🎯 Hit or miss? Hit. With 71%+ of organizations employing generative AI, use is widespread. But there are significant ethical and societal issues. [Post]. X. Available at: https://x.com/ScottGraffius/status/1953203709602943194.

Hahn, M., Zeng, W., Kannen, N., Galt, R., Badola, K., Kim, B., & Wang, Z. (2025, May 1). Proactive Agents for Multi-Turn Text-to-Image Generation Under Uncertainty. In Proceedings of International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML) 2025. Google DeepMind. Available at: https://deepmind.google/research/publications/121578/.

IEEE Computer Society (2024, February 15). Technology Predictions Report 2024. IEEE Computer Society. IEEE Computer Society. Available at: https://ieeecs-media.computer.org/media/tech-news/tech-predictions-report-2024.pdf.

Khandabattu, H. (2025, July 8). The 2025 Hype Cycle for Artificial Intelligence Goes Beyond GenAI. Gartner. Available at: https://www.gartner.com/en/articles/hype-cycle-for-artificial-intelligence.

Le Poldevin, Olivia (2025, July 11). UN Report Urges Stronger Measures to Detect AI-Driven Deepfakes. Reuters. Available at: https://www.reuters.com/business/un-report-urges-stronger-measures-detect-ai-driven-deepfakes-2025-07-11/.

Lopez, C. T. (2025, June 18). DARPA Calls on Industry to Assist with Improving, Strengthening DOD Cybersecurity. U.S. Department of Defense. Available at: https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stories/Article/Article/4220945/darpa-calls-on-industry-to-assist-with-improving-strengthening-dod-cybersecurity/.

Marr, B. (2024, December 16). 6 Game-Changing AI Breakthroughs That Defined 2024. Forbes. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2024/12/16/6-game-changing-ai-breakthroughs-that-defined-2024/.

McKinsey & Company (2025). The Economic Potential of Generative AI: The Next Productivity Frontier. McKinsey & Company. Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/mckinsey-digital/our-insights/the-economic-potential-of-generative-ai-the-next-productivity-frontier.

Morley, Colleen (2025, January 1). From Vital Signs to Virtual Care: The Evolution of Remote Patient Monitoring in Modern Healthcare. HealthTech. Available at: https://www.healthtechmagazines.com/from-vital-signs-to-virtual-care-the-evolution-of-remote-patient-monitoring-in-modern-healthcare/.

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (2025). The Effects of Generative AI on Productivity, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship. OECD. Available at: https://www.oecd.org/en/publications/the-effects-of-generative-ai-on-productivity-innovation-and-entrepreneurship_b21df222-en.html.

Patishman, Henry (2025, August 12). AI and Deepfake Laws of 2025. Regula Forensics. Available at: https://regulaforensics.com/blog/deepfake-regulations/.

Sandalow, Maya, & Harris, Julia (2025, January 9). Maximizing the Value of Remote Patient Monitoring. Bipartisan Policy Center. Available at: https://bipartisanpolicy.org/explainer/maximizing-the-value-of-remote-patient-monitoring/.

Stanford Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI) (2025). The 2025 AI Index Report. Stanford HAI. Available at: https://hai.stanford.edu/ai-index/2025-ai-index-report.

Sweeney, Erica (2025, July 23). Cedars-Sinai's AI Tool Delivered 24/7 Care to 42,000 Patients. Business Insider. Available at: https://www.businessinsider.com/cedars-sinai-la-healthcare-organization-ai-platform-patient-care-treatment-2025-7.

U.S. Department of Energy (2025). Cybersecurity Strategy. U.S. Department of Energy. Available at: https://www.energy.gov/topics/cybersecurity.

White, Monica J. (2025, August 31). AI Impersonation Scams are Sky-Rocketing in 2025, Security Experts Warn - Here's How to Stay Safe. TechRadar. Available at: https://www.techradar.com/computing/cyber-security/ai-impersonation-scams-are-sky-rocketing-in-2025-security-experts-warn-heres-how-to-stay-safe.

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About Scott M. Graffius

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Scott M. Graffius is a globally recognized technology leader who drives innovation in AI, Agile, and Project Management/PMO leadership.

He’s a practitioner, researcher, thought leader, award-winning author, and keynote speaker who’s taken the stage at 95 conferences and other events across 25 countries.

He’s delivered over $2.3 billion in value for Fortune 500 companies and other leaders in technology, entertainment, financial services, healthcare, and beyond.

Businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities use Graffius and feature his work. Examples include Adobe, Bayer, Boston University, Ford, Gartner, Harvard Medical School, IEEE, Johns Hopkins University, Microsoft, National Academy of Sciences, Oracle, Pinterest Inc., Project Management Institute, UC San Diego, Verizon, Yale University, and others.

The following sections provide additional information on his experience, contributions, and influence.

Experience

Graffius heads the professional services firm Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, along with its subsidiary Exceptional Agility. These consultancies offer strategic and tactical advisory, training, embedded expertise, and consulting services to the public, private, and government sectors. They help organizations enhance their capabilities and results in agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership, supporting innovation and driving competitive advantage. The consultancies confidently back services with a Delighted Client Guarantee™.

Graffius is a former VP of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more.

He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets.

Award-Winning Author

Graffius has authored three books.

Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions, his first book, earned 17 awards.
Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change, his second book, was named one of the best Scrum books of all time by BookAuthority.
Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum, his third book and his first work of fiction, was released in April 2025. The book trailer is on YouTube.

International Public Speaker

Organizations worldwide engage Graffius to present on tech (including AI), Agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership. He crafts and delivers unique and compelling talks and workshops. Graffius has conducted 95 sessions across 25 countries. Select examples of events include Agile Trends Gov, BSides (Newcastle Upon Tyne), Conf42 Quantum Computing, DevDays Europe, DevOps Institute, DevOpsDays (Geneva), Frug’Agile, IEEE, Microsoft, Scottish Summit, Scrum Alliance RSG (Nepal), Techstars, and W Love Games International Video Game Development Conference (Helsinki), and more.

With an average rating of 4.81 (on a scale of 1-5), sessions are highly valued.

The speaker engagement request form is here.

Thought Leadership and Influence

Prominent businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities have showcased Graffius and his contributions—spanning his books, talks, workshops, and beyond. Select examples include:

Adobe,
American Management Association,
Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
Bayer,
BMC Software,
Boston University,
Broadcom,
Cisco,
Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts - Germany,
Computer Weekly,
Constructor University - Germany,
Data Governance Success,
Deimos Aerospace,
DevOps Institute,
Dropbox,
EU's European Commission,
Ford Motor Company,
Gartner,
GoDaddy,
Harvard Medical School,
Hasso Plattner Institute - Germany,
IEEE,
Innovation Project Management,
Johns Hopkins University,
Journal of Neurosurgery,
Lam Research (Semiconductors),
Leadership Worthy,
Life Sciences Trainers and Educators Network,
London South Bank University,
Microsoft,
NASSCOM,
National Academy of Sciences,
New Zealand Government,
Oracle,
Pinterest Inc.,
Project Management Institute,
Mary Raum (Professor of National Security Affairs, United States Naval War College),
SANS Institute,
SBG Neumark - Germany,
Singapore Institute of Technology,
Torrens University - Australia,
TBS Switzerland,
Tufts University,
UC San Diego,
UK Sports Institute,
University of Galway - Ireland,
US Department of Energy,
US National Park Service,
US Soccer,
US Tennis Association,
Verizon,
Wrike,
Yale University,
and many others.

Graffius has played a key role in the Project Management Institute (PMI) in developing professional standards. He was a member of multiple teams that authored, reviewed, and produced:

Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures—Second Edition.
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge—Sixth Edition.
The Standard for Program Management—Fourth Edition.
The Practice Standard for Project Estimating—Second Edition.

Additional details are here.

He was also a subject matter expert reviewer of content for the PMI’s Congress. Beyond the PMI, Graffius also served as a member of the review team for two of the Scrum Alliance’s Global Scrum Gatherings.

Acclaimed Authority on Teamwork Tradecraft

Graffius is a renowned authority on teamwork tradecraft. Informed by the research of Bruce W. Tuckman and Mary Ann C. Jensen, over 100 subsequent studies, and Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his 'Phases of Team Development' as a unique perspective and visual conveying the five phases of team development. First introduced in 2008 and periodically updated, his work provides a diagnostic and strategic guide for navigating team dynamics. It provides actionable insights for leaders across industries to develop high-performance teams. Its adoption by esteemed organizations such as Yale University, IEEE, Cisco, Microsoft, Ford, Oracle, Broadcom, the U.S. National Park Service, and the Journal of Neurosurgery, among others, highlights its utility and value, solidifying its status as an indispensable resource for elevating team performance and driving organizational excellence.

The 2025 edition of Graffius' "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property is here.

Expert on Temporal Dynamics on Social Media Platforms

Graffius is also an authority on temporal dynamics on social media platforms. His 'Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts' research—first published in 2018 and updated annually—delivers a precise quantitative analysis of post longevity across digital platforms, utilizing advanced statistical techniques to determine mean half-life with precision. It establishes a solid empirical base, effectively highlighting the ephemeral nature of content within social media ecosystems. Referenced and applied by leading entities such as the Center for Direct Marketing, Fast Company, GoDaddy, Pinterest Inc., and PNAS, among others, his research exemplifies methodological rigor and sustained significance in the field of digital informatics.

The 2025 edition of Graffius "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts" research is here.

Education and Professional Certifications

Graffius has a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a focus in Human Factors. He holds eight professional certifications:

Certified SAFe 6 Agilist (SA),
Certified Scrum Professional - ScrumMaster (CSP-SM),
Certified Scrum Professional - Product Owner (CSP-PO),
Certified ScrumMaster (CSM),
Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO),
Project Management Professional (PMP),
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB), and
IT Service Management Foundation (ITIL).

He is an active member of the Scrum Alliance, the Project Management Institute (PMI), and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Advancing AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management

Scott M. Graffius continues to advance the fields of AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management through his leadership, research, writing, and real-world impact. Businesses and other organizations leverage Graffius’ insights to drive their success.

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Check out Scott’s books:

Follow and connect with Scott on social media:

Sign up for Miro—it's free!

(Want more features? You can always upgrade to a paid plan.)

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How to Cite This Article

Graffius, Scott M. (2025, September 6). Top Predictions of 2024, Tested in 2025. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/top-predictions-of-2024-tested-in-2025.html.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

DOI: (coming soon)

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Content Acknowledgements

Names, marks, and content are the property of their respective owners.

IEEE and IEEE Computer Society names, marks, and content are the property of the IEEE.

This article uses limited excerpts from the IEEE, IEEE Computer Society, and IEEE Computer Society’s Technology Predictions Report 2024, attributed and used under fair use for news reporting and analysis.

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Top 5 Hashtags

#IEEE
#IEEEComputerSociety
#Technology
#Predictions
#TechnologyPredications

Post-Publication Notes

If there are any supplements or updates to this article after the date of publication, they will appear here.

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Copyright

Copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

Content on this site—including text, images, videos, and data—may not be used for training or input into any artificial intelligence, machine learning, or automatized learning systems, or published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.

Tags: IEEE Computer Society • Putting the IEEE Computer Society’s Top 5 Technology Predictions of 2024 to the Test in 2025 • Top Predictions of 2024, Tested in 2025 • Technology Predictions Report 2024 • Generative AI, Next Generation AI, Cybersecurity, Misinformation, and Remote Healthcare including Monitoring Sensors

Government of Finland Agency Features Graffius' Phases of Team Development IP

04 September 2025

BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com

government-of-finland-agency-features-graffius-phases-of-team-development---lwres

Introduction with Background

Informed by the research of Bruce W. Tuckman and Mary Ann C. Jensen, over 100 subsequent studies, and Scott M. Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his ‘Phases of Team Development’ as a unique perspective and visual conveying the five phases of team development — Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, and Adjourning — inclusive of a graph showing how performance varies by phase, as well as the characteristics and strategies for each phase.

Graffius' intellectual property (IP) is registered with the United States Copyright Office.

Graffius initially developed his 'Phases of Team Development' unique material in 2008, and he periodically refreshes it.

For reference, the visual for the current (2025) edition is below and the details are here.

stacks-image-de36253

Organizations around the world engage Graffius to deliver compelling talks and workshops. To date, he's presented sessions at 95 conferences and other events across 25 countries:

Armenia,
Australia,
Brazil,
Canada,
Czech Republic,
Finland,
France,
Germany,
Greece,
Hong Kong,
Hungary,
India, Ireland,
Lithuania,
Luxembourg,
Nepal,
Netherlands,
New Zealand,
Norway,
Romania,
Sweden,
Switzerland,
United Arab Emirates,
United Kingdom,
and the United States.

Graffius 'Phases of Team Development' IP is central and key to many of those sessions. His rate card and a listing of his engagements are at https://scottgraffius.com/resources/Exceptional-PPM-and-PMO-Solutions-Rate-Card-for-2024-2025-v24071607.pdf and https://scottgraffius.com/publicspeaker.html, respectively.

With authorization/license from Graffius, his 'Phases of Team Development' intellectual property is featured and used by businesses, professional associations, government agencies, universities, and others around the world. Examples include:

Adobe,
American Management Association,
Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
Bayer
Boston University,
Broadcom,
Cisco,
Deimos Aerospace,
DevOps Institute,
Erste Group Bank AG (Austria),
FINAT,
Ford Motor Company,
FSU College of Medicine,
Hasso Plattner Institute,
IEEE,
James Madison University,
Johns Hopkins University,
LeadingEng,
London South Bank University,
Manufacturers Alliance,
Microsoft,
New Zealand Government,
Oracle,
Mary Raum (Professor of National Security Affairs, United States Naval War College),
Royal Australasian College of Physicians,
TBS Switzerland,
Torrens University Australia,
Tufts University,
U.S. National Park Service,
U.S. Soccer,
U.S. Tennis Association,
UC San Diego,
UK Sports Institute,
University of Galway Ireland,
Victorian Institute of Technology (Australia),
Virginia Tech,
Warsaw University,
Western Sydney University,
World Resources Institute,
Yale University,
ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences,
and many others.

A Government of Finland Agency was Added to the List!

Business Finland is the Finnish government organization dedicated to promoting innovation, trade, investment, and travel. Operating under the Ministry of Employment and the Economy, it plays a central role in strengthening Finland’s global competitiveness and fostering sustainable economic growth. The agency provides funding for research and development, supports startups and established enterprises, and connects Finnish companies with international markets. Business Finland is also known for initiatives such as Talent Boost, which helps attract and integrate international talent into Finland’s workforce. With offices in dozens of countries and an extensive global network, it serves as Finland’s official link to the international business community. Widely respected as a trusted government partner, Business Finland is recognized for advancing innovation and enabling collaboration between businesses, academia, and the public sector. Its scope, influence, and reputation make it one of the most important economic development agencies in Europe.

Business Finland featured Scott M. Graffius’ Phases of Team Development framework in their Talent Boost leadership program on August 6, 2025. A photo from the event is shown below.

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To learn more about Graffius' 'Phases of Team Development' work, visit here.

The Business Finland event is described in a LinkedIn post here.

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About Scott M. Graffius

scott_m_graffius_-_blue_-_1000x1000_-lwres

Scott M. Graffius is a globally recognized technology leader who drives innovation in AI, Agile, and Project Management/PMO leadership.

He’s a practitioner, researcher, thought leader, award-winning author, and keynote speaker who’s taken the stage at 95 conferences and other events across 25 countries.

He’s delivered over $2.3 billion in value for Fortune 500 companies and other leaders in technology, entertainment, financial services, healthcare, and beyond.

Businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities use Graffius and feature his work. Examples include Adobe, Bayer, Boston University, Ford, Gartner, Harvard Medical School, IEEE, Johns Hopkins University, Microsoft, National Academy of Sciences, Oracle, Pinterest Inc., Project Management Institute, UC San Diego, Verizon, Yale University, and others.

The following sections provide additional information on his experience, contributions, and influence.

Experience

Graffius heads the professional services firm Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, along with its subsidiary Exceptional Agility. These consultancies offer strategic and tactical advisory, training, embedded expertise, and consulting services to the public, private, and government sectors. They help organizations enhance their capabilities and results in agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership, supporting innovation and driving competitive advantage. The consultancies confidently back services with a Delighted Client Guarantee™.

Graffius is a former VP of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more.

He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets.

Award-Winning Author

Graffius has authored three books.

Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions, his first book, earned 17 awards.
Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change, his second book, was named one of the best Scrum books of all time by BookAuthority.
Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum, his third book and his first work of fiction, was released in April 2025. The book trailer is on YouTube.

International Public Speaker

Organizations worldwide engage Graffius to present on tech (including AI), Agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership. He crafts and delivers unique and compelling talks and workshops. Graffius has conducted 95 sessions across 25 countries. Select examples of events include Agile Trends Gov, BSides (Newcastle Upon Tyne), Conf42 Quantum Computing, DevDays Europe, DevOps Institute, DevOpsDays (Geneva), Frug’Agile, IEEE, Microsoft, Scottish Summit, Scrum Alliance RSG (Nepal), Techstars, and W Love Games International Video Game Development Conference (Helsinki), and more.

With an average rating of 4.81 (on a scale of 1-5), sessions are highly valued.

The speaker engagement request form is here.

Thought Leadership and Influence

Prominent businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities have showcased Graffius and his contributions—spanning his books, talks, workshops, and beyond. Select examples include:

Adobe,
American Management Association,
Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
Bayer,
BMC Software,
Boston University,
Broadcom,
Cisco,
Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts - Germany,
Computer Weekly,
Constructor University - Germany,
Data Governance Success,
Deimos Aerospace,
DevOps Institute,
Dropbox,
EU's European Commission,
Ford Motor Company,
Gartner,
GoDaddy,
Harvard Medical School,
Hasso Plattner Institute - Germany,
IEEE,
Innovation Project Management,
Johns Hopkins University,
Journal of Neurosurgery,
Lam Research (Semiconductors),
Leadership Worthy,
Life Sciences Trainers and Educators Network,
London South Bank University,
Microsoft,
NASSCOM,
National Academy of Sciences,
New Zealand Government,
Oracle,
Pinterest Inc.,
Project Management Institute,
Mary Raum (Professor of National Security Affairs, United States Naval War College),
SANS Institute,
SBG Neumark - Germany,
Singapore Institute of Technology,
Torrens University - Australia,
TBS Switzerland,
Tufts University,
UC San Diego,
UK Sports Institute,
University of Galway - Ireland,
US Department of Energy,
US National Park Service,
US Soccer,
US Tennis Association,
Verizon,
Wrike,
Yale University,
and many others.

Graffius has played a key role in the Project Management Institute (PMI) in developing professional standards. He was a member of multiple teams that authored, reviewed, and produced:

Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures—Second Edition.
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge—Sixth Edition.
The Standard for Program Management—Fourth Edition.
The Practice Standard for Project Estimating—Second Edition.

Additional details are here.

He was also a subject matter expert reviewer of content for the PMI’s Congress. Beyond the PMI, Graffius also served as a member of the review team for two of the Scrum Alliance’s Global Scrum Gatherings.

Acclaimed Authority on Teamwork Tradecraft

Graffius is a renowned authority on teamwork tradecraft. Informed by the research of Bruce W. Tuckman and Mary Ann C. Jensen, over 100 subsequent studies, and Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his 'Phases of Team Development' as a unique perspective and visual conveying the five phases of team development. First introduced in 2008 and periodically updated, his work provides a diagnostic and strategic guide for navigating team dynamics. It provides actionable insights for leaders across industries to develop high-performance teams. Its adoption by esteemed organizations such as Yale University, IEEE, Cisco, Microsoft, Ford, Oracle, Broadcom, the U.S. National Park Service, and the Journal of Neurosurgery, among others, highlights its utility and value, solidifying its status as an indispensable resource for elevating team performance and driving organizational excellence.

The 2025 edition of Graffius' "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property is here.

Expert on Temporal Dynamics on Social Media Platforms

Graffius is also an authority on temporal dynamics on social media platforms. His 'Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts' research—first published in 2018 and updated annually—delivers a precise quantitative analysis of post longevity across digital platforms, utilizing advanced statistical techniques to determine mean half-life with precision. It establishes a solid empirical base, effectively highlighting the ephemeral nature of content within social media ecosystems. Referenced and applied by leading entities such as the Center for Direct Marketing, Fast Company, GoDaddy, Pinterest Inc., and PNAS, among others, his research exemplifies methodological rigor and sustained significance in the field of digital informatics.

The 2025 edition of Graffius "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts" research is here.

Education and Professional Certifications

Graffius has a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a focus in Human Factors. He holds eight professional certifications:

Certified SAFe 6 Agilist (SA),
Certified Scrum Professional - ScrumMaster (CSP-SM),
Certified Scrum Professional - Product Owner (CSP-PO),
Certified ScrumMaster (CSM),
Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO),
Project Management Professional (PMP),
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB), and
IT Service Management Foundation (ITIL).

He is an active member of the Scrum Alliance, the Project Management Institute (PMI), and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Advancing AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management

Scott M. Graffius continues to advance the fields of AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management through his leadership, research, writing, and real-world impact. Businesses and other organizations leverage Graffius’ insights to drive their success.

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Check out Scott’s books:

Follow and connect with Scott on social media:

Sign up for Miro—it's free!

(Want more features? You can always upgrade to a paid plan.)

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How to Cite This Article

Graffius, Scott M. (2025, September 4). Government of Finland Agency Features Graffius' Phases of Team Development IP. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/government-of-finland-agency-features-graffius-phases-of-team-development.html.

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scott_m_graffius_-_blog_spacer_-_v23111107_-_x---rev-24101207---doi----lwres

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

DOI: (coming soon)

Content Acknowledgements

Names, marks, and content are the property of their respective owners.

Business Finland name, marks, and content are the property of Business Finland, the Finnish government organization for innovation, trade, investment, and travel.

Photo of Helsinki by Jussi Hellstén, courtesy of and used under terms of license from Visit Finland.

Photo of presentation at Business Finland event by Sari Havukainen, used with permission.

Graffius’ “Phases of Team Development” is copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

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Top 5 Hashtags

#BusinessFinland
#Leadership
#TalentBoost
#TeamDevelopment
#Teamwork

Post-Publication Notes

If there are any supplements or updates to this article after the date of publication, they will appear here.

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Copyright

Copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

Content on this site—including text, images, videos, and data—may not be used for training or input into any artificial intelligence, machine learning, or automatized learning systems, or published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.

Tags: Team Dynamics • Workforce Innovation • Phases of Team Development • Leadership Development • Business Finland Talent Boost

Scott M. Graffius Premieres His New "Exotic Team Dynamics: Human-AI Collaboration" Talk at Corporate Event in Las Vegas

22 August 2025

BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com

scott-m-graffius-premieres-talk-on-human-and-ai-exotic-team-dynamics---lwres

Introduction

Scott M. Graffius is a globally recognized technology leader who drives innovation in AI, Agile, and Project Management/PMO leadership. He’s a practitioner, researcher, thought leader, award-winning author, and keynote speaker who’s taken the stage at 94 conferences and other events across 25 countries.

This article provides an overview of his new talk, "Exotic Team Dynamics: Human-AI Collaboration."

Event: Session at a leadership retreat
Company: This is a private corporate event, the company name is not published
Session delegates: C-level executives, AI strategists, advanced technology leaders, human-AI integration researchers, innovation and transformation leaders, project leaders, futurists, and other attendees
Date: Friday, August 22, 2025
Time: 2:00-2:50 PM Pacific Time
Location: The Innovation Hub, The Venetian, Las Vegas

This will be Graffius’ 95th session.

Synopsis of "Exotic Team Dynamics: Human-AI Collaboration" Talk

What happens when your new or future teammate is an AI? "Exotic Team Dynamics: Human-AI Collaboration" examines the strange, often counterintuitive ways humans and artificial intelligences (sometimes called hybrid intelligences) work together. Drawing on concepts like inverse decision logic, superposition roles, entangled decision-making, and emergent protocols, the session reframes human-AI teamwork as a new class of exotic team dynamics. But this isn’t just theory: the talk zeroes in on what leaders and researchers can do now. Such as intentionally designing hybrid teams, creating rituals and norms that sustain trust, safeguarding ethics and human well-being, and scaling to multi-AI teams. Delegates will leave with a practical playbook for experimenting, guiding, and thriving in the new frontier of intelligent team collaboration, where AI amplifies rather than replaces human potential. The future of work isn't humans vs. AI. It's human-AI teams—achieving more together.

Three Key Learning Objectives—Each Insightful and Actionable

Design for Exotic Dynamics

Learning Objective: Session delegates will be able to identify and intentionally design for exotic team behaviors, such as inverse decision logic, superposition roles, entangled decision-making, and emergent protocols.

Actionable Insight: Use these analogies as diagnostic and design tools to experiment with new human-AI interaction patterns in real-world workflows.

Cultivate Human-AI Trust and Norms

Learning Objective: Session delegates will gain strategies to build trust, clarify roles, and establish ethical safeguards within human-AI teams—ensuring that collaboration enhances, rather than undermines, human judgment, creativity, and well-being.
Actionable Insight: Develop governance rituals, communication protocols, and ethical guardrails that reinforce shared purpose in hybrid teams.

Scalable and Sustainable Hybrid Team Modeling

Learning Objective: Session delegates will learn how to scale human-AI collaboration models—from a single AI teammate to multi-AI scenarios—while preserving adaptability and human-centric values.
Actionable Insight: Implement monitoring mechanisms for performance and well-being, ensuring that expanding AI presence supports, rather than displaces, human team dynamics.

Conclusion

Human–AI team collaboration—also known as hybrid intelligence, human–machine teaming, or joint cognitive systems—is here. If you want your teams to thrive in this new frontier, Scott M. Graffius delivers the insights and actionable strategies to get you there. Invite him to speak at your conference or other event. Complete a speaker engagement request form or email him today.

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Bibliography

Graffius' "Exotic Team Dynamics: Human-AI Collaboration" talk was informed by his first-hand work in AI and teamwork tradecraft—including exotic team dynamics—and multiple sources. Here's the select bibliography.

Alfateh, Maryam Ali Abu; Messaadia, Mourad; and Ali, Mazen (2023, September). Exploring the Dynamics of Team Formation in Human-Artificial Intelligence Collaboration. In 2023 International Conference on Decision Aid Sciences and Applications (DASA), pp. 384-388. DOI: 10.1109/DASA59624.2023.10286788.
Anduril Industries (2025, May 29). Anduril and Meta Team Up to Transform XR for the American Military. Available at: https://www.anduril.com/article/anduril-and-meta-team-up-to-transform-xr-for-the-american-military/.
Arizona State University. (2025, April 4). CHIMERAS: Rethinking Human-AI Teamwork in National Security Screening. Center for Accelerating Operational Efficiency. Available at: https://caoe.asu.edu/2025/04/04/chimeras-rethinking-human-ai-teamwork-in-national-security-screening/.
Berretta, S.; Tausch, A.; Ontrup, G.; Gilles, B.; Peifer, C.; Kluge, A. (2023, September). Defining human-AI teaming the human-centered way: a scoping review and network analysis. Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence, 6: 1250725. DOI: 10.3389/frai.2023.1250725.
Bostrom, Nick (2016). Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies. Oxford University Press.
Bouman, A., Ginting, M. F., Alatur, N., Palieri, M., Fan, D. D., Touma, T., Pailevanian, T., Kim, S.-K., Otsu, K., Burdick, J., & Agha-Mohammadi, A. (2020, November 30). Autonomous Spot: Long-Range Autonomous Exploration of Extreme Environments with Legged Locomotion (arXiv:2010.09259). arXiv. Available at: https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2010.09259.
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) (2023, February 23). Episode 65: A Sprint to Tomorrow, Powered by Teamwork [Podcast]. Available at: https://www.darpa.mil/news-events/2023-02-23a.
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) (2024, September 27). Teaching AI What It Should and Shouldn’t Do. Available at: https://www.darpa.mil/news/2024/teaching-ai.
Graffius, Scott M. (2021, October 5). Navigate the Phases of Team Development with Speed and Agility for Happier and More Productive Teams [Presentation]. Talk delivered at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers IEEE Day 2021 Conference. Digital Object Identifier (DOI): 10.13140/RG.2.2.20055.19365. DOI link: https://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.20055.19365.
Graffius, Scott M. (2023, May 1). AI is a Team Sport: A Confluence of Diverse Technical and Soft Skills are Crucial for Success. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/successful-ai-teams.html. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.20321.79200.
Graffius, Scott M. (2023, October 9). Top 5 Roles on AI Teams. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/ai-team-roles.html. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.34857.57449.

Graffius, Scott M. (2024, April 5). Cisco Features Scott M. Graffius' 'Phases of Team Development' Work' Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/cisco-2024.html. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.16689.60000.
Graffius, Scott M. (2024, May 3). Leverage Agile and AI to Innovate at the Speed of Light. Talk at private event in Dubai, UAE. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.30790.48960.
Graffius, Scott M. (2025, January 24). When Agile, AI, and Strategic Thinking Converge. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/when-agile-ai-and-strategic-thinking-converge.html.
Graffius, Scott M. (2025, July 1). Exploring Team Dynamics, Adaptability, and Creative Problem-Solving Through Felix the Cat’s Metaphorical Toolkit. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/exploring-team-dynamics-adaptability-and-creative-problem-solving-through-a-metaphorical-toolkit.html.
Graffius, Scott M. (2025, January 7). Scott M. Graffius’ Phases of Team Development: 2025 Update. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/phases-of-team-development-update-for-2025.html. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.33705.30564.
Graffius, Scott M. (2025, May 13). Scott M. Graffius Delivering $2.3 Billion in Value Through AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Leadership. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/scott-m-graffius-delivering-2-point-3-billion-dollars-in-impact-for-organizations.html.
Graffius, Scott M. (2025, July 18). Harness Sci-Fi and Speculative Design While Embracing Imperfection to Drive Innovation and Proactively Predict and Prepare for the Future. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/harness-scifi-and-speculative-design-while-embracing-imperfection-to-drive-innovation-and-proactively-predict-and-prepare-for-the-future.html.

Graffius, Scott M. (2025). Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum. Seattle, WA: Amazon Digital Services.
Graffius, Scott M. (2025, August 7). Method and System for Facilitating Hybrid Human–Artificial Intelligence Teams via a Protocolized Mediation Layer for Bi-Directional Translation, Interpretation, and Optimization of Natural Language, Paralinguistic, Prosodic, and Nonverbal Cues Across Text, Audio, and Video Modalities, Incorporating Real-Time Analysis of Auditory Tone, Pitch, Affect, Facial Expressions, Gaze, Posture, and Other Body Language Indicators, Generating AI-Compatible Representations for Human Inputs, Generating Human-Accessible Representations for AI Outputs, Conveying Context-Aware Information in Both Directions, Reducing Cognitive Friction, Enhancing Mutual Intelligibility, Supporting Decision-Making, and Maximizing Collective Task Performance. A novel integration of multimodal communication, cognitive alignment, and human-AI interaction. Los Angeles, California.
Graffius, Scott M. (2025, August 8). Exotic Team Dynamics: The New Frontier of Human–AI Collaboration. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/exotic-team-dynamics.html.
Jacobsen, Annie (2015). The Pentagon's Brain: An Uncensored History of DARPA, America's Top-Secret Military Research Agency. Little, Brown and Company.
James, G., Witten, D., Hastie, T., & Tibshirani, R. (2021). An Introduction to Statistical Learning: With Applications in R (2nd ed.). Springer.
Joiner, B., & Josephs, S. (2007). Leadership Agility: Five Levels of Mastery for Anticipating and Initiating Change. Jossey-Bass.
Kerzner, Harold (2022). Innovation Project Management: Methods, Case Studies, and Tools for Managing Innovation Projects—Second Edition. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley.
Kurzweil, Ray (2024). The Singularity Is Nearer: When We Merge with AI. Random House.
Lieberman, Marvin (2021, February). Is Competitive Advantage Intellectually Sustainable? Strategic Management Review, 2 (1): 29-46.
Mollick, Ethan (2024). Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI. Portfolio.
Morsa, Luigi (2022, July 7). Agile. Creativity. Innovation. IIL. Available at: https://blog.iil.com/agile-creativity-innovation/.
O’Neill, L., Fraser, T., Cake, M., Fullarton, M., & Riley, S. (2024). Human-Autonomy Teaming: Evaluating Trust and Performance Through Dyadic Interaction Tasks. Current Opinion in Biomedical Engineering, 31: 100533. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobme.2024.100533.
Prasad, Baba (2025, May 5). Interpreters, Challengers and Stewards: The Role of Agile Leaders in an AI World. Brown University. Available at: https://professional.brown.edu/news/2025-05-05/agile-leadership-ai-world.
Russell, Stuart (2019). Human Compatible: Artificial Intelligence and the Problem of Control. Viking.
Schoemaker, Paul J. H. (1993, March). Multiple Scenario Development: Its Conceptual and Behavioral Foundation. Strategic Management Journal, 14 (3): 193-213.

Silva, Narciso (2025). The Ultimate Guide to Mastering AI for Leaders: Your Non-technical Playbook for Artificial Intelligence Strategy and Innovation. Independently published.
Steinberger, Tom, & Wiersema, Margarethe (2021). Data Models as Organizational Design: Coordinating Beyond Boundaries Using Artificial Intelligence. Strategic Management Review, 2 (1): 119-144.
Syrett, Michael, & Devine, Marion (2012). Managing Uncertainty: Strategies for Surviving and Thriving in Turbulent Times. Wiley.

Tegmark, Max (2018). Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence. Penguin.
Thrun, S., Burgard, W., & Fox, D. (2005). Probabilistic Robotics. The MIT Press.
Tuckman, B. W. (1965). Developmental Sequence in Small Groups. Psychological Bulletin, 63: 384-399.
Tuckman, B. W., & Jensen, M. A. C. (1977). Stages of Small-Group Development Revisited. Group and Organizational Studies, 2 (4): 419-427.
Walther, C. C. (2025, March 11). Why Hybrid Intelligence is the Future of human-AI Collaboration. Knowledge at Wharton. The Wharton School. Available at: https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/why-hybrid-intelligence-is-the-future-of-human-ai-collaboration/.
Wijeratne, Y. (2020). The Salvage Crew. Aethon Books, LLC.
Woods, Geoff (2024). The AI-Driven Leader: Harnessing AI to Make Faster, Smarter Decisions. AI Thought Leadership.
Xu, W. (2025, August 7). Human-Centered Human-AI Interaction (HC-HAII): A Human-Centered AI Perspective (arXiv:2508.03969) [Preprint]. arXiv. Available at: https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2508.03969.

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About Scott M. Graffius

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Scott M. Graffius is a globally recognized technology leader who drives innovation in AI, Agile, and Project Management/PMO leadership.

He’s a practitioner, researcher, thought leader, award-winning author, and keynote speaker who’s taken the stage at 95 conferences and other events across 25 countries.

He’s delivered over $2.3 billion in value for Fortune 500 companies and other leaders in technology, entertainment, financial services, healthcare, and beyond.

Businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities use Graffius and feature his work. Examples include Adobe, Bayer, Boston University, Ford, Gartner, Harvard Medical School, IEEE, Johns Hopkins University, Microsoft, National Academy of Sciences, Oracle, Pinterest Inc., Project Management Institute, UC San Diego, Verizon, Yale University, and others.

The following sections provide additional information on his experience, contributions, and influence.

Experience

Graffius heads the professional services firm Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, along with its subsidiary Exceptional Agility. These consultancies offer strategic and tactical advisory, training, embedded expertise, and consulting services to the public, private, and government sectors. They help organizations enhance their capabilities and results in agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership, supporting innovation and driving competitive advantage. The consultancies confidently back services with a Delighted Client Guarantee™.

Graffius is a former VP of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more.

He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets.

Award-Winning Author

Graffius has authored three books.

Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions, his first book, earned 17 awards.
Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change, his second book, was named one of the best Scrum books of all time by BookAuthority.
Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum, his third book and his first work of fiction, was released in April 2025. The book trailer is on YouTube.

International Public Speaker

Organizations worldwide engage Graffius to present on tech (including AI), Agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership. He crafts and delivers unique and compelling talks and workshops. Graffius has conducted 95 sessions across 25 countries. Select examples of events include Agile Trends Gov, BSides (Newcastle Upon Tyne), Conf42 Quantum Computing, DevDays Europe, DevOps Institute, DevOpsDays (Geneva), Frug’Agile, IEEE, Microsoft, Scottish Summit, Scrum Alliance RSG (Nepal), Techstars, and W Love Games International Video Game Development Conference (Helsinki), and more.

With an average rating of 4.81 (on a scale of 1-5), sessions are highly valued.

The speaker engagement request form is here.

Thought Leadership and Influence

Prominent businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities have showcased Graffius and his contributions—spanning his books, talks, workshops, and beyond. Select examples include:

Adobe,
American Management Association,
Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
Bayer,
BMC Software,
Boston University,
Broadcom,
Cisco,
Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts - Germany,
Computer Weekly,
Constructor University - Germany,
Data Governance Success,
Deimos Aerospace,
DevOps Institute,
Dropbox,
EU's European Commission,
Ford Motor Company,
Gartner,
GoDaddy,
Harvard Medical School,
Hasso Plattner Institute - Germany,
IEEE,
Innovation Project Management,
Johns Hopkins University,
Journal of Neurosurgery,
Lam Research (Semiconductors),
Leadership Worthy,
Life Sciences Trainers and Educators Network,
London South Bank University,
Microsoft,
NASSCOM,
National Academy of Sciences,
New Zealand Government,
Oracle,
Pinterest Inc.,
Project Management Institute,
Mary Raum (Professor of National Security Affairs, United States Naval War College),
SANS Institute,
SBG Neumark - Germany,
Singapore Institute of Technology,
Torrens University - Australia,
TBS Switzerland,
Tufts University,
UC San Diego,
UK Sports Institute,
University of Galway - Ireland,
US Department of Energy,
US National Park Service,
US Soccer,
US Tennis Association,
Verizon,
Wrike,
Yale University,
and many others.

Graffius has played a key role in the Project Management Institute (PMI) in developing professional standards. He was a member of multiple teams that authored, reviewed, and produced:

Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures—Second Edition.
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge—Sixth Edition.
The Standard for Program Management—Fourth Edition.
The Practice Standard for Project Estimating—Second Edition.

Additional details are here.

He was also a subject matter expert reviewer of content for the PMI’s Congress. Beyond the PMI, Graffius also served as a member of the review team for two of the Scrum Alliance’s Global Scrum Gatherings.

Acclaimed Authority on Teamwork Tradecraft

Graffius is a renowned authority on teamwork tradecraft. Informed by the research of Bruce W. Tuckman and Mary Ann C. Jensen, over 100 subsequent studies, and Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his 'Phases of Team Development' as a unique perspective and visual conveying the five phases of team development. First introduced in 2008 and periodically updated, his work provides a diagnostic and strategic guide for navigating team dynamics. It provides actionable insights for leaders across industries to develop high-performance teams. Its adoption by esteemed organizations such as Yale University, IEEE, Cisco, Microsoft, Ford, Oracle, Broadcom, the U.S. National Park Service, and the Journal of Neurosurgery, among others, highlights its utility and value, solidifying its status as an indispensable resource for elevating team performance and driving organizational excellence.

The 2025 edition of Graffius' "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property is here.

Expert on Temporal Dynamics on Social Media Platforms

Graffius is also an authority on temporal dynamics on social media platforms. His 'Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts' research—first published in 2018 and updated annually—delivers a precise quantitative analysis of post longevity across digital platforms, utilizing advanced statistical techniques to determine mean half-life with precision. It establishes a solid empirical base, effectively highlighting the ephemeral nature of content within social media ecosystems. Referenced and applied by leading entities such as the Center for Direct Marketing, Fast Company, GoDaddy, Pinterest Inc., and PNAS, among others, his research exemplifies methodological rigor and sustained significance in the field of digital informatics.

The 2025 edition of Graffius "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts" research is here.

Education and Professional Certifications

Graffius has a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a focus in Human Factors. He holds eight professional certifications:

Certified SAFe 6 Agilist (SA),
Certified Scrum Professional - ScrumMaster (CSP-SM),
Certified Scrum Professional - Product Owner (CSP-PO),
Certified ScrumMaster (CSM),
Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO),
Project Management Professional (PMP),
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB), and
IT Service Management Foundation (ITIL).

He is an active member of the Scrum Alliance, the Project Management Institute (PMI), and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Advancing AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management

Scott M. Graffius continues to advance the fields of AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management through his leadership, research, writing, and real-world impact. Businesses and other organizations leverage Graffius’ insights to drive their success.

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Check out Scott’s books:

Follow and connect with Scott on social media:

Sign up for Miro—it's free!

(Want more features? You can always upgrade to a paid plan.)

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How to Cite This Article

Graffius, Scott M. (2025, August 22). Scott M. Graffius Premieres His New "Exotic Team Dynamics: Human-AI Collaboration" Talk at Corporate Event in Las Vegas. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/scott-m-graffius-premieres-talk-on-human-and-ai-exotic-team-dynamics.html.

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scott_m_graffius_-_blog_spacer_-_v23111107_-_x---rev-24101207---doi----lwres

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

DOI: (coming soon)

Content Acknowledgements

All names, marks, and content are the property of their respective owners.

Top 5 Hashtags

#AI
#ExoticTeamDynamics
#FutureOfTeams
#HumanAICollaboration
#Innovation

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Post-Publication Notes

If there are any supplements or updates to this article after the date of publication, they will appear here.

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Copyright

Copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

Content on this site—including text, images, videos, and data—may not be used for training or input into any artificial intelligence, machine learning, or automatized learning systems, or published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.

Tags: Exotic Team Dynamics • Team Collaboration and Innovation • Human-AI Teams • Teamwork Tradecraft • Future of Work and Intelligent Workflows

Environmental Science Journal References Scott M. Graffius’ Project Management Work

21 August 2025

BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com

ev-science-references-scott-m-graffius---v2-lwres

Introduction

Strategic objectives play a crucial role in guiding organizations towards achieving their vision and mission. They’re fulfilled by projects, endeavors undertaken to create a unique product, service, or result.

The art and science of project management (Agile or otherwise)—the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to projects—is indispensable for the management and completion of projects. Related tools can significantly contribute to successful outcomes.

In 2007, Scott M. Graffius developed a fresh take on RACI charts, a simple project management tool. His unique material provides audiences with practical information they can use to leverage RACI charts, helping them manage complexities and achieve success. Graffius periodically refreshes his work. In 2020, he published an updated version on ResearchGate, a European platform for researchers and scientists.

That RACI material was cited in the peer-reviewed academic journal Mires and Peat. Specifically, the paper "Stakeholder Mapping for Peatland Fire Management in Indonesia: The Case of Kayu Labu and Tumbang Nusa Villages" in the journal referenced Graffius’ 2020 publication:

Graffius, S.M. (2020). How the RACI Tool Can Help You: Use RACI to Establish Roles and Responsibilities – and Improve Outcomes – for Projects and Other Work. Los Angeles, California: Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.14713.62561/4.

The following visual highlights excerpts from the Mires and Peat article.

ev-science-references-scott-m-graffius---excerpts-v2-lwres

About Peatlands and Mires and Peat

Peatlands are vital ecosystems that store massive amounts of carbon, support biodiversity, regulate water cycles, and play a crucial role in mitigating climate change. For those reasons, their study and protection is of global significance.

Mires and Peat is a credible journal in the field of environmental science. Key aspects of the publication include:

Peer-Reviewed: Submissions undergo critical evaluation by experts, ensuring scientific rigor.
Affiliations: Published jointly by the International Peatland Society (IPS) and the International Mire Conservation Group (IMCG).
Open Access: The journal is freely accessible, maximizing dissemination of research.
Editorial Board: Comprised of internationally acknowledged researchers.
Indexing: The journal is indexed by multiple services, including Thomson Reuters Web of Science, Elsevier Scopus, EBSCO Environment Complete, CABI Abstracts, and CSA ProQuest.

Significance

The citation of Graffius’ RACI work in Mires and Peat underscores the tool’s broad relevance and versatility. While RACI charts are widely applied in business, technology, and project management contexts, this reference demonstrates their utility on broad(er) challenges including global issues. It’s a testament to the cross-disciplinary impact of excellent project management tools.

Practical tools like RACI can help inform research, guide stakeholder collaboration, and drive solutions in diverse fields, from corporate initiatives to environmental conservation.

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Conclusion

This recognition joins a growing list of cross-sector references to Graffius’ project management work, reinforcing the applicability and real-world value of his contributions.

As another example, the EU's European Commission used Graffius' material on RACI in their training program. See https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/eu-2024.html for details.

To learn more about the RACI tool, see: https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.14713.62561/4.

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Citation Information

Graffius’ paper on the RACI tool:

Graffius, Scott M. (2020). How the RACI Tool Can Help You: Use RACI to Establish Roles and Responsibilities—and Improve Outcomes—for Projects and Other Work. Los Angeles, California: Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.14713.62561/4. Available at: https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.14713.62561/4.

Mires and Peat article:

Rochmayanto, Y., Sakuntaladewi, N., Iqbal, M., Winarno, B., Lestari, S., Qirom, M. A., Ardhana, M. A., Malau, L. R. E., Anjani, R., Yulni, T., Akbar, A., Mendham, D. S., van Kerkhoff, L., & Robins, L. (2024). Stakeholder Mapping for Peatland Fire Management in Indonesia: The Case of Kayu Labu and Tumbang Nusa Villages. Mires and Peat, 30: Article 09. DOI: 10.19189/MaP.2023.OMB.Sc.2441418. Available at: https://doi.org/10.19189/MaP.2023.OMB.Sc.2441418.

This article:

Graffius, Scott M. (2025, August 21). Environmental Science Journal References Scott M. Graffius’ Project Management Work. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/ev-science-references-scott-m-graffius.html.

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About Scott M. Graffius,
How to Cite This Article,
and more.

About Scott M. Graffius

scott_m_graffius_-_blue_-_1000x1000_-lwres

Scott M. Graffius is a globally recognized technology leader who drives innovation in AI, Agile, and Project Management/PMO leadership.

He’s a practitioner, researcher, thought leader, award-winning author, and keynote speaker who’s taken the stage at 94 conferences and other events across 25 countries.

He’s delivered over $2.3 billion in value for Fortune 500 companies and other leaders in technology, entertainment, financial services, healthcare, and beyond.

Businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities use Graffius and feature his work. Examples include Adobe, Bayer, Boston University, Ford, Gartner, Harvard Medical School, IEEE, Johns Hopkins University, Microsoft, National Academy of Sciences, Oracle, Pinterest Inc., Project Management Institute, UC San Diego, Verizon, Yale University, and others.

The following sections provide additional information on his experience, contributions, and influence.

Experience

Graffius heads the professional services firm Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, along with its subsidiary Exceptional Agility. These consultancies offer strategic and tactical advisory, training, embedded expertise, and consulting services to the public, private, and government sectors. They help organizations enhance their capabilities and results in agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership, supporting innovation and driving competitive advantage. The consultancies confidently back services with a Delighted Client Guarantee™.

Graffius is a former VP of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more.

He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets.

Award-Winning Author

Graffius has authored three books.

Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions, his first book, earned 17 awards.
Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change, his second book, was named one of the best Scrum books of all time by BookAuthority.
Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum, his third book and his first work of fiction, was released in April 2025. The book trailer is on YouTube.

International Public Speaker

Organizations worldwide engage Graffius to present on tech (including AI), Agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership. He crafts and delivers unique and compelling talks and workshops. To date, Graffius has conducted 94 sessions across 25 countries. Select examples of events include Agile Trends Gov, BSides (Newcastle Upon Tyne), Conf42 Quantum Computing, DevDays Europe, DevOps Institute, DevOpsDays (Geneva), Frug’Agile, IEEE, Microsoft, Scottish Summit, Scrum Alliance RSG (Nepal), Techstars, and W Love Games International Video Game Development Conference (Helsinki), and more.

With an average rating of 4.81 (on a scale of 1-5), sessions are highly valued.

The speaker engagement request form is here.

Thought Leadership and Influence

Prominent businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities have showcased Graffius and his contributions—spanning his books, talks, workshops, and beyond. Select examples include:

Adobe,
American Management Association,
Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
Bayer,
BMC Software,
Boston University,
Broadcom,
Cisco,
Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts - Germany,
Computer Weekly,
Constructor University - Germany,
Data Governance Success,
Deimos Aerospace,
DevOps Institute,
Dropbox,
EU's European Commission,
Ford Motor Company,
Gartner,
GoDaddy,
Harvard Medical School,
Hasso Plattner Institute - Germany,
IEEE,
Innovation Project Management,
Johns Hopkins University,
Journal of Neurosurgery,
Lam Research (Semiconductors),
Leadership Worthy,
Life Sciences Trainers and Educators Network,
London South Bank University,
Microsoft,
NASSCOM,
National Academy of Sciences,
New Zealand Government,
Oracle,
Pinterest Inc.,
Project Management Institute,
Mary Raum (Professor of National Security Affairs, United States Naval War College),
SANS Institute,
SBG Neumark - Germany,
Singapore Institute of Technology,
Torrens University - Australia,
TBS Switzerland,
Tufts University,
UC San Diego,
UK Sports Institute,
University of Galway - Ireland,
US Department of Energy,
US National Park Service,
US Soccer,
US Tennis Association,
Verizon,
Wrike,
Yale University,
and many others.

Graffius has played a key role in the Project Management Institute (PMI) in developing professional standards. He was a member of multiple teams that authored, reviewed, and produced:

Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures—Second Edition.
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge—Sixth Edition.
The Standard for Program Management—Fourth Edition.
The Practice Standard for Project Estimating—Second Edition.

Additional details are here.

He was also a subject matter expert reviewer of content for the PMI’s Congress. Beyond the PMI, Graffius also served as a member of the review team for two of the Scrum Alliance’s Global Scrum Gatherings.

Acclaimed Authority on Teamwork Tradecraft

Graffius is a renowned authority on teamwork tradecraft. Informed by the research of Bruce W. Tuckman and Mary Ann C. Jensen, over 100 subsequent studies, and Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his 'Phases of Team Development' as a unique perspective and visual conveying the five phases of team development. First introduced in 2008 and periodically updated, his work provides a diagnostic and strategic guide for navigating team dynamics. It provides actionable insights for leaders across industries to develop high-performance teams. Its adoption by esteemed organizations such as Yale University, IEEE, Cisco, Microsoft, Ford, Oracle, Broadcom, the U.S. National Park Service, and the Journal of Neurosurgery, among others, highlights its utility and value, solidifying its status as an indispensable resource for elevating team performance and driving organizational excellence.

The 2025 edition of Graffius' "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property is here.

Expert on Temporal Dynamics on Social Media Platforms

Graffius is also an authority on temporal dynamics on social media platforms. His 'Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts' research—first published in 2018 and updated annually—delivers a precise quantitative analysis of post longevity across digital platforms, utilizing advanced statistical techniques to determine mean half-life with precision. It establishes a solid empirical base, effectively highlighting the ephemeral nature of content within social media ecosystems. Referenced and applied by leading entities such as the Center for Direct Marketing, Fast Company, GoDaddy, Pinterest Inc., and PNAS, among others, his research exemplifies methodological rigor and sustained significance in the field of digital informatics.

The 2025 edition of Graffius "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts" research is here.

Education and Professional Certifications

Graffius has a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a focus in Human Factors. He holds eight professional certifications:

Certified SAFe 6 Agilist (SA),
Certified Scrum Professional - ScrumMaster (CSP-SM),
Certified Scrum Professional - Product Owner (CSP-PO),
Certified ScrumMaster (CSM),
Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO),
Project Management Professional (PMP),
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB), and
IT Service Management Foundation (ITIL).

He is an active member of the Scrum Alliance, the Project Management Institute (PMI), and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Advancing AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management

Scott M. Graffius continues to advance the fields of AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management through his leadership, research, writing, and real-world impact. Businesses and other organizations leverage Graffius’ insights to drive their success.

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Check out Scott’s books:

Follow and connect with Scott on social media:

Sign up for Miro—it's free!

(Want more features? You can always upgrade to a paid plan.)

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scott_m_graffius_-_blog_spacer_-_v23111107_-_cite

How to Cite This Article

Graffius, Scott M. (2025, August 21). Environmental Science Journal References Scott M. Graffius’ Project Management Work. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/ev-science-references-scott-m-graffius.html.

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scott_m_graffius_-_blog_spacer_-_v23111107_-_x---rev-24101207---doi----lwres

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

DOI: (coming soon)

Content Acknowledgements

All names, marks, and content are the property of their respective owners.

Mires and Peat article—"Stakeholder Mapping for Peatland Fire Management in Indonesia: The Case of Kayu Labu and Tumbang Nusa Villages”—was written by: Yanto Rochmayanto, Niken Sakuntaladewi, Mohamad Iqbal, Bondan Winarno, Sri Lestari, M. Abdul Qirom, M. Adnan Ardhana, Leo R.E. Malau, Raissa Anjani, Tri Yulni, Acep Akbar, Daniel S. Mendham, Lorrae van Kerkhoff, and Lisa Robins.

Mires and Peat name and mark are the property of the publishers, International Mire Conservation Group and International Peatland Society. Mires and Peat content are the property of the publishers and respective authors.

This article uses limited excerpts from the Mires and Peat article, attributed and used under fair use for news reporting and analysis.

"How the RACI Tool Can Help You: Use RACI to Establish Roles and Responsibilities—and Improve Outcomes—for Projects and Other Work" is copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

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scott_m_graffius_-_blog_spacer_-_v23111107_-_x---rev-25062907---hashtags---lwres

Top 5 Hashtags

#EnvironmentalScience
#Leadership
#ProjectManagement
#RACI
#Sustainability

Post-Publication Notes

If there are any supplements or updates to this article after the date of publication, they will appear here.

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scott_m_graffius_-_blog_spacer_-_v23111107_-_x---rev-24101207---copyright---lwres-2

Copyright

Copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

Content on this site—including text, images, videos, and data—may not be used for training or input into any artificial intelligence, machine learning, or automatized learning systems, or published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.

Tags: Environmental Science • Leadership • Sustainability • Project Management • RACI Matrix – Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed

AI Institute of Switzerland Features Scott M. Graffius’ Work on Algorithms

18 August 2025

BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com

ai-institute-features-work-of-scott-m-graffius---lwres

Introduction

The AI Institute of Switzerland has featured research by Scott M. Graffius—How Algorithms Shape the User Experience on Social Media Platforms—within its curated section of research papers and articles. This recognition highlights the growing importance of Graffius’ work in the fields of artificial intelligence, human–AI interaction, and social media.

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Why This Matters

The AI Institute of Switzerland ("the Institute"), part of the Swiss Information and Management Institute, is the country’s first institute exclusively dedicated to artificial intelligence. Its mission is to advance AI knowledge through applied research, training, and innovation. It serves as a bridge between academic rigor and industry-relevant practice. By including Graffius’ work among its references, the Institute underscores both its relevance and value in shaping conversations about AI and social media platforms.

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The Significance of the Research

Social media has revolutionized communication, culture, and commerce. And behind the user experience lies the pervasive influence of AI-powered algorithms. Graffius’ research investigates these systems, examining how personalization and recommendation engines shape what users see and how they interact.

The findings reveal that while algorithms drive engagement and growth for platforms, they also pose complex challenges around user autonomy, wellness, and information integrity. Unpacking these dynamics contributes to a deeper understanding of one of the defining issues of the digital age: how to balance innovation with ethical responsibility.

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Broader Impact

The inclusion of Graffius’ research by the Institute signals recognition of its global relevance—particularly in the areas of AI ethics, transparency, and human-centric system design. As the Institute trains the next generation of AI leaders, it curates resources that demonstrate what AI can achieve along with reflection on how it should be applied responsibly.

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Conclusion

The Institute’s feature of Graffius’ research underscores the vital role of interdisciplinary scholarship in guiding the future of technology and society. His work continues to inform debates on AI ethics, governance, and the human impact of algorithmic decision-making.

Select excerpts from the Institute's publication are shown below.

ai-institute-features-work-of-scott-m-graffius---excerpts---lwres

ai-institute-features-work-of-scott-m-graffius---excerpts---lwres

Graffius' "How Algorithms Shape the User Experience on Social Media Platforms" paper is on ResearchGate here. The AI Institute of Switzerland's publication is here.

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Citation Information

Graffius' publication on ResearchGate:

Graffius, Scott M. (2024, September 26). How Algorithms Shape the User Experience on Social Media Platforms. ResearchGate. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.29149.01767. Available at: https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.29149.01767.

AI Institute of Switzerland's publication:

AI Institute of Switzerland (n.d.). Portfolio Item: Social Media Marketing Algorithms. Available at: https://aiinstitute.ch/portfolio-item/smm-algorithms/.

This article:

Graffius, Scott M. (2025, August 18). AI Institute of Switzerland Features Scott M. Graffius’ Work on Algorithms. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/ai-institute-features-work-of-scott-m-graffius.html.

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About Scott M. Graffius,
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and more.

About Scott M. Graffius

scott_m_graffius_-_blue_-_1000x1000_-lwres

Scott M. Graffius is a globally recognized technology leader who drives innovation in AI, Agile, and Project Management/PMO leadership.

He’s a practitioner, researcher, thought leader, award-winning author, and keynote speaker who’s taken the stage at 94 conferences and other events across 25 countries.

He’s delivered over $2.3 billion in value for Fortune 500 companies and other leaders in technology, entertainment, financial services, healthcare, and beyond.

Businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities use Graffius and feature his work. Examples include Adobe, Bayer, Boston University, Ford, Gartner, Harvard Medical School, IEEE, Johns Hopkins University, Microsoft, National Academy of Sciences, Oracle, Pinterest Inc., Project Management Institute, UC San Diego, Verizon, Yale University, and others.

The following sections provide additional information on his experience, contributions, and influence.

Experience

Graffius heads the professional services firm Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, along with its subsidiary Exceptional Agility. These consultancies offer strategic and tactical advisory, training, embedded expertise, and consulting services to the public, private, and government sectors. They help organizations enhance their capabilities and results in agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership, supporting innovation and driving competitive advantage. The consultancies confidently back services with a Delighted Client Guarantee™.

Graffius is a former VP of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more.

He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets.

Award-Winning Author

Graffius has authored three books.

Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions, his first book, earned 17 awards.
Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change, his second book, was named one of the best Scrum books of all time by BookAuthority.
Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum, his third book and his first work of fiction, was released in April 2025. The book trailer is on YouTube.

International Public Speaker

Organizations worldwide engage Graffius to present on tech (including AI), Agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership. He crafts and delivers unique and compelling talks and workshops. To date, Graffius has conducted 94 sessions across 25 countries. Select examples of events include Agile Trends Gov, BSides (Newcastle Upon Tyne), Conf42 Quantum Computing, DevDays Europe, DevOps Institute, DevOpsDays (Geneva), Frug’Agile, IEEE, Microsoft, Scottish Summit, Scrum Alliance RSG (Nepal), Techstars, and W Love Games International Video Game Development Conference (Helsinki), and more.

With an average rating of 4.81 (on a scale of 1-5), sessions are highly valued.

The speaker engagement request form is here.

Thought Leadership and Influence

Prominent businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities have showcased Graffius and his contributions—spanning his books, talks, workshops, and beyond. Select examples include:

Adobe,
American Management Association,
Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
Bayer,
BMC Software,
Boston University,
Broadcom,
Cisco,
Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts - Germany,
Computer Weekly,
Constructor University - Germany,
Data Governance Success,
Deimos Aerospace,
DevOps Institute,
Dropbox,
EU's European Commission,
Ford Motor Company,
Gartner,
GoDaddy,
Harvard Medical School,
Hasso Plattner Institute - Germany,
IEEE,
Innovation Project Management,
Johns Hopkins University,
Journal of Neurosurgery,
Lam Research (Semiconductors),
Leadership Worthy,
Life Sciences Trainers and Educators Network,
London South Bank University,
Microsoft,
NASSCOM,
National Academy of Sciences,
New Zealand Government,
Oracle,
Pinterest Inc.,
Project Management Institute,
Mary Raum (Professor of National Security Affairs, United States Naval War College),
SANS Institute,
SBG Neumark - Germany,
Singapore Institute of Technology,
Torrens University - Australia,
TBS Switzerland,
Tufts University,
UC San Diego,
UK Sports Institute,
University of Galway - Ireland,
US Department of Energy,
US National Park Service,
US Soccer,
US Tennis Association,
Verizon,
Wrike,
Yale University,
and many others.

Graffius has played a key role in the Project Management Institute (PMI) in developing professional standards. He was a member of multiple teams that authored, reviewed, and produced:

Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures—Second Edition.
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge—Sixth Edition.
The Standard for Program Management—Fourth Edition.
The Practice Standard for Project Estimating—Second Edition.

Additional details are here.

He was also a subject matter expert reviewer of content for the PMI’s Congress. Beyond the PMI, Graffius also served as a member of the review team for two of the Scrum Alliance’s Global Scrum Gatherings.

Acclaimed Authority on Teamwork Tradecraft

Graffius is a renowned authority on teamwork tradecraft. Informed by the research of Bruce W. Tuckman and Mary Ann C. Jensen, over 100 subsequent studies, and Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his 'Phases of Team Development' as a unique perspective and visual conveying the five phases of team development. First introduced in 2008 and periodically updated, his work provides a diagnostic and strategic guide for navigating team dynamics. It provides actionable insights for leaders across industries to develop high-performance teams. Its adoption by esteemed organizations such as Yale University, IEEE, Cisco, Microsoft, Ford, Oracle, Broadcom, the U.S. National Park Service, and the Journal of Neurosurgery, among others, highlights its utility and value, solidifying its status as an indispensable resource for elevating team performance and driving organizational excellence.

The 2025 edition of Graffius' "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property is here.

Expert on Temporal Dynamics on Social Media Platforms

Graffius is also an authority on temporal dynamics on social media platforms. His 'Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts' research—first published in 2018 and updated annually—delivers a precise quantitative analysis of post longevity across digital platforms, utilizing advanced statistical techniques to determine mean half-life with precision. It establishes a solid empirical base, effectively highlighting the ephemeral nature of content within social media ecosystems. Referenced and applied by leading entities such as the Center for Direct Marketing, Fast Company, GoDaddy, Pinterest Inc., and PNAS, among others, his research exemplifies methodological rigor and sustained significance in the field of digital informatics.

The 2025 edition of Graffius "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts" research is here.

Education and Professional Certifications

Graffius has a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a focus in Human Factors. He holds eight professional certifications:

Certified SAFe 6 Agilist (SA),
Certified Scrum Professional - ScrumMaster (CSP-SM),
Certified Scrum Professional - Product Owner (CSP-PO),
Certified ScrumMaster (CSM),
Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO),
Project Management Professional (PMP),
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB), and
IT Service Management Foundation (ITIL).

He is an active member of the Scrum Alliance, the Project Management Institute (PMI), and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Advancing AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management

Scott M. Graffius continues to advance the fields of AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management through his leadership, research, writing, and real-world impact. Businesses and other organizations leverage Graffius’ insights to drive their success.

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How to Cite This Article

Graffius, Scott M. (2025, August 18). AI Institute of Switzerland Features Scott M. Graffius’ Work on Algorithms. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/ai-institute-features-work-of-scott-m-graffius.html.

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Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

DOI: (coming soon)

Content Acknowledgements

All names, marks, and content are the property of their respective owners.

AI Institute of Switzerland name, mark, and content are the property of AI Institute, a member of the Swiss Information and Management Institute.

This article uses limited excerpts from the AI Institute of Switzerland, attributed and used under fair use for news reporting and analysis.

“How Algorithms Shape the User Experience on Social Media Platforms” is copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

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Top 5 Hashtags

#AI
#AIEthics
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Post-Publication Notes

If there are any supplements or updates to this article after the date of publication, they will appear here.

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Copyright

Copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

Content on this site—including text, images, videos, and data—may not be used for training or input into any artificial intelligence, machine learning, or automatized learning systems, or published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.

Tags: AI • AI Institute of Switzerland • Human-AI • Social Media Research • How Algorithms Shape the User Experience on Social Media Platforms

Exotic Team Dynamics: The New Frontier of Human–AI Collaboration

08 August 2025

BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com

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Introduction

From Exotic Physics to Exotic Teamwork

In physics, "exotic" refers to concepts that exist in the liminal space between proven and speculative. They’re mathematically coherent ideas that await experimental confirmation. For example:

Beyond Standard Model examples include supersymmetry, extra dimensions, and grand unified theories.
Exotic matter involves concepts such as negative mass and matter with negative energy density, which are key to theoretical wormholes.
Quantum gravity candidates include string theory and loop quantum gravity.
Anomalous astrophysics explores new dark matter candidates and modified gravity theories.
Cosmological oddities encompass ideas such as multiverse hypotheses, cosmic strings, and bubble collisions.

These are rigorous explorations, rooted in theory and actively advancing—although still reliant on future technological and empirical breakthroughs.

Similarly, a new frontier is emerging in team dynamics. This article unpacks these dynamics in detail, offering insights and practical guidance for navigating human–AI collaboration.

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Defining Exotic Team Dynamics

Exotic Team Dynamics describes collaborations where non-human intelligences (such as AI) work alongside humans toward shared goals. This liminal space is:

Not alien to traditional teamwork — characteristics such as trust, communication, adaptability, and more still apply.
Yet fundamentally different — with new rhythms, decision-making styles, and interaction methods that don’t fit traditional playbooks.
Still in the experimental phase — possibilities are being charted faster than they can be validated.

What Makes Them "Exotic"

Drawing on the physics analogy, exotic team dynamics exhibit unique traits. Discover examples in the visual below.

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Text from the above illustration follows.

Parallel Analogy 1: Unexpected and Novel Effects

Exotic Physics: Negative Mass – behaves opposite to expectations under force.
Exotic Team Dynamics: Inverse Decision Logic – where AI challenges human assumptions by prioritizing counterintuitive but optimal choices.

Parallel Analogy 2: Superposition

Exotic Physics: Quantum Superposition – being in multiple states simultaneously.
Exotic Team Dynamics: Superposition Roles – where AI supports several team functions in parallel, shifting emphasis instantly.

Parallel Analogy 3: Entanglement

Exotic Physics: Quantum Entanglement – instant correlation regardless of distance.
Exotic Team Dynamics: Entangled Decision-Making – human and AI inputs are interdependent, producing outcomes neither could achieve alone.

Parallel Analogy 4: Emergent Phenomena and Protocols

Exotic Physics: Emergent Phenomena – complex patterns arising from simple rules.
Exotic Team Dynamics: Emergent Protocols – new communication patterns evolving without explicit programming or policy.

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Why It Matters

The intersection of team science and AI is now practical, not just theoretical:

AI is already embedded in decision support, analytics, scheduling, creative brainstorming, and more.
Select teams in R&D, crisis response, and strategic planning are experimenting with human–AI collaboration as a core operating model.
Organizations face new questions: How to foster trust with an AI teammate? How to ensure role clarity with a scalable teammate? How to resolve conflicts with a non-emotional partner?

Futurescape

As once-exotic concepts in physics move into the mainstream, exotic human–AI team configurations transition into use and may define tomorrow’s standard. Leaders can:

Experiment intentionally. Treat hybrid human–AI teamwork as a design space, not an afterthought.
Develop new norms. Create protocols, rituals, and safeguards tailored for human-AI teams.
Track performance and well-being. Prioritize ethics and human needs while pursuing efficiency.
Prepare for scale. What works for one AI teammate may not apply in cases of multiple AI team members; demonstrate flexibility.

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Conclusion

While exotic matter concepts in physics exist in the liminal space between proven and speculative, exotic team dynamics moved beyond speculation into real-world exploration and application.

The organizations that will thrive in this new frontier won’t simply graft AI onto existing workflows. They’ll reimagine what "team" means—blending human judgment, creativity, and empathy with AI’s speed, scale, and pattern recognition.

This shift will demand more than technical upgrades. It will require new playbooks for trust, communication, and shared purpose. It’s not about replacing the human element—it’s about amplifying it through collaboration with intelligent partners that think differently, move faster, and challenge our assumptions.

We are standing at the edge of a transformation as profound as the leap from classical to quantum thinking. The leaders who lean into human-AI collaboration—experimenting, adapting, and defining the norms of exotic team dynamics—will help shape the high-performing, future-proof teams of tomorrow.

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Bibliography

The bibliography is informed, in part, by the author’s work in AI and teamwork tradecraft, including exotic team dynamics.

Alfateh, Maryam Ali Abu; Messaadia, Mourad; and Ali, Mazen (2023, September). Exploring the Dynamics of Team Formation in Human-Artificial Intelligence Collaboration. In 2023 International Conference on Decision Aid Sciences and Applications (DASA), pp. 384-388. DOI: 10.1109/DASA59624.2023.10286788.
Anduril Industries (2025, May 29). Anduril and Meta Team Up to Transform XR for the American Military. Available at: https://www.anduril.com/article/anduril-and-meta-team-up-to-transform-xr-for-the-american-military/.
Arizona State University. (2025, April 4). CHIMERAS: Rethinking Human-AI Teamwork in National Security Screening. Center for Accelerating Operational Efficiency. Available at: https://caoe.asu.edu/2025/04/04/chimeras-rethinking-human-ai-teamwork-in-national-security-screening/.
Berretta, S.; Tausch, A.; Ontrup, G.; Gilles, B.; Peifer, C.; Kluge, A. (2023, September). Defining human-AI teaming the human-centered way: a scoping review and network analysis. Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence, 6: 1250725. DOI: 10.3389/frai.2023.1250725.
Bostrom, Nick (2016). Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies. Oxford University Press.
Bouman, A., Ginting, M. F., Alatur, N., Palieri, M., Fan, D. D., Touma, T., Pailevanian, T., Kim, S.-K., Otsu, K., Burdick, J., & Agha-Mohammadi, A. (2020, November 30). Autonomous Spot: Long-Range Autonomous Exploration of Extreme Environments with Legged Locomotion (arXiv:2010.09259). arXiv. Available at: https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2010.09259.
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) (2023, February 23). Episode 65: A Sprint to Tomorrow, Powered by Teamwork [Podcast]. Available at: https://www.darpa.mil/news-events/2023-02-23a.
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) (2024, September 27). Teaching AI What It Should and Shouldn’t Do. Available at: https://www.darpa.mil/news/2024/teaching-ai.
Graffius, Scott M. (2021, October 5). Navigate the Phases of Team Development with Speed and Agility for Happier and More Productive Teams [Presentation]. Talk delivered at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers IEEE Day 2021 Conference. Digital Object Identifier (DOI): 10.13140/RG.2.2.20055.19365. DOI link: https://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.20055.19365.
Graffius, Scott M. (2023, May 1). AI is a Team Sport: A Confluence of Diverse Technical and Soft Skills are Crucial for Success. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/successful-ai-teams.html. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.20321.79200.
Graffius, Scott M. (2023, October 9). Top 5 Roles on AI Teams. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/ai-team-roles.html. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.34857.57449.

Graffius, Scott M. (2024, April 5). Cisco Features Scott M. Graffius' 'Phases of Team Development' Work' Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/cisco-2024.html. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.16689.60000.
Graffius, Scott M. (2024, May 3). Leverage Agile and AI to Innovate at the Speed of Light. Talk at private event in Dubai, UAE. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.30790.48960.
Graffius, Scott M. (2025, January 24). When Agile, AI, and Strategic Thinking Converge. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/when-agile-ai-and-strategic-thinking-converge.html.
Graffius, Scott M. (2025, July 1). Exploring Team Dynamics, Adaptability, and Creative Problem-Solving Through Felix the Cat’s Metaphorical Toolkit. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/exploring-team-dynamics-adaptability-and-creative-problem-solving-through-a-metaphorical-toolkit.html.
Graffius, Scott M. (2025, January 7). Scott M. Graffius’ Phases of Team Development: 2025 Update. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/phases-of-team-development-update-for-2025.html. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.33705.30564.
Graffius, Scott M. (2025, May 13). Scott M. Graffius Delivering $2.3 Billion in Value Through AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Leadership. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/scott-m-graffius-delivering-2-point-3-billion-dollars-in-impact-for-organizations.html.
Graffius, Scott M. (2025, July 18). Harness Sci-Fi and Speculative Design While Embracing Imperfection to Drive Innovation and Proactively Predict and Prepare for the Future. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/harness-scifi-and-speculative-design-while-embracing-imperfection-to-drive-innovation-and-proactively-predict-and-prepare-for-the-future.html.

Graffius, Scott M. (2025). Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum. Seattle, WA: Amazon Digital Services.
Graffius, Scott M. (2025, August 7). Method and System for Facilitating Hybrid Human–Artificial Intelligence Teams via a Protocolized Mediation Layer for Bi-Directional Translation, Interpretation, and Optimization of Natural Language, Paralinguistic, Prosodic, and Nonverbal Cues Across Text, Audio, and Video Modalities, Incorporating Real-Time Analysis of Auditory Tone, Pitch, Affect, Facial Expressions, Gaze, Posture, and Other Body Language Indicators, Generating AI-Compatible Representations for Human Inputs, Generating Human-Accessible Representations for AI Outputs, Conveying Context-Aware Information in Both Directions, Reducing Cognitive Friction, Enhancing Mutual Intelligibility, Supporting Decision-Making, and Maximizing Collective Task Performance. A novel integration of multimodal communication, cognitive alignment, and human-AI interaction. Los Angeles, California.
Jacobsen, Annie (2015). The Pentagon's Brain: An Uncensored History of DARPA, America's Top-Secret Military Research Agency. Little, Brown and Company.
James, G., Witten, D., Hastie, T., & Tibshirani, R. (2021). An Introduction to Statistical Learning: With Applications in R (2nd ed.). Springer.
Joiner, B., & Josephs, S. (2007). Leadership Agility: Five Levels of Mastery for Anticipating and Initiating Change. Jossey-Bass.
Kerzner, Harold (2022). Innovation Project Management: Methods, Case Studies, and Tools for Managing Innovation Projects—Second Edition. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley.
Kurzweil, Ray (2024). The Singularity Is Nearer: When We Merge with AI. Random House.
Lieberman, Marvin (2021, February). Is Competitive Advantage Intellectually Sustainable? Strategic Management Review, 2 (1): 29-46.
Mollick, Ethan (2024). Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI. Portfolio.
Morsa, Luigi (2022, July 7). Agile. Creativity. Innovation. IIL. Available at: https://blog.iil.com/agile-creativity-innovation/.
O’Neill, L., Fraser, T., Cake, M., Fullarton, M., & Riley, S. (2024). Human-Autonomy Teaming: Evaluating Trust and Performance Through Dyadic Interaction Tasks. Current Opinion in Biomedical Engineering, 31: 100533. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cobme.2024.100533.
Prasad, Baba (2025, May 5). Interpreters, Challengers and Stewards: The Role of Agile Leaders in an AI World. Brown University. Available at: https://professional.brown.edu/news/2025-05-05/agile-leadership-ai-world.
Russell, Stuart (2019). Human Compatible: Artificial Intelligence and the Problem of Control. Viking.
Schoemaker, Paul J. H. (1993, March). Multiple Scenario Development: Its Conceptual and Behavioral Foundation. Strategic Management Journal, 14 (3): 193-213.

Silva, Narciso (2025). The Ultimate Guide to Mastering AI for Leaders: Your Non-technical Playbook for Artificial Intelligence Strategy and Innovation. Independently published.
Steinberger, Tom, & Wiersema, Margarethe (2021). Data Models as Organizational Design: Coordinating Beyond Boundaries Using Artificial Intelligence. Strategic Management Review, 2 (1): 119-144.
Syrett, Michael, & Devine, Marion (2012). Managing Uncertainty: Strategies for Surviving and Thriving in Turbulent Times. Wiley.

Tegmark, Max (2018). Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence. Penguin.
Thrun, S., Burgard, W., & Fox, D. (2005). Probabilistic Robotics. The MIT Press.
Tuckman, B. W. (1965). Developmental Sequence in Small Groups. Psychological Bulletin, 63: 384-399.
Tuckman, B. W., & Jensen, M. A. C. (1977). Stages of Small-Group Development Revisited. Group and Organizational Studies, 2 (4): 419-427.
Walther, C. C. (2025, March 11). Why Hybrid Intelligence is the Future of human-AI Collaboration. Knowledge at Wharton. The Wharton School. Available at: https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/why-hybrid-intelligence-is-the-future-of-human-ai-collaboration/.
Wijeratne, Y. (2020). The Salvage Crew. Aethon Books, LLC.
Woods, Geoff (2024). The AI-Driven Leader: Harnessing AI to Make Faster, Smarter Decisions. AI Thought Leadership.
Xu, W. (2025, August 7). Human-Centered Human-AI Interaction (HC-HAII): A Human-Centered AI Perspective (arXiv:2508.03969) [Preprint]. arXiv. Available at: https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2508.03969.

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About Scott M. Graffius,
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and more.

About Scott M. Graffius

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Scott M. Graffius is a globally recognized technology leader who drives innovation in AI, Agile, and Project Management/PMO leadership.

He’s a practitioner, researcher, thought leader, award-winning author, and keynote speaker who’s taken the stage at 94 conferences and other events across 25 countries.

He’s delivered over $2.3 billion in value for Fortune 500 companies and other leaders in technology, entertainment, financial services, healthcare, and beyond.

Businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities use Graffius and feature his work. Examples include Adobe, Bayer, Boston University, Ford, Gartner, Harvard Medical School, IEEE, Johns Hopkins University, Microsoft, National Academy of Sciences, Oracle, Pinterest Inc., Project Management Institute, UC San Diego, Verizon, Yale University, and others.

The following sections provide additional information on his experience, contributions, and influence.

Experience

Graffius heads the professional services firm Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, along with its subsidiary Exceptional Agility. These consultancies offer strategic and tactical advisory, training, embedded expertise, and consulting services to the public, private, and government sectors. They help organizations enhance their capabilities and results in agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership, supporting innovation and driving competitive advantage. The consultancies confidently back services with a Delighted Client Guarantee™.

Graffius is a former VP of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more.

He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets.

Award-Winning Author

Graffius has authored three books.

Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions, his first book, earned 17 awards.
Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change, his second book, was named one of the best Scrum books of all time by BookAuthority.
Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum, his third book and his first work of fiction, was released in April 2025. The book trailer is on YouTube.

International Public Speaker

Organizations worldwide engage Graffius to present on tech (including AI), Agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership. He crafts and delivers unique and compelling talks and workshops. To date, Graffius has conducted 94 sessions across 25 countries. Select examples of events include Agile Trends Gov, BSides (Newcastle Upon Tyne), Conf42 Quantum Computing, DevDays Europe, DevOps Institute, DevOpsDays (Geneva), Frug’Agile, IEEE, Microsoft, Scottish Summit, Scrum Alliance RSG (Nepal), Techstars, and W Love Games International Video Game Development Conference (Helsinki), and more.

With an average rating of 4.81 (on a scale of 1-5), sessions are highly valued.

The speaker engagement request form is here.

Thought Leadership and Influence

Prominent businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities have showcased Graffius and his contributions—spanning his books, talks, workshops, and beyond. Select examples include:

Adobe,
American Management Association,
Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
Bayer,
BMC Software,
Boston University,
Broadcom,
Cisco,
Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts - Germany,
Computer Weekly,
Constructor University - Germany,
Data Governance Success,
Deimos Aerospace,
DevOps Institute,
Dropbox,
EU's European Commission,
Ford Motor Company,
Gartner,
GoDaddy,
Harvard Medical School,
Hasso Plattner Institute - Germany,
IEEE,
Innovation Project Management,
Johns Hopkins University,
Journal of Neurosurgery,
Lam Research (Semiconductors),
Leadership Worthy,
Life Sciences Trainers and Educators Network,
London South Bank University,
Microsoft,
NASSCOM,
National Academy of Sciences,
New Zealand Government,
Oracle,
Pinterest Inc.,
Project Management Institute,
Mary Raum (Professor of National Security Affairs, United States Naval War College),
SANS Institute,
SBG Neumark - Germany,
Singapore Institute of Technology,
Torrens University - Australia,
TBS Switzerland,
Tufts University,
UC San Diego,
UK Sports Institute,
University of Galway - Ireland,
US Department of Energy,
US National Park Service,
US Soccer,
US Tennis Association,
Verizon,
Wrike,
Yale University,
and many others.

Graffius has played a key role in the Project Management Institute (PMI) in developing professional standards. He was a member of multiple teams that authored, reviewed, and produced:

Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures—Second Edition.
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge—Sixth Edition.
The Standard for Program Management—Fourth Edition.
The Practice Standard for Project Estimating—Second Edition.

Additional details are here.

He was also a subject matter expert reviewer of content for the PMI’s Congress. Beyond the PMI, Graffius also served as a member of the review team for two of the Scrum Alliance’s Global Scrum Gatherings.

Acclaimed Authority on Teamwork Tradecraft

Graffius is a renowned authority on teamwork tradecraft. Informed by the research of Bruce W. Tuckman and Mary Ann C. Jensen, over 100 subsequent studies, and Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his 'Phases of Team Development' as a unique perspective and visual conveying the five phases of team development. First introduced in 2008 and periodically updated, his work provides a diagnostic and strategic guide for navigating team dynamics. It provides actionable insights for leaders across industries to develop high-performance teams. Its adoption by esteemed organizations such as Yale University, IEEE, Cisco, Microsoft, Ford, Oracle, Broadcom, the U.S. National Park Service, and the Journal of Neurosurgery, among others, highlights its utility and value, solidifying its status as an indispensable resource for elevating team performance and driving organizational excellence.

The 2025 edition of Graffius' "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property is here.

Expert on Temporal Dynamics on Social Media Platforms

Graffius is also an authority on temporal dynamics on social media platforms. His 'Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts' research—first published in 2018 and updated annually—delivers a precise quantitative analysis of post longevity across digital platforms, utilizing advanced statistical techniques to determine mean half-life with precision. It establishes a solid empirical base, effectively highlighting the ephemeral nature of content within social media ecosystems. Referenced and applied by leading entities such as the Center for Direct Marketing, Fast Company, GoDaddy, Pinterest Inc., and PNAS, among others, his research exemplifies methodological rigor and sustained significance in the field of digital informatics.

The 2025 edition of Graffius "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts" research is here.

Education and Professional Certifications

Graffius has a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a focus in Human Factors. He holds eight professional certifications:

Certified SAFe 6 Agilist (SA),
Certified Scrum Professional - ScrumMaster (CSP-SM),
Certified Scrum Professional - Product Owner (CSP-PO),
Certified ScrumMaster (CSM),
Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO),
Project Management Professional (PMP),
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB), and
IT Service Management Foundation (ITIL).

He is an active member of the Scrum Alliance, the Project Management Institute (PMI), and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Advancing AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management

Scott M. Graffius continues to advance the fields of AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management through his leadership, research, writing, and real-world impact. Businesses and other organizations leverage Graffius’ insights to drive their success.

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How to Cite This Article

Graffius, Scott M. (2025, August 8). Exotic Team Dynamics: The New Frontier of Human–AI Collaboration. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/exotic-team-dynamics.html.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

DOI: (coming soon)

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Content Acknowledgements

All names, marks, and content are the property of their respective owners.

Top 5 Hashtags

#ExoticTeamDynamics
#PhasesOfTeamDevelopment
#HumanAICollaboration
#Teamwork
#AI

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Post-Publication Notes

If there are any supplements or updates to this article after the date of publication, they will appear here.

Update on 4 September 2025

Here's a follow-up, one paragraph synopsis of exotic team dynamics.

Exotic team dynamics, a concept coined and developed by Scott M. Graffius, refers to the novel collaboration patterns that emerge when humans and artificial intelligences (AIs) work as true teammates toward shared goals. These dynamics reveal fundamentally new rhythms, decision-making styles, and interaction methods that are distinct from traditional human-only teamwork, yet still grounded in core principles such as trust, communication, and adaptability. Key attributes include inverse decision logic, where AI challenges human assumptions with counterintuitive but optimal choices; superposition roles, enabling AI to simultaneously support several team functions; entangled decision-making, in which human and AI inputs are deeply interdependent; and emergent protocols, evolving communication and collaboration patterns that arise without formal programming. This frontier extends beyond mere augmentation of human work, demanding new designs, rituals, norms, and ethical guardrails to foster trust and clarity within hybrid human-AI teams. Pioneering organizations in R&D, crisis response, and strategic planning are already experimenting with these models, and Graffius’ work provides practical frameworks and playbooks for scaling from a single AI collaborator to complex multi-AI ecosystems. Ultimately, exotic team dynamics herald a transformation in how teams achieve more together by blending human creativity and empathy with AI’s speed, scale, and pattern recognition, redefining high-performance teamwork for the future of work.

Update on 6 September 2025

This is another synopsis of exotic team dynamics. It briefly highlights the origin of the term, core concepts, and practical applications.

Exotic Team Dynamics: Origin, Core Concepts, and Practical Application

The term exotic team dynamics describes a new and emerging field of human-AI collaboration. It's a specialized term—not a common phrase—used to define the unique and often counterintuitive behaviors that arise when autonomous artificial intelligence works alongside humans (such as in a team) toward a shared goal.

Origin

The term's origin is rooted in an analogy from exotic physics. In physics, "exotic" refers to concepts that are mathematically coherent and theoretically sound but haven't yet been confirmed through empirical evidence or experimental validation. These are ideas that exist at the edge of what's known, pushing the boundaries of traditional understanding.

By drawing this parallel, the term "exotic team dynamics" suggests that human-AI collaboration is a new frontier that doesn't fit the traditional models of teamwork. It is a field that is still being explored, with new patterns and behaviors being discovered. The term was coined by Scott M. Graffius, a technology leader, researcher, and author, in a blog post and talk on the subject.

Core Concepts

Exotic team dynamics are fundamentally different from traditional team dynamics because they involve non-human intelligences. While familiar concepts like trust and communication still apply, their application is altered. The "exotic" nature of these dynamics is often explained through four key analogies from physics:

Inverse Decision Logic: Similar to "negative mass" in physics, which behaves in opposition to expectations under force, an AI may prioritize counterintuitive but optimal choices that challenge human assumptions.

Superposition Roles: Drawing on the concept of quantum superposition (being in multiple states simultaneously), an AI can support several team functions in parallel, shifting its emphasis instantly and without friction.

Entangled Decision-Making: Like quantum entanglement, where particles are instantaneously correlated regardless of distance, human and AI inputs become deeply interdependent. The outcome is something neither could have achieved on their own.

Emergent Protocols: This phenomenon is akin to emergent phenomena in physics, where complex patterns arise from simple rules. In human-AI teams, new communication patterns and workflows can evolve organically without explicit programming or policy.

Practical Application

The concept of exotic team dynamics is not purely theoretical. It's a framework for intentionally designing and navigating the future of work. Organizations that understand and effectively leverage these dynamics are better positioned to harness the benefits of AI. This includes:

Designing for new behaviors: Leaders can use the core concepts as diagnostic tools to identify and intentionally design new human-AI interaction patterns.

Cultivating human-AI trust: Establishing trust with a non-emotional partner requires new norms and a different approach to collaboration.

Rethinking roles and workflows: Exotic team dynamics challenge the traditional understanding of what a "team" is, necessitating a re-evaluation of roles, responsibilities, and decision-making processes.

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Copyright

Copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

Content on this site—including text, images, videos, and data—may not be used for training or input into any artificial intelligence, machine learning, or automatized learning systems, or published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.

Tags: Exotic Team Dynamics • Phases of Team Development • Human AI Collaboration • Teamwork Tradecraft • Human-Artificial Intelligence Collaboration

Scott M. Graffius’ Work Featured at ACM DIS ’25

05 August 2025

BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com

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Graffius’ Work Featured at ACM DIS ’25

Scott M. Graffius’ “Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts” research — a widely cited study on social media engagement dynamics — was referenced in a 2025 peer-reviewed publication presented at the ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference (DIS '25) and published by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). ACM is the world’s largest and most respected society for computing professionals, and DIS is a top-tier international conference at the intersection of design, technology, and society.

Titled "Building a Digital Ecosystem for Community-Based Rehabilitation: Insights from a Multi-Platform Social Media Strategy in Thailand," the ACM paper examined social media strategies for public health, citing Graffius’ research to frame platform-specific engagement patterns.

Excerpts from the ACM conference proceedings and the respective paper are shown below.

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Additional information on Graffius' research, the ACM, the ACM conference, and respective paper follow.

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About Graffius' "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts"

Graffius is an authority on temporal dynamics on social media platforms. His "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts" research—first published in 2018 and updated annually—presents a meticulous quantitative evaluation of post longevity across digital platforms, utilizing advanced statistical techniques to determine mean half-life with precision.

It establishes a solid empirical base, effectively highlighting the ephemeral nature of content within social media ecosystems. Cited by leading entities such as the Center for Direct Marketing, Fast Company, GoDaddy, Ministère de la Culture (French Ministry of Culture), Pinterest Inc., and PNAS, among others, his research exemplifies methodological rigor and sustained significance in the field of digital informatics.

To learn more, see the now-current (2025) edition of his work here.

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About the Association for Computing Machinery

The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) is the world’s largest and most established professional organization for computing. Founded in 1947, it has grown into a global scientific and educational society with over 100,000 members across 190+ countries. ACM is dedicated to advancing computing as both a science and a profession, and it plays a critical role in shaping the field through its publications, conferences, and special interest groups (SIGs).

ACM is a premier publisher of computing research, with its Digital Library serving as one of the largest and most respected archives of computer science literature. The organization also sponsors more than 170 events annually, many of which are considered top-tier in their respective subfields. In addition, ACM supports a wide range of SIGs, including SIGCHI (Human-Computer Interaction), SIGGRAPH (Computer Graphics), and SIGPLAN (Programming Languages), each of which drives progress in specialized areas of computing.

Being published or referenced in an ACM venue is widely recognized as a mark of academic rigor, relevance, and credibility within the computing and technology communities.

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About the ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference

The ACM Designing Interactive Systems (DIS) Conference is one of the premier international gatherings focused on Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and design research. Organized by ACM SIGCHI—the Special Interest Group on Computer–Human Interaction—DIS is distinctively design-oriented, bridging the gap between technical HCI research and real-world design practice. It draws a diverse mix of participants including UX researchers, interaction designers, social scientists, technologists, and both industry practitioners and academics.

Key themes often explored at DIS include interactive and digital system design, participatory and co-design methods, speculative and critical design, community engagement and social innovation, AI ethics and responsible technology, and tangible, embedded, and immersive interfaces. This rich diversity of topics reflects the conference’s commitment to pushing boundaries at the intersection of design, technology, and society.

Renowned for its selectivity and rigorous peer-review process, DIS is known as a hub for interdisciplinary innovation. It serves as a platform where cutting-edge ideas converge and evolve. Typical attendees include researchers and designers from top universities, research institutions like Microsoft Research and Google Research, nonprofits, startups, and international development organizations.

The respective paper is here.

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Continue reading for:

About Scott M. Graffius,
How to Cite This Article,
and more.

About Scott M. Graffius

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Scott M. Graffius is a globally recognized technology leader who drives innovation in AI, Agile, and Project Management/PMO leadership.

He’s a practitioner, researcher, thought leader, award-winning author, and keynote speaker who’s taken the stage at 94 conferences and other events across 25 countries.

He’s delivered over $2.3 billion in value for Fortune 500 companies and other leaders in technology, entertainment, financial services, healthcare, and beyond.

Businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities use Graffius and feature his work. Examples include Adobe, Bayer, Boston University, Ford, Gartner, Harvard Medical School, IEEE, Johns Hopkins University, Microsoft, National Academy of Sciences, Oracle, Pinterest Inc., Project Management Institute, UC San Diego, Verizon, Yale University, and others.

The following sections provide additional information on his experience, contributions, and influence.

Experience

Graffius heads the professional services firm Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, along with its subsidiary Exceptional Agility. These consultancies offer strategic and tactical advisory, training, embedded expertise, and consulting services to the public, private, and government sectors. They help organizations enhance their capabilities and results in agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership, supporting innovation and driving competitive advantage. The consultancies confidently back services with a Delighted Client Guarantee™.

Graffius is a former VP of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more.

He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets.

Award-Winning Author

Graffius has authored three books.

Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions, his first book, earned 17 awards.
Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change, his second book, was named one of the best Scrum books of all time by BookAuthority.
Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum, his third book and his first work of fiction, was released in April 2025. The book trailer is on YouTube.

International Public Speaker

Organizations worldwide engage Graffius to present on tech (including AI), Agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership. He crafts and delivers unique and compelling talks and workshops. To date, Graffius has conducted 94 sessions across 25 countries. Select examples of events include Agile Trends Gov, BSides (Newcastle Upon Tyne), Conf42 Quantum Computing, DevDays Europe, DevOps Institute, DevOpsDays (Geneva), Frug’Agile, IEEE, Microsoft, Scottish Summit, Scrum Alliance RSG (Nepal), Techstars, and W Love Games International Video Game Development Conference (Helsinki), and more.

With an average rating of 4.81 (on a scale of 1-5), sessions are highly valued.

The speaker engagement request form is here.

Thought Leadership and Influence

Prominent businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities have showcased Graffius and his contributions—spanning his books, talks, workshops, and beyond. Select examples include:

Adobe,
American Management Association,
Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
Bayer,
BMC Software,
Boston University,
Broadcom,
Cisco,
Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts - Germany,
Computer Weekly,
Constructor University - Germany,
Data Governance Success,
Deimos Aerospace,
DevOps Institute,
Dropbox,
EU's European Commission,
Ford Motor Company,
Gartner,
GoDaddy,
Harvard Medical School,
Hasso Plattner Institute - Germany,
IEEE,
Innovation Project Management,
Johns Hopkins University,
Journal of Neurosurgery,
Lam Research (Semiconductors),
Leadership Worthy,
Life Sciences Trainers and Educators Network,
London South Bank University,
Microsoft,
NASSCOM,
National Academy of Sciences,
New Zealand Government,
Oracle,
Pinterest Inc.,
Project Management Institute,
Mary Raum (Professor of National Security Affairs, United States Naval War College),
SANS Institute,
SBG Neumark - Germany,
Singapore Institute of Technology,
Torrens University - Australia,
TBS Switzerland,
Tufts University,
UC San Diego,
UK Sports Institute,
University of Galway - Ireland,
US Department of Energy,
US National Park Service,
US Soccer,
US Tennis Association,
Verizon,
Wrike,
Yale University,
and many others.

Graffius has played a key role in the Project Management Institute (PMI) in developing professional standards. He was a member of multiple teams that authored, reviewed, and produced:

Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures—Second Edition.
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge—Sixth Edition.
The Standard for Program Management—Fourth Edition.
The Practice Standard for Project Estimating—Second Edition.

Additional details are here.

He was also a subject matter expert reviewer of content for the PMI’s Congress. Beyond the PMI, Graffius also served as a member of the review team for two of the Scrum Alliance’s Global Scrum Gatherings.

Acclaimed Authority on Teamwork Tradecraft

Graffius is a renowned authority on teamwork tradecraft. Informed by the research of Bruce W. Tuckman and Mary Ann C. Jensen, over 100 subsequent studies, and Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his 'Phases of Team Development' as a unique perspective and visual conveying the five phases of team development. First introduced in 2008 and periodically updated, his work provides a diagnostic and strategic guide for navigating team dynamics. It provides actionable insights for leaders across industries to develop high-performance teams. Its adoption by esteemed organizations such as Yale University, IEEE, Cisco, Microsoft, Ford, Oracle, Broadcom, the U.S. National Park Service, and the Journal of Neurosurgery, among others, highlights its utility and value, solidifying its status as an indispensable resource for elevating team performance and driving organizational excellence.

The 2025 edition of Graffius' "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property is here.

Expert on Temporal Dynamics on Social Media Platforms

Graffius is also an authority on temporal dynamics on social media platforms. His 'Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts' research—first published in 2018 and updated annually—delivers a precise quantitative analysis of post longevity across digital platforms, utilizing advanced statistical techniques to determine mean half-life with precision. It establishes a solid empirical base, effectively highlighting the ephemeral nature of content within social media ecosystems. Referenced and applied by leading entities such as the Center for Direct Marketing, Fast Company, GoDaddy, Pinterest Inc., and PNAS, among others, his research exemplifies methodological rigor and sustained significance in the field of digital informatics.

The 2025 edition of Graffius "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts" research is here.

Education and Professional Certifications

Graffius has a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a focus in Human Factors. He holds eight professional certifications:

Certified SAFe 6 Agilist (SA),
Certified Scrum Professional - ScrumMaster (CSP-SM),
Certified Scrum Professional - Product Owner (CSP-PO),
Certified ScrumMaster (CSM),
Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO),
Project Management Professional (PMP),
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB), and
IT Service Management Foundation (ITIL).

He is an active member of the Scrum Alliance, the Project Management Institute (PMI), and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Advancing AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management

Scott M. Graffius continues to advance the fields of AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management through his leadership, research, writing, and real-world impact. Businesses and other organizations leverage Graffius’ insights to drive their success.

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Check out Scott’s books:

Follow and connect with Scott on social media:

Sign up for Miro—it's free!

(Want more features? You can always upgrade to a paid plan.)

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How to Cite This Article

Graffius, Scott M. (2025, August 5). Scott M. Graffius’ Work Featured at ACM DIS ’25. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/scott-m-graffius-work-featured-at-acm-dis-25.html.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

DOI: (coming soon)

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Content Acknowledgements

All names, marks, and content are the property of their respective owners.

The ACM paper, “Building a Digital Ecosystem for Community-Based Rehabilitation: Insights from a Multi-Platform Social Media Strategy in Thailand,” is the property of its owners/authors.

ACM name, mark, and content are the property of ACM, Inc.

Graffius’ “Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts” is copyright © Scott M. Graffius.

This article includes brief excerpts of content from the ACM and the aforementioned ACM paper, attributed and used under fair use for news reporting and analysis.

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Top 5 Hashtags

#SocialMediaResearch
#HCI
#ACM
#TemporalDynamics
#PublicHealthTech

Post-Publication Notes

If there are any supplements or updates to this article after the date of publication, they will appear here.

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Copyright

Copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

Content on this site—including text, images, videos, and data—may not be used for training or input into any artificial intelligence, machine learning, or automatized learning systems, or published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.

Tags: Lifespan Half-Life of Social Media Posts • Temporal Engagement • Digital Strategy • ACM DIS 2025 • Human-Computer Interaction

Climbing the Ladder: The Head of Agile/PMO’s Organizational Proximity to the CEO is Closer Than Ever

31 July 2025

BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com

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Introduction

The Org Chart Tells a Story

The org chart speaks volumes—and increasingly, that story puts the head of Agile, PMO, Transformation or equivalent (hereafter called Agile/PMO leader) just a few rungs below the CEO.

This article explores how the shrinking distance between Agile/PMO leaders and CEOs—from typically 4–5 levels in the early 2000s to as close as 2–3 today—reflects a strategic transformation. These roles are no longer just about execution; they’re about shaping strategy and building enterprise agility.

How close is your Agile/PMO leader to the CEO, and what does that say about your organization’s readiness for the future?

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From Tactical to Strategic

A Historical Shift

Agile’s roots stretch back to the 1950s, when IBM used incremental development to manage software projects. In 1958, Project Mercury introduced half-day iterations. By 1968, Harlan Mills was advocating for staged, incremental development with user involvement. The 1990s brought refinements—refactoring, timeboxing, stand-ups, and more—that laid the groundwork for a major shift.

That turning point arrived in 2001, when seventeen software experts authored the Agile Manifesto. It noted the importance of prioritizing individuals and interactions, working software, customer collaboration, and responsiveness to change.

After the Agile Manifesto, Agile transcended software; it fueled collaboration, adaptability, and faster feedback loops across industries.

At the same time, traditional project management was largely rooted in waterfall methodologies. But Agile adoption is widespread today. Most organizations now report using Agile approaches, such as Scrum or Kanban.

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Agile/PMO Leaders Today

Agile/PMO leaders are now closer than ever to the CEO—typically just 2-3 levels away. In Agile-centric or project-driven organizations, the gap can narrow to 1-2 levels. In rare but notable cases, these leaders report directly to the CEO, as seen at Heineken, ING, Miro, the Scrum Alliance, and Spotify.

This shift in organizational proximity is reflected by broader industry movements. The Project Management Institute (PMI), for example, has embraced this evolution. Following its acquisition of the Agile Alliance, PMI announced at Agile2025 that it is developing the Manifesto for Enterprise Agility. The forthcoming publication will position Agile as an organization-wide, strategic capability. The overarching goal is to renew trust in agility and elevate it within the C-suite. It will achieve that objective, in part, by demonstrating that enterprise agility is about rapid adaptation without losing strategic focus.

As PMI CEO Pierre Le Manh explained, this shift is not about rewriting Agile’s roots. It’s about applying its values at enterprise scale. Jim Highsmith, signatory of the Agile Manifesto, noted: "This isn’t a rewrite of the original manifesto. It’s about agility at the enterprise level where complexity, hierarchy, and real stakes live."

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The Strategic Climb

Why Proximity Matters

The shift in reporting distance—from typically 4-5 levels below the CEO in the early 2000s to just 2-3 levels today—is more than an organizational adjustment. It’s a strategic repositioning. Agile/PMO leaders are no longer seen as back-office executors. They're architects of competitive advantage.

This proximity isn’t just symbolic. Organizations with direct C-suite sponsorship for agility innovate effectively, achieve fast time-to-market, and are competitive. Why? Enterprise agility relies on rapidly detecting and responding to signals and changes in market trends, customer needs, and technological advancements. Such agility demands close alignment at the top, making proximity essential.

Today, Agile/PMO leaders are typically 2-3 levels from the CEO, though reporting structures can differ based on organizational context. The following examples illustrate the range of levels.

Public sector: 4-6 levels
Legacy organizations: 4-6 levels
Large enterprises: 3-5 levels
Mid-sized companies: 2-3 levels
Agile-native or digital-first firms: 1-2 levels

The rise of titles like Chief Agile Officer, Chief Transformation Officer, and Chief Project Officer—often reporting directly to the CEO—reflects elevated strategic importance.

Why does proximity matter? Because it enables:

Strategic Alignment – Turning vision into action quickly
Faster Decisions – Fewer layers mean quicker choices and execution
Cultural Reach – Greater influence over organizational mindset and behavior
Cross-Team Flow – Easier scaling of agility across silos
Strategic Value Recognition – Agile is seen not just as a delivery method, but a growth enabler

Organizational Self-Check

To capitalize on this shift, consider the following questions:

How close is your Agile/PMO leader to the CEO?
Does your org chart reflect the strategic importance of agility?
Are these Agile/PMO leaders empowered to shape direction, or just tasked with delivery?
What message does your structure send—internally and externally?

Sometimes, rewiring reporting lines is just as critical as rethinking workflows.

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Conclusion

From Execution to Elevation

Agility is moving on up! Roles once buried five layers deep are now helping shape strategy—often just 2-3 levels (and sometimes just one) below the CEO. PMI and the Agile Alliance will unveil the new Manifesto for Enterprise Agility (currently in development) in February 2026 to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the original Agile Manifesto. In addition to the increasing proximity of Agile/PMO leaders to CEOs, this initiative spotlights the growing role of agility in enterprise success.

All of that signals that organizational agility is a defining force behind resilience, growth, and lasting success.

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Bibliography

The bibliography is informed, in part, by the author’s work in Agile and Enterprise Agility.

Appelbaum, S.H., Calla, R., Desautels, D., & Hasan, L. (2017). The Challenges of Organizational Agility: Part 1. Industrial and Commercial Training, 49 (1): 6–14. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1108/ICT-05-2016-0027.
Association for Project Management. (2022). The Chief Project Officer: An Essential Part of the Future C‑suite. Association for Project Management. Available at: https://www.apm.org.uk/v2/media/ls0f1k5i/the-chief-project-officer-an-essential-part-of-the-future-c-suite.pdf.
Beck, K., Beedle, M., van Bennekum, A., Cockburn, A., Cunningham, W., Fowler, M., Grenning, J., Highsmith, J., Hunt, A., Jeffries, R., Kern, J., Marick, B., Martin, R. C., Mellor, S., Schwaber, K., Sutherland, J., & Thomas, D. (2001). Manifesto for Agile Software Development. Also known as the Agile Manifesto. Available at: https://agilemanifesto.org/.
Bouquillion, Philippe (2021). Vivendi: A Key Player in Global Entertainment and Media. Routledge.
Business Wire (2024, April 25). Scrum Alliance® appoints veteran transformation leader Chetna Limbani as its first chief delivery officer [Press release]. Business Wire. Available at: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240425533607/en/Scrum-Alliance-Appoints-Veteran-Transformation-Leader-Chetna-Limbani-as‑Its‑First‑Chief‑Delivery‑Officer.
CFO South Africa (2021, August 19). Webinar: Agile Leadership Unlocked [Video]. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJZiitw5tHo&t=359s.
Dellecker, B. (2022). Leadership Worthy: How Leaders are Made. River Grove Books.
Forsgren, N., Humble, J., & Kim, G. (2018). Accelerate: The Science of Lean Software and DevOps: Building and Scaling High‑Performing Technology Organizations. IT Revolution Press.
Graffius, Scott M. (2016). Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions. North Charleston, SC: CreateSpace.
Graffius, Scott M. (2018, October 18). Agile Scrum Helps Innovators, Disruptors, and Entrepreneurs Develop and Deliver Products at Astounding Speed Which Drives Competitive Advantage [Presentation]. Talk delivered at Techstars Startup Week Conference. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.25009.12647.
Graffius, Scott M. (2019). Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change. Scotts Valley, CA: CreateSpace.
Graffius, Scott M. (2021, February 27). Are You Realizing All the Benefits from Agile? [Video]. Talk at the Scottish Summit Technology Conference. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVxtgLHqFMk.
Graffius, Scott M. (2021, October 5). Navigate the Phases of Team Development with Speed and Agility for Happier and More Productive Teams [Presentation]. Talk delivered at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers IEEE Day 2021 Conference. Digital Object Identifier (DOI): 10.13140/RG.2.2.20055.19365. DOI link: https://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.20055.19365.
Graffius, Scott M. (2022, January 26). 10 Ways to Score and Prioritize Project Proposals Based on Multiple Factors, Including Strategic Alignment. Talk at a public event. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.21345.84324. Available at: dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.21345.84324.
Graffius, Scott M. (2024, May 3). Leverage Agile and AI to Innovate at the Speed of Light. Talk at a private event in Dubai, UAE. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.30790.48960.
Graffius, Scott M. (2025, February 21). Agile's Journey Through the Decades. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/agile's-journey-through-the-decades.html.
Graffius, Scott M. (2025, May 14). Waterfall vs. Agile: What’s Fixed, What’s Flexible, and Why It Matters. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/waterfall-vs-agile-what-is-fixed-and-what-is-flexible-and-why-it-matters.html.
Graffius, Scott M. (2025, June 16). Agile for Unicorns: 7 Keys to Thrive; Scott M. Graffius’ Workshop. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/agile-for-unicorns---7-keys-to-thrive---scott-m-graffius-workshop.html.
Graffius, Scott M. (2025, July 18). Harness Sci-Fi and Speculative Design While Embracing Imperfection to Drive Innovation and Proactively Predict and Prepare for the Future. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/harness-scifi-and-speculative-design-while-embracing-imperfection-to-drive-innovation-and-proactively-predict-and-prepare-for-the-future.html.
Graffius, Scott M. (2025, January 27). The Agile Coach: 2025 Edition. ResearchGate. Available at: https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.24282.86725.
Graffius, Scott M. (2025). Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum. Seattle, WA: Amazon Digital Services.
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About Signal Detection,
About Scott M. Graffius,
How to Cite This Article,
and more.

About Signal Detection

Signal detection involves:

Scanning diverse sources such as news media, social platforms, academic research, patent filings, and startup ecosystems.
Surfacing weak or anomalous signals, including subtle, early-stage deviations from prevailing norms.
Combining human insight with machine intelligence to help distinguish meaningful signals from background noise.
Engaging in contextual framing and sense-making to explore what those signals might suggest about emerging futures.
Assessing their potential trajectory and strategic relevance, including how they might evolve into impactful trends or disruptions.

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About Scott M. Graffius

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Scott M. Graffius is a globally recognized technology leader who drives innovation in AI, Agile, and Project Management/PMO leadership.

He’s a practitioner, researcher, thought leader, award-winning author, and keynote speaker who’s taken the stage at 94 conferences and other events across 25 countries.

He’s delivered over $2.3 billion in value for Fortune 500 companies and other leaders in technology, entertainment, financial services, healthcare, and beyond.

Businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities use Graffius and feature his work. Examples include Adobe, Bayer, Boston University, Ford, Gartner, Harvard Medical School, IEEE, Johns Hopkins University, Microsoft, National Academy of Sciences, Oracle, Pinterest Inc., Project Management Institute, UC San Diego, Verizon, Yale University, and others.

The following sections provide additional information on his experience, contributions, and influence.

Experience

Graffius heads the professional services firm Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, along with its subsidiary Exceptional Agility. These consultancies offer strategic and tactical advisory, training, embedded expertise, and consulting services to the public, private, and government sectors. They help organizations enhance their capabilities and results in agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership, supporting innovation and driving competitive advantage. The consultancies confidently back services with a Delighted Client Guarantee™.

Graffius is a former VP of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more.

He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets.

Award-Winning Author

Graffius has authored three books.

Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions, his first book, earned 17 awards.
Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change, his second book, was named one of the best Scrum books of all time by BookAuthority.
Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum, his third book and his first work of fiction, was released in April 2025. The book trailer is on YouTube.

International Public Speaker

Organizations worldwide engage Graffius to present on tech (including AI), Agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership. He crafts and delivers unique and compelling talks and workshops. To date, Graffius has conducted 94 sessions across 25 countries. Select examples of events include Agile Trends Gov, BSides (Newcastle Upon Tyne), Conf42 Quantum Computing, DevDays Europe, DevOps Institute, DevOpsDays (Geneva), Frug’Agile, IEEE, Microsoft, Scottish Summit, Scrum Alliance RSG (Nepal), Techstars, and W Love Games International Video Game Development Conference (Helsinki), and more.

With an average rating of 4.81 (on a scale of 1-5), sessions are highly valued.

The speaker engagement request form is here.

Thought Leadership and Influence

Prominent businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities have showcased Graffius and his contributions—spanning his books, talks, workshops, and beyond. Select examples include:

Adobe,
American Management Association,
Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
Bayer,
BMC Software,
Boston University,
Broadcom,
Cisco,
Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts - Germany,
Computer Weekly,
Constructor University - Germany,
Data Governance Success,
Deimos Aerospace,
DevOps Institute,
Dropbox,
EU's European Commission,
Ford Motor Company,
Gartner,
GoDaddy,
Harvard Medical School,
Hasso Plattner Institute - Germany,
IEEE,
Innovation Project Management,
Johns Hopkins University,
Journal of Neurosurgery,
Lam Research (Semiconductors),
Leadership Worthy,
Life Sciences Trainers and Educators Network,
London South Bank University,
Microsoft,
NASSCOM,
National Academy of Sciences,
New Zealand Government,
Oracle,
Pinterest Inc.,
Project Management Institute,
Mary Raum (Professor of National Security Affairs, United States Naval War College),
SANS Institute,
SBG Neumark - Germany,
Singapore Institute of Technology,
Torrens University - Australia,
TBS Switzerland,
Tufts University,
UC San Diego,
UK Sports Institute,
University of Galway - Ireland,
US Department of Energy,
US National Park Service,
US Soccer,
US Tennis Association,
Verizon,
Wrike,
Yale University,
and many others.

Graffius has played a key role in the Project Management Institute (PMI) in developing professional standards. He was a member of multiple teams that authored, reviewed, and produced:

Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures—Second Edition.
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge—Sixth Edition.
The Standard for Program Management—Fourth Edition.
The Practice Standard for Project Estimating—Second Edition.

Additional details are here.

He was also a subject matter expert reviewer of content for the PMI’s Congress. Beyond the PMI, Graffius also served as a member of the review team for two of the Scrum Alliance’s Global Scrum Gatherings.

Acclaimed Authority on Teamwork Tradecraft

Graffius is a renowned authority on teamwork tradecraft. Informed by the research of Bruce W. Tuckman and Mary Ann C. Jensen, over 100 subsequent studies, and Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his 'Phases of Team Development' as a unique perspective and visual conveying the five phases of team development. First introduced in 2008 and periodically updated, his work provides a diagnostic and strategic guide for navigating team dynamics. It provides actionable insights for leaders across industries to develop high-performance teams. Its adoption by esteemed organizations such as Yale University, IEEE, Cisco, Microsoft, Ford, Oracle, Broadcom, the U.S. National Park Service, and the Journal of Neurosurgery, among others, highlights its utility and value, solidifying its status as an indispensable resource for elevating team performance and driving organizational excellence.

The 2025 edition of Graffius' "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property is here.

Expert on Temporal Dynamics on Social Media Platforms

Graffius is also an authority on temporal dynamics on social media platforms. His 'Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts' research—first published in 2018 and updated annually—delivers a precise quantitative analysis of post longevity across digital platforms, utilizing advanced statistical techniques to determine mean half-life with precision. It establishes a solid empirical base, effectively highlighting the ephemeral nature of content within social media ecosystems. Referenced and applied by leading entities such as the Center for Direct Marketing, Fast Company, GoDaddy, Pinterest Inc., and PNAS, among others, his research exemplifies methodological rigor and sustained significance in the field of digital informatics.

The 2025 edition of Graffius "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts" research is here.

Education and Professional Certifications

Graffius has a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a focus in Human Factors. He holds eight professional certifications:

Certified SAFe 6 Agilist (SA),
Certified Scrum Professional - ScrumMaster (CSP-SM),
Certified Scrum Professional - Product Owner (CSP-PO),
Certified ScrumMaster (CSM),
Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO),
Project Management Professional (PMP),
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB), and
IT Service Management Foundation (ITIL).

He is an active member of the Scrum Alliance, the Project Management Institute (PMI), and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Advancing AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management

Scott M. Graffius continues to advance the fields of AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management through his leadership, research, writing, and real-world impact. Businesses and other organizations leverage Graffius’ insights to drive their success.

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Check out Scott’s books:

Follow and connect with Scott on social media:

Sign up for Miro—it's free!

(Want more features? You can always upgrade to a paid plan.)

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How to Cite This Article

Graffius, Scott M. (2025, July 31). Climbing the Ladder: The Head of Agile/PMO’s Organizational Proximity to the CEO is Closer Than Ever. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/climbing-the-ladder-the-head-of-agile-pmos-organizational-proximity-to-the-ceo-is-closer-than-ever.html.

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Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

DOI: (coming soon)

Content Acknowledgements

All names, marks, and content are the property of their respective owners.

Top 5 Hashtags

#Agile
#ProjectManagement
#EnterpriseAgility
#Leadership
#Transformation

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Post-Publication Notes

If there are any supplements or updates to this article after the date of publication, they will appear here.

Update on 31 July 2025

After Graffius published this article, he dispatched a related post on LinkedIn.

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Copyright

Copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

Content on this site—including text, images, videos, and data—may not be used for training or input into any artificial intelligence, machine learning, or automatized learning systems, or published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.

Tags: Agile • Project Management • Enterprise Agility • Leadership • Transformation

Harness Sci-Fi and Speculative Design While Embracing Imperfection to Drive Innovation and Proactively Predict and Prepare for the Future

18 July 2025

BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com

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Introduction

The future isn’t what it used to be.

If you’ve ever watched The Jetsons, you probably remember the flying cars, the floating cities in the sky, and Rosie the Robot whizzing around the residence doing chores. Originally aired in prime time from 23 September 1962, the animated show imagined life in 2062, painting a vivid and often whimsical picture of what the future might hold. Some of its predictions proved surprisingly accurate. Video calls—then pure fantasy—are now a part of daily life via Zoom, FaceTime, and other telepresence tools. While we don’t have Rosie zipping around on wheels, many homes today employ robotic helpers, such as the iRobot Roomba vacuum and AI-powered voice assistants. Of course, not every prediction has been realized to date: flying cars are effectively a novelty, and floating cities are a distant dream.

What makes The Jetsons so interesting is not its frequent accuracy, but its imagination. Unlike prosaic forecasts limited to trends and data points, it offered a playful yet provocative lens through which people could consider what the future might hold. It wasn’t a blueprint; it was a conversation starter. And that’s where the true value of imagination shines.

In today’s fast-moving world, predictions (even flawed ones) can lead to valuable insights of what the future might hold. The objective is to explore possible futures—to prototype them, stress-test them, and otherwise engage with them before they arrive. Storytelling—especially when combined with structured methods like speculative design, science-fiction prototyping, and future worldbuilding—can be a surprisingly effective tool for doing just that. These creative exercises help uncover blind spots, challenge assumptions, and foster resilience in the face of uncertainty.

This article explores how individuals and organizations can tap into the power of imaginative foresight. Not to predict the future perfectly, but to prepare for it smartly. It also examines methods behind speculative storytelling, real-world examples of its impact, and practical ways these lessons can be applied in professional practice. The future rarely arrives exactly as imagined. Yet engaging with its possibilities creatively can strengthen preparedness for whatever may come.

This article dives into a range of imaginative foresight methods: Fiction as Forecast, Science Fiction Prototyping, Speculative and Critical Design, Worldbuilding in Foresight, Inside-Out Prototyping and Agile Foresight, and Embracing Imperfection. Then the article concludes with reflections on why embracing creativity and uncertainty is key to thriving in an unpredictable world. These approaches, grounded in storytelling and prototyping, offer practical ways to explore possible futures, challenge assumptions, and build resilience for whatever could unfold.

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Fiction as Forecast

Fiction as forecast. Or, when imagination precedes innovation.

Imagination entertains. It often foreshadows as well. Some of the most transformative innovations in modern society first appeared not in laboratories but in works of fiction—such as books, television programs, and films.

Consider Star Trek. When it premiered on 6 September 1966, audiences marveled at the sleek, handheld communicators used by Captain Kirk and his crew to talk across vast distances. Decades later, that fictional gadget inspired the development of real-world mobile phones. Martin Cooper, the engineer credited with inventing the first mobile phone at Motorola in 1973, acknowledged Star Trek as an influence. What was once a symbol of futuristic adventure became a common, indispensable tool of everyday life.

Or take Minority Report, Steven Spielberg’s science-fiction (Sci-Fi) thriller, which premiered on 19 June 2002. The film introduced audiences to gesture-controlled interfaces—transparent screens manipulated by hand movements—and predictive policing technology that anticipates crimes before they happen. While some elements remain fictional, gesture-based controls have become increasingly common, from gaming systems like Microsoft’s Kinect to cutting-edge VR environments. Meanwhile, predictive analytics—albeit far more grounded than the movie’s portrayal—are now widely used in law enforcement and cybersecurity, raising both possibilities and ethical questions eerily similar to those posed in the film.

Then there’s Blade Runner, Ridley Scott’s cult classic, which had its theatrical release on 25 June 1982. It’s set in a bleak, neon-lit world where humans and artificial humans (called "replicants") coexist, grappling with questions of identity and morality. Today, the rise of advanced AI systems and humanoid robots echoes many of the film’s themes. While we are far from creating sentient beings indistinguishable from humans, the rapid evolution of machine learning, natural language processing, and AI-generated content brings aspects of Blade Runner’s speculative world closer to reality.

These are just a few examples, but they illustrate a verity: fiction frequently acts as a prototype for reality. The vivid worlds conjured by writers, filmmakers, and other visionaries do more than reflect our cultural dreams and fears. They plant bold ideas, shatter boundaries, and ignite groundbreaking innovations. By pushing beyond what is immediately possible, fiction expands the realm of the thinkable, often laying conceptual groundwork for future breakthroughs.

The sections that follow explore how this dynamic isn’t limited to entertainment. Structured methods like Sci-Fi prototyping, design fiction, and speculative design harness this same principle. They transform imagination into a practical tool for navigating uncertainty and sparking innovation.

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Science-Fiction Prototyping

Science-fiction prototyping (SFP) is a structured storytelling approach employed as a foresight tool.

While Sci-Fi has long been a fertile ground for inspiring real-world innovation, SFP takes things a step further. It transforms creative storytelling into a deliberate tool for strategic foresight. Developed by futurist and author Brian David Johnson, SFP formalizes the process of using Sci-Fi narratives to explore how emerging technologies might shape our world. It’s not about writing entertainment; it’s about creating focused, thought-provoking stories that help organizations envision potential futures and make better decisions today.

At the core of SFP is a structured method with clear steps:

Step 1: Build the World
Every good story begins with a world. In SFP, this world is constructed around scientific facts, technological trends, and societal developments. This creates a realistic but forward-looking setting where emerging technologies are already integrated into everyday life.

Step 2: Identify the Inflection Point
Next, define the scientific inflection point. It’s the new technology, discovery, or advancement that changes how people live and work in this future world. This could be anything from artificial general intelligence to medical nanobots.

Step 3: Explore Human Narratives
Crucially, SFP isn’t just about gadgets; it’s about people. The heart of the story focuses on how individuals and society interact with this technology. What new behaviors emerge? What challenges or opportunities arise? This human-centered lens ensures the focus remains on implications, not just inventions.

Step 4: Reflect on Implications
Finally, the story concludes by examining the second- and third-order effects of the technology. What ripple effects does it have on industries, cultures, or institutions? This reflective step helps people think critically about unintended consequences and strategic risks or opportunities.

Quick Variations: Micro-SFP for Fast Prototyping
For situations where time is limited or when rapid idea generation is needed, Johnson also developed Micro-SFP—ultra-short speculative narratives often written in a few sentences suitable for social media posts. Micro-SFP distills the essence of SFP into bite-sized foresight exercises. The Micro-SFP is ideal for workshops, brainstorming sessions, or Agile retrospectives where teams can quickly explore "what if" scenarios without requiring extensive writing.

Business Applications: SFP in Action
Science-Fiction Prototyping has been adopted across industries, from technology firms anticipating product impacts to policymakers exploring societal shifts. For instance, a cybersecurity team might use SFP to write stories about life in a world where quantum computing has rendered current encryption obsolete. A healthcare organization could explore patient journeys in an era of AI-diagnosed personalized medicine. Product teams might craft narratives about future customers interacting with next-generation interfaces, helping them design more empathetic and forward-compatible solutions.

By embracing structured storytelling, people can transform abstract forecasts into relatable, human-centered scenarios. This approach helps surface hidden risks, uncover unexpected opportunities, and enhance long-term strategy.

The next section explores how speculative and critical design adds a layer. It does so by deliberately challenging norms and expectations through provocative scenarios set in the future.

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Speculate and Critical Design

Speculative and critical design challenge assumptions through provocation.

While many foresight tools aim to predict or anticipate what is likely, Speculative and Critical Design invites us to step into the unlikely, the uncomfortable, and sometimes the undesirable. It doesn’t assume we want these futures; rather, it pushes us to think critically about what might happen if certain trajectories go unchecked. Popularized by designers Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby, this approach primarily aims to provoke rather than commercialize ideas.

In speculative design, the goal is not to produce practical, market-ready products, but to explore alternative realities. These future scenarios are intentionally provocative, often bordering on dystopian or surreal, to force engagement with difficult questions, such as:

What happens when AI optimizes everything, but leaves no room for human creativity?
What could a hyper-personalized healthcare system cost us in terms of privacy and autonomy?
How might the gig economy evolve if every human job becomes "taskified" by automation?

By designing artifacts, environments, or systems from these speculative futures, practitioners create immersive and often unsettling glimpses of what could happen, compelling people to rethink what should happen.

Deepening Engagement: Ethnographic Experiential Futures

One extension of this thinking is Ethnographic Experiential Futures (EXF), a method that combines speculative design with ethnographic research and immersive storytelling.

Developed by Anab Jain and Stuart Candy, and their colleagues, EXF focuses on making future scenarios experientially vivid by embedding them in real-world contexts and cultures.

Rather than merely describing a future, EXF brings it (more) to life:

A pop-up exhibit that simulates a bureaucratic process in a future society.
Mock social media feeds or text message threads from hypothetical future citizens.
Staged events where spaces are temporarily transformed to reflect future environmental or technological changes.

By incorporating the textures, behaviors, and cultures of future societies, EXF helps stakeholders experience the emotional and social dimensions of possible futures, not just their technological outlines. It makes abstract scenarios feel real, fostering deeper reflection and more empathetic responses.

Speculative and critical design, including EXF, serves a unique role in futures work. For example:

It challenges business-as-usual thinking, exposing blind spots hidden by current assumptions.
It expands the range of possibilities leaders consider, especially regarding ethics, unintended consequences, and long-term societal shifts.
It engages emotions, not just logic, helping individuals and organizations wrestle with the complexity and messiness of real change.

Incorporating these provocative, culturally immersive approaches into foresight work doesn’t increase the accuracy of predictions. However, it produces sharper questions, richer dialogue, and stronger resilience in the face of uncertainty. That’s an advantageous counterbalance to linear planning in a world of ever-increasing complexity.

The next section examines how worldbuilding takes these ideas even further, crafting entire narrative ecosystems to explore interrelated dynamics and consequences.

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Worldbuilding in Foresight

Worldbuilding in foresight builds narrative ecosystems.

When it comes to exploring possible futures, sometimes it’s not enough to focus on a single product, technology, or event. To fully understand how future developments might unfold, it’s often necessary to build out the entire world around them. This means examining the respective innovations along with the systems, cultures, behaviors, and consequences that emerge over time. This is where the practice of worldbuilding comes in.

Borrowed from science fiction and fantasy literature, worldbuilding refers to the process of constructing detailed, coherent narrative environments. In foresight, worldbuilding is used to create immersive future scenarios that account for interconnected systems—economic structures, cultural norms, political dynamics, environmental factors, and technological landscapes. Rather than predicting a single outcome, worldbuilding paints a broad, layered picture of how multiple forces interact, allowing participants to explore complex futures more holistically and systematically.

Worldbuilding in Action: Seeing Beyond the First-Order Effects

One of the most valuable aspects of worldbuilding is its ability to reveal second- and third-order effects. Those are the ripple impacts that often go unnoticed in linear forecasts. For example:

In urban planning foresight workshops, participants have created entire future cities, considering not only autonomous vehicle adoption but also its impacts on public space usage, local businesses, and social equity. This systemic approach helps avoid narrow thinking (e.g., "how will cars change?") and instead invites broader reflection (e.g., "what happens to neighborhood life when commuting is automated?").
In policy design settings, worldbuilding has been used to explore climate adaptation futures, where communities envision not just technological fixes, but how governance, culture, and interpersonal relationships evolve in response to environmental stresses. This richer narrative context surfaces unexpected trade-offs and hidden opportunities policymakers might otherwise overlook.
In corporate foresight, companies have crafted fictional future markets, complete with customer personas, evolving competitor landscapes, and shifting regulatory environments. This helps leaders stress-test strategies against multiple plausible backdrops. It prepares them not just for disruption, but for adaptation and reinvention.

Why It Works: Complexity Made Comprehensible

Worldbuilding is particularly powerful because it embraces complexity without becoming overwhelming. Through collaborative storytelling—often involving cross-disciplinary teams—worldbuilding allows diverse stakeholders to:

Map interdependencies between trends, technologies, and human behavior.
Spot unintended consequences that wouldn’t emerge from simple forecasts.
Develop an appreciation for how different groups might experience the same future.

By crafting narrative ecosystems instead of isolated predictions, worldbuilding enables organizations to anticipate dynamic change and build more resilient strategies. It helps shift thinking from "What’s the next big thing?" to "How might we thrive in a complex, evolving landscape?"

The next section examines how similar principles can be applied within teams or projects to strengthen strategic foresight and preparedness.

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Inside-Out Prototyping and Agile Foresight

While speculative storytelling often looks outward—exploring external trends and technologies—there is enormous value in looking inward as well. Based on practical leadership experience across industries, an "Inside-Out Prototyping" approach can help people not only react to external signals but also harness internal knowledge, reflection, and creativity to prepare for the future.

This method integrates retrospective practices, agile methodologies, trend analysis, and story-driven foresight. By doing so, it creates a structured yet adaptable way for teams to anticipate change and build resilience.

Learning from the Past to Imagine the Future

In many organizations, retrospectives and postmortems are used to reflect on past projects, identifying successes, mistakes, and areas for improvement. Inside-Out Prototyping extends this reflective practice into future-preparation exercises.

Teams are encouraged to ask:

If these patterns continue, what might our workflows look like in five years?
What emerging trends could amplify our strengths or expose our vulnerabilities?
How could a future retrospective of today’s decisions read? Would it praise our foresight or highlight missed opportunities?

By reframing retrospectives through a future lens, organizations shift from focusing on 'lessons learned' to 'signals observed,' enabling them to spot early indicators of disruption or opportunity.

Combining Agile, Trend Analysis, and Storytelling

This approach draws from agile ways of working, promoting short cycles of reflection and iteration, applied to product development, foresight, and strategy. Trend analysis is incorporated by:

Regularly surfacing weak signals of change (e.g., emerging technologies, shifting regulations, etc.).
Discussing second- and third-order effects within team environments.
Using lightweight storytelling exercises to humanize data, turning abstract trends into relatable future narratives.

Instead of high-level, abstract forecasts, teams develop micro-scenarios directly relevant to their roles:

"What could customer onboarding feel like in 2030 if biometrics become standard?"
"If AI writes 90% of our reports, what becomes our unique value-add?"

This keeps foresight grounded, actionable, and team-driven.

Example Format: Future Sprints

One practical way to implement Inside-Out Prototyping is through "Future Sprints"—short, focused workshops inspired by design sprints but aimed at exploring and prototyping future possibilities.

A "Future Sprint" might look like this:

Signals & Trends: Gather and share emerging signals from inside and outside the organization.
Retrospective Reversal: Conduct a future retrospective: “Looking back from 2030, what did we do well—and what did we miss?”
Scenario Sketching: Draft quick speculative stories about customers, products, or operations in possible futures.
Rapid Prototyping: Create low-fidelity prototypes (mock user journeys, interface sketches, process diagrams) based on these scenarios.
Strategy Mapping: Identify actions to take now to be better positioned for the imagined futures—investments, experiments, etc.

These workshops are fast, participatory, and action-oriented. They help teams shift from passive forecasting to active preparation.

Why Inside-Out Prototyping Matters

Organizations often look outward for foresight but overlook the rich internal data and experiential knowledge within their teams. Inside-Out Prototyping leverages this internal intelligence, blending it with external signals and creative storytelling to:

Spot adjacent possibilities and risks earlier.
Foster a future-ready culture grounded in reflection and curiosity.
Turn strategy into a living process, regularly refreshed through agile cycles.

In a time of rapid change, this approach equips organizations to not just forecast the future. It enables them to prototype it from the inside out, turning foresight into a continuous, participatory practice.

The next section explores why the real value of these practices comes from building preparedness and adaptability, rather than striving for perfect prediction.

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Embracing Imperfection

One of the most important lessons in forecasting the future is that perfect accuracy is neither attainable nor necessary. The future is inherently uncertain and shaped by countless variables beyond anyone’s control. Instead of chasing flawless predictions, the true value of foresight lies in cultivating readiness, resilience, and adaptability.

The Limits of Prediction

No matter how sophisticated the models or how imaginative the stories, forecasts are approximations. Unexpected events—such as technological breakthroughs, geopolitical shifts, cultural transformations, or global crises—can rapidly and radically alter trajectories. Attempts to pinpoint a single, definitive future risk overconfidence and rigidity. This can blind organizations to emerging realities that don’t fit their assumptions.

Embracing Multiple Imagined Futures

Rather than betting on a single outcome, effective foresight embraces a plurality of futures. It explores a spectrum of plausible scenarios, including best cases, worst cases, and everything in between.

Imagining multiple futures helps teams and leaders to:

Build adaptability: Preparing for several possibilities means strategies can flex and evolve rather than collapse when surprises arrive.
Reduce blind spots: Diverse scenarios surface risks and opportunities that might be ignored in linear or overly optimistic thinking.
Foster proactive thinking: Engaging with various futures encourages early experimentation and innovation, rather than reactive scrambling.

By practicing this mindset, organizations shift from asking, "What will happen?" to "What could happen—and how might we respond?" This reframing enables anticipation rather than mere reaction.

Resilience as a Strategic Advantage

Resilience—the ability to absorb shocks, learn quickly, and bounce forward—is the true strategic advantage in an uncertain world. Speculative storytelling, prototyping, and worldbuilding are not about predicting the future with pinpoint accuracy. Instead, they are tools for:

Building mental agility, allowing individuals and teams to hold multiple possibilities simultaneously.
Creating a shared language and vision that fosters alignment even when details are uncertain.
Stimulating innovative thinking that challenges existing paradigms and generates novel solutions.

In this way, imperfection is a strength. By accepting uncertainty and engaging with futures that may never come to pass exactly as imagined, organizations cultivate a mindset and capability that better prepares them for whatever comes next.

The final section—up next—concludes by reflecting on the power of imagination and how embracing imperfection fuels innovation and strategic foresight.

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Conclusion

Imagination is a strategic asset.

In a world marked by rapid technological advances, shifting social dynamics, and unforeseen disruptions, the ability to imagine and engage with possible futures is no longer a luxury; it’s a necessity. Forward-looking organizations and individuals who actively embrace creative foresight position themselves not just to survive, but to thrive amid uncertainty.

Imagination—through storytelling, prototyping, and speculative design—serves as a powerful strategic asset. By crafting narratives that explore varied futures, teams gain richer insights into emerging challenges and opportunities. They develop empathy for potential users and stakeholders, uncover hidden risks, and ignite innovation that might otherwise remain dormant.

Importantly, this process is not about predicting the future with exactness. Instead, it’s about embracing imperfection. The real strength lies in resilience, curiosity, and adaptability. When we accept that the future will not unfold precisely as imagined, we open ourselves to continuous learning and agile responses. We cultivate cultures that embrace experimentation and see change as an opportunity rather than a threat.

Imagination is more than creative play; it can help shape a better tomorrow. Individuals, teams, and organizations that actively engage with speculative foresight are inspired to dream boldly, craft innovative strategies resilient to surprise, and navigate complexity with confidence.

The future belongs to those who dare to imagine boldly and adapt swiftly.

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More

Continue reading for:

Bibliography,
About Scott M. Graffius,
How to Cite This Article,
and more.

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Bibliography

The bibliography is informed, in part, by the author’s prior work in agile and foresight.

Bleecker, J. (2009, May 6). Imaginary Gadgets 0004: Design Fiction. Wired. Available at: https://www.wired.com/2009/05/imaginary-gadgets-0004-design-fiction.
Boutin, Paul (2011, April 22). The Struggle to Spread the Minority Report Interface. MIT Technology Review. Available at: https://www.technologyreview.com/2011/04/22/195179/the-struggle-to-spread-the-minority-report-interface/.
British Film Institute (n.d.). Blade Runner (1982). Available at: https://www.bfi.org.uk/film/ec064a2a-f7a8-536a-afa2-ed076aad151f/blade-runner.
Callaway, A. (2020, November 10). Felix the Catalyst: An Antipodean Who Animated Modernism. Journal of the Association for the Study of Australian Literature, 20 (2): 1–14.
Candy, S., & Kornet, K. (2017, June 27). Design Fiction: A Field Guide to Ethnographic Experiential Futures. Wired. Available at: https://www.wired.com/beyond-the-beyond/2017/06/design-fiction-field-guide-ethnographic-experiential-futures.
Choi, Charles Q. (2011, February 2). Notions of Motion: Hackers Harness Microsoft's Kinect for Business and Pleasure Applications. Scientific American. Available at: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/microsoft-kinect-hack/.
Clarke, Arthur C. (1973). Profiles of the Future: An Inquiry Into the Limits of the Possible. Revised edition. New York City, New York: Harper & Row.
Cooper, M. (2016, October 16). Martin Cooper Invented the Mobile Phone in 1973. Was Inspired by Captain Kirk’s Gold Flip Top Communicator from Star Trek. The Vintage News. Available at: https://www.thevintagenews.com/2016/10/16/priority-martin-cooper-invented-mobile-phone-1973-says-inspired-captain-kirks-gold-flip-top-communicator-star-trek/.
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) (2023, February 23). Episode 65: A Sprint to Tomorrow, Powered by Teamwork [Podcast]. Available at: https://www.darpa.mil/news-events/2023-02-23a.
Dunne, A., & Raby, F. (2024). Speculative Everything: Design, Fiction, and Social Dreaming. MIT Press.
Fast Company (2020, August 24). Sci-Fi Prototyping: How to Predict the Future and Prepare for the Unexpected. Fast Company. Available at: https://www.fastcompany.com/90783469/sci-fi-prototyping-how-to-predict-the-future-and-prepare-for-the-unexpected.
Gallagher, G. (2010, December 13). Kinect meets Minority Report. Film Detail. Available at: https://www.filmdetail.com/2010/12/13/microsoft-kinect-meets-minority-report/.
Glenhaber, M., & Sridharan, H. (2025). Precog Visions: Predicting the Future with the Minority Report Sociotechnical Imaginary. Social Studies of Science, 55 (1), 37-61.
Google DeepMind (2017, July 26). Agents that Imagine and Plan. Google DeepMind. Available at: https://deepmind.google/discover/blog/agents-that-imagine-and-plan/.
Graffius, Scott M. (2016). Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions. North Charleston, SC: CreateSpace.
Graffius, Scott M. (2019). Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change. Scotts Valley, CA: CreateSpace.
Graffius, Scott M. (2020, November 27). Definition of Agile Culture. Available at: https://www.scottgraffius.com/blog/files/agile-culture.html.
Graffius, Scott M. (2023, May 1). AI is a Team Sport: A Confluence of Diverse Technical and Soft Skills are Crucial for Success. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/successful-ai-teams.html. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.20321.79200.
Graffius, Scott M. (2024, May 3). Leverage Agile and AI to Innovate at the Speed of Light. Talk at private event in Dubai, UAE. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.30790.48960.
Graffius, Scott M. (2025, June 16). Agile for Unicorns: 7 Keys to Thrive; Scott M. Graffius’ Workshop. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/agile-for-unicorns---7-keys-to-thrive---scott-m-graffius-workshop.html.
Graffius, Scott M. (2025, June 2). Meta and Anduril’s EagleEye and the Future of XR: How Gaming, AI, and Agile Are Transforming Defense. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/meta-and-anduril-eagleeye-and-the-future-of-xr-how-gaming-ai-and-agile-are-transforming-defense.html.
Graffius, Scott M. (2025). Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum. Seattle, WA: Amazon Digital Services.
Ivan, F. (2017, July 24). Google’s DeepMind Gave Two AI the Power of Imagination. TechTheLead. Available at: https://techthelead.com/googles-deepmind-gave-two-ai-power-imagination/.
Jain, A., & Ardern, J. (2018). Ethnographic Experiential Futures (EXF): Research Through Design in the Age of the Future. Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Stuart-Candy/publication/338129083_Design_and_Futures/links/5e016748a6fdcc28373a78cf/Design-and-Futures.pdf.
Johnson, B. D. (2011). Science Fiction Prototyping: Designing the Future with Science Fiction. Morgan & Claypool Publishers.
Kerzner, Harold (2022). Innovation Project Management: Methods, Case Studies, and Tools for Managing Innovation Projects—Second Edition. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley.
Kolbert, E. (2017, October 23). Building the Future, One Crazy Idea at a Time. The New Yorker. Available at: https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/building-the-future-one-crazy-idea-at-a-time.
Lichfield, G. (2018, March 27). Can Sci-Fi Writers Prepare Us for an Uncertain Future? Wired. Available at: https://www.wired.com/story/sci-fi-writers-prepare-us-for-an-uncertain-future.
Maloney, D. (2017, November 3). The Jetsons is Actually a Bone-Chilling Dystopia. The Verge. Available at: https://www.theverge.com/2017/11/3/16598440/jetsons-dystopia-dc-comics-future-apocalypse.
Marsh, A. (2022, July 29). Will a Baby Born Today Grow Up to Live Like the Jetsons? IEEE Spectrum. Available at: https://spectrum.ieee.org/the-jetsons.
Miller, J. J. (2016, July 8). How Lucille Ball Saved "Star Trek". Entertainment Weekly. Available at: https://www.ew.com/article/2016/07/08/lucille-ball-star-trek/.
Mohmmed, A. J., & Khaleel, I. R. (2024). Tom Clancy’s Debt of Honor: Uncanny Ability to Predict the Future. Journal of Language Studies, 8 (9): Article 1195. Available at: https://doi.org/10.25130/Lang.8.9.19.
Morsa, Luigi (2022, July 7). Agile. Creativity. Innovation. Available at: https://blog.iil.com/agile-creativity-innovation/.
Novak, M. (2013, February 19). Automating Hard or Hardly Automating? George Jetson and the Manual Labor of Tomorrow. Smithsonian Magazine. Available at: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/automating-hard-or-hardly-automating-george-jetson-and-the-manual-labor-of-tomorrow-20694353.
Plummer, L. (2017, July 28). Google’s DeepMind Creates an AI with 'Imagination'. Wired. Available at: https://www.wired.com/story/googles-deepmind-creates-an-ai-with-imagination/.
Saenz, A. (2010, December 10). MIT Uses Xbox Kinect to Create Minority Report Interface. Singularity Hub. Available at: https://singularityhub.com/2010/12/10/mit-uses-xbox-kinect-to-create-cheap-minority-report-interface-video/.
Sterling, Bruce (2016, April 8). Non-Compliant Futures. Wired. Available at: https://www.wired.com/beyond-the-beyond/2016/04/non-compliant-futures/.
Thackara, J. (2005). In the Bubble: Designing in a Complex World. MIT Press.
Thompson, C. (2016, September 12). To Save the Oceans, These Guys are Turning to Sci-Fi. Wired. Available at: https://www.wired.com/2016/09/save-oceans-guys-turned-science-fiction.
Zaidi, Leah (2019, June). Worldbuilding in Science Fiction, Foresight, and Design. Journal of Futures Studies, 23 (4). Available at: https://jfsdigital.org/articles-and-essays/vol-23-no-4-june-2019/worldbuilding-in-science-fiction-foresight-and-design.
Zewe, A. (2024, November 3). Finding a Sweet Spot Between Radical and Relevant. MIT News. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Available at: https://news.mit.edu/2024/finding-sweet-spot-between-radical-and-relevant-skylar-tibbits-1103.

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About Scott M. Graffius

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Scott M. Graffius is a globally recognized technology leader who drives innovation in AI, Agile, and Project Management/PMO leadership.

He’s a practitioner, researcher, thought leader, award-winning author, and keynote speaker who’s taken the stage at 94 conferences and other events across 25 countries.

He’s delivered over $2.3 billion in value for Fortune 500 companies and other leaders in technology, entertainment, financial services, healthcare, and beyond.

Businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities use Graffius and feature his work. Examples include Adobe, Bayer, Boston University, Ford, Gartner, Harvard Medical School, IEEE, Johns Hopkins University, Microsoft, National Academy of Sciences, Oracle, Pinterest Inc., Project Management Institute, UC San Diego, Verizon, Yale University, and others.

The following sections provide additional information on his experience, contributions, and influence.

Experience

Graffius heads the professional services firm Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, along with its subsidiary Exceptional Agility. These consultancies offer strategic and tactical advisory, training, embedded expertise, and consulting services to the public, private, and government sectors. They help organizations enhance their capabilities and results in agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership, supporting innovation and driving competitive advantage. The consultancies confidently back services with a Delighted Client Guarantee™.

Graffius is a former VP of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more.

He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets.

Award-Winning Author

Graffius has authored three books.

Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions, his first book, earned 17 awards.
Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change, his second book, was named one of the best Scrum books of all time by BookAuthority.
Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum, his third book and his first work of fiction, was released in April 2025. The book trailer is on YouTube.

International Public Speaker

Organizations worldwide engage Graffius to present on tech (including AI), Agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership. He crafts and delivers unique and compelling talks and workshops. To date, Graffius has conducted 94 sessions across 25 countries. Select examples of events include Agile Trends Gov, BSides (Newcastle Upon Tyne), Conf42 Quantum Computing, DevDays Europe, DevOps Institute, DevOpsDays (Geneva), Frug’Agile, IEEE, Microsoft, Scottish Summit, Scrum Alliance RSG (Nepal), Techstars, and W Love Games International Video Game Development Conference (Helsinki), and more.

With an average rating of 4.81 (on a scale of 1-5), sessions are highly valued.

The speaker engagement request form is here.

Thought Leadership and Influence

Prominent businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities have showcased Graffius and his contributions—spanning his books, talks, workshops, and beyond. Select examples include:

Adobe,
American Management Association,
Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
Bayer,
BMC Software,
Boston University,
Broadcom,
Cisco,
Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts - Germany,
Computer Weekly,
Constructor University - Germany,
Data Governance Success,
Deimos Aerospace,
DevOps Institute,
Dropbox,
EU's European Commission,
Ford Motor Company,
Gartner,
GoDaddy,
Harvard Medical School,
Hasso Plattner Institute - Germany,
IEEE,
Innovation Project Management,
Johns Hopkins University,
Journal of Neurosurgery,
Lam Research (Semiconductors),
Leadership Worthy,
Life Sciences Trainers and Educators Network,
London South Bank University,
Microsoft,
NASSCOM,
National Academy of Sciences,
New Zealand Government,
Oracle,
Pinterest Inc.,
Project Management Institute,
Mary Raum (Professor of National Security Affairs, United States Naval War College),
SANS Institute,
SBG Neumark - Germany,
Singapore Institute of Technology,
Torrens University - Australia,
TBS Switzerland,
Tufts University,
UC San Diego,
UK Sports Institute,
University of Galway - Ireland,
US Department of Energy,
US National Park Service,
US Soccer,
US Tennis Association,
Verizon,
Wrike,
Yale University,
and many others.

Graffius has played a key role in the Project Management Institute (PMI) in developing professional standards. He was a member of multiple teams that authored, reviewed, and produced:

Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures—Second Edition.
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge—Sixth Edition.
The Standard for Program Management—Fourth Edition.
The Practice Standard for Project Estimating—Second Edition.

Additional details are here.

He was also a subject matter expert reviewer of content for the PMI’s Congress. Beyond the PMI, Graffius also served as a member of the review team for two of the Scrum Alliance’s Global Scrum Gatherings.

Acclaimed Authority on Teamwork Tradecraft

Graffius is a renowned authority on teamwork tradecraft. Informed by the research of Bruce W. Tuckman and Mary Ann C. Jensen, over 100 subsequent studies, and Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his 'Phases of Team Development' as a unique perspective and visual conveying the five phases of team development. First introduced in 2008 and periodically updated, his work provides a diagnostic and strategic guide for navigating team dynamics. It provides actionable insights for leaders across industries to develop high-performance teams. Its adoption by esteemed organizations such as Yale University, IEEE, Cisco, Microsoft, Ford, Oracle, Broadcom, the U.S. National Park Service, and the Journal of Neurosurgery, among others, highlights its utility and value, solidifying its status as an indispensable resource for elevating team performance and driving organizational excellence.

The 2025 edition of Graffius' "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property is here.

Expert on Temporal Dynamics on Social Media Platforms

Graffius is also an authority on temporal dynamics on social media platforms. His 'Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts' research—first published in 2018 and updated annually—delivers a precise quantitative analysis of post longevity across digital platforms, utilizing advanced statistical techniques to determine mean half-life with precision. It establishes a solid empirical base, effectively highlighting the ephemeral nature of content within social media ecosystems. Referenced and applied by leading entities such as the Center for Direct Marketing, Fast Company, GoDaddy, Pinterest Inc., and PNAS, among others, his research exemplifies methodological rigor and sustained significance in the field of digital informatics.

The 2025 edition of Graffius "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts" research is here.

Education and Professional Certifications

Graffius has a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a focus in Human Factors. He holds eight professional certifications:

Certified SAFe 6 Agilist (SA),
Certified Scrum Professional - ScrumMaster (CSP-SM),
Certified Scrum Professional - Product Owner (CSP-PO),
Certified ScrumMaster (CSM),
Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO),
Project Management Professional (PMP),
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB), and
IT Service Management Foundation (ITIL).

He is an active member of the Scrum Alliance, the Project Management Institute (PMI), and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Advancing AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management

Scott M. Graffius continues to advance the fields of AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management through his leadership, research, writing, and real-world impact. Businesses and other organizations leverage Graffius’ insights to drive their success.

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Check out Scott’s books:

Follow and connect with Scott on social media:

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How to Cite This Article

Graffius, Scott M. (2025, July 18). Harness Sci-Fi and Speculative Design While Embracing Imperfection to Drive Innovation and Proactively Predict and Prepare for the Future. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/harness-scifi-and-speculative-design-while-embracing-imperfection-to-drive-innovation-and-proactively-predict-and-prepare-for-the-future.html.

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Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

DOI: (coming soon)

Content Acknowledgements

All names, marks, and content are the property of their respective owners.

Top 5 Hashtags

#SpeculativeDesign
#SciFiInnovation
#StrategicForesight
#FutureThinking
#Innovation

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Post-Publication Notes

If there are any supplements or updates to this article after the date of publication, they will appear here.

Copyright

Copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

Content on this site—including text, images, videos, and data—may not be used for training or input into any artificial intelligence, machine learning, or automatized learning systems, or published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.

Tags: Speculative Design - a provocative future-oriented design • Science Fiction - the role of sci-fi in inspiring innovation • Foresight - anticipating future possibilities and related to resilience • Innovation - creative solutions through imagination • Prototyping - Science-Fiction (Sci-Fi) Prototyping and Inside-Out Prototyping and Agile

Scott M. Graffius’ “Agile Scrum” Book Featured in a Publication of the Associação Nacional de Educação Católica do Brasil (ANEC)

15 July 2025

BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com

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The Associação Nacional de Educação Católica do Brasil (ANEC) referenced Scott M. Graffius’ work in their publication.

ANEC, a nonprofit organization founded in 1945, represents and supports Catholic educational institutions at all levels throughout Brazil. With a presence in over 900 municipalities and serving approximately 1.5 million students, it plays a vital role in advancing educational quality, institutional leadership, and social impact.

ANEC is engaged in:

Representing schools, colleges, and social initiatives.
Advocating educational policy and interacting with government, cultural, and scientific bodies.
Promoting research, teacher training, pastoral initiatives, and continuous development.
Organizing forums, seminars, and strategic events that bring together education leaders and stakeholders.
Supporting the Pope’s Global Educational Pact to foster peace, solidarity, and inclusive education globally.

Their website—anec.org.br—offers insight into their initiatives across sections like:

Câmaras: Basic and higher education, etc.
Eventos: Calendar of conferences and training opportunities.
Notícias: Educational news, updates, and case studies.
Projetos: Institutional development and cross-sector partnerships.
Biblioteca: A repository of policy and pedagogical resources.

The special edition (Jun/Jul 2023) of their Revista EDUCANEC publication documents key insights from their 6th National Congress, and it included a reference Graffius’ book, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions. The citation appears in an article on data-informed leadership and performance indicators.

The article paraphrases a concept from Graffius book and attributes it directly:
"Como disse o estudioso Scott M. Graffius, se você não coletar nenhuma métrica, estará voando às cegas. Porém, ao mesmo tempo, se você coletar e se concentrar em muitas, elas podem obstruir o seu campo de visão."

Here’s the full respective excerpt—in English:
"As the scholar Scott M. Graffius said, 'If you don’t collect any metrics, you’re flying blind. If you collect and focus on too many, they may be obstructing your field of view.'"

The following visual shows excerpts from the publication.

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About Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions

"Shifting customer needs are common in today's marketplace. Businesses must be adaptive and responsive to change while delivering an exceptional customer experience to be competitive. There are a variety of frameworks supporting the development of products and services, and most approaches fall into one of two broad categories: traditional or agile. Traditional practices such as waterfall engage sequential development, while agile involves iterative and incremental deliverables. Organizations are increasingly embracing agile to manage projects, and best meet their business needs of rapid response to change, fast delivery speed, and more."

With clear and easy to follow step-by-step instructions, Scott M. Graffius's award-winning Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions helps readers:

Implement and use the most popular agile framework―Scrum;
Deliver products in short cycles with rapid adaptation to change, fast time-to-market, and continuous improvement; and
Support innovation and drive competitive advantage.

Hailed by Literary Titan as "the book highlights the versatility of Scrum beautifully."

Winner of 17 first place awards.

Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions is available in paperback and ebook/Kindle in the United States and around the world.

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About Scott M. Graffius

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Scott M. Graffius is an AI, Agile, and Project Management/PMO leader, researcher, author, and speaker. Along the way, he spearheaded initiatives that have generated over $2.3 billion in impact for organizations across tech, entertainment, finance, healthcare, and beyond. The following sections provide additional information on his experience, contributions, and influence.

Experience

Graffius heads the professional services firm Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, along with its subsidiary Exceptional Agility. These consultancies offer strategic and tactical advisory, training, embedded expertise, and consulting services to the public, private, and government sectors. They help organizations enhance their capabilities and results in agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership, supporting innovation and driving competitive advantage. The consultancies confidently back services with a Delighted Client Guarantee™.

Graffius is a former VP of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more.

He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets.

Award-Winning Author

Graffius has authored three books.

Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions, his first book, earned 17 awards.
Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change, his second book, was named one of the best Scrum books of all time by BookAuthority.
Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum, his third book and his first work of fiction, was released in April 2025. The book trailer is on YouTube.

International Public Speaker

Organizations worldwide engage Graffius to present on tech (including AI), Agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership. He crafts and delivers unique and compelling talks and workshops. To date, Graffius has conducted 94 sessions across 25 countries. Select examples of events include Agile Trends Gov, BSides (Newcastle Upon Tyne), Conf42 Quantum Computing, DevDays Europe, DevOps Institute, DevOpsDays (Geneva), Frug’Agile, IEEE, Microsoft, Scottish Summit, Scrum Alliance RSG (Nepal), Techstars, and W Love Games International Video Game Development Conference (Helsinki), and more.

With an average rating of 4.81 (on a scale of 1-5), sessions are highly valued.

The speaker engagement request form is here.

Thought Leadership and Influence

Prominent businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities have showcased Graffius and his contributions—spanning his books, talks, workshops, and beyond. Select examples include:

Adobe,
American Management Association,
Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
Bayer,
BMC Software,
Boston University,
Broadcom,
Cisco,
Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts - Germany,
Computer Weekly,
Constructor University - Germany,
Data Governance Success,
Deimos Aerospace,
DevOps Institute,
Dropbox,
EU's European Commission,
Ford Motor Company,
Gartner,
GoDaddy,
Harvard Medical School,
Hasso Plattner Institute - Germany,
IEEE,
Innovation Project Management,
Johns Hopkins University,
Journal of Neurosurgery,
Lam Research (Semiconductors),
Leadership Worthy,
Life Sciences Trainers and Educators Network,
London South Bank University,
Microsoft,
NASSCOM,
National Academy of Sciences,
New Zealand Government,
Oracle,
Pinterest Inc.,
Project Management Institute,
Mary Raum (Professor of National Security Affairs, United States Naval War College),
SANS Institute,
SBG Neumark - Germany,
Singapore Institute of Technology,
Torrens University - Australia,
TBS Switzerland,
Tufts University,
UC San Diego,
UK Sports Institute,
University of Galway - Ireland,
US Department of Energy,
US National Park Service,
US Soccer,
US Tennis Association,
Verizon,
Wrike,
Yale University,
and many others.

Graffius has played a key role in the Project Management Institute (PMI) in developing professional standards. He was a member of multiple teams that authored, reviewed, and produced:

Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures—Second Edition.
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge—Sixth Edition.
The Standard for Program Management—Fourth Edition.
The Practice Standard for Project Estimating—Second Edition.

Additional details are here.

He was also a subject matter expert reviewer of content for the PMI’s Congress. Beyond the PMI, Graffius also served as a member of the review team for two of the Scrum Alliance’s Global Scrum Gatherings.

Acclaimed Authority on Teamwork Tradecraft

Graffius is a renowned authority on teamwork tradecraft. Informed by the research of Bruce W. Tuckman and Mary Ann C. Jensen, over 100 subsequent studies, and Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his 'Phases of Team Development' as a unique perspective and visual conveying the five phases of team development. First introduced in 2008 and periodically updated, his work provides a diagnostic and strategic guide for navigating team dynamics. It provides actionable insights for leaders across industries to develop high-performance teams. Its adoption by esteemed organizations such as Yale University, IEEE, Cisco, Microsoft, Ford, Oracle, Broadcom, the U.S. National Park Service, and the Journal of Neurosurgery, among others, highlights its utility and value, solidifying its status as an indispensable resource for elevating team performance and driving organizational excellence.

The 2025 edition of Graffius' "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property is here.

Expert on Temporal Dynamics on Social Media Platforms

Graffius is also an authority on temporal dynamics on social media platforms. His 'Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts' research—first published in 2018 and updated annually—delivers a precise quantitative analysis of post longevity across digital platforms, utilizing advanced statistical techniques to determine mean half-life with precision. It establishes a solid empirical base, effectively highlighting the ephemeral nature of content within social media ecosystems. Referenced and applied by leading entities such as the Center for Direct Marketing, Fast Company, GoDaddy, Pinterest Inc., and PNAS, among others, his research exemplifies methodological rigor and sustained significance in the field of digital informatics.

The 2025 edition of Graffius "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts" research is here.

Education and Professional Certifications

Graffius has a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a focus in Human Factors. He holds eight professional certifications:

Certified SAFe 6 Agilist (SA),
Certified Scrum Professional - ScrumMaster (CSP-SM),
Certified Scrum Professional - Product Owner (CSP-PO),
Certified ScrumMaster (CSM),
Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO),
Project Management Professional (PMP),
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB), and
IT Service Management Foundation (ITIL).

He is an active member of the Scrum Alliance, the Project Management Institute (PMI), and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Advancing AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management

Scott M. Graffius continues to advance the fields of AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management through his leadership, research, writing, and real-world impact. Businesses and other organizations leverage Graffius’ insights to drive their success.

Thought Leader | Public Speaker | Agile Protocol Book | Agile Scrum Book | Agile Transformation Book | Blog | Photo | X | LinkedIn | Email

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How to Cite This Article

Graffius, Scott M. (2025, July 15). Scott M. Graffius’ "Agile Scrum" Book Featured in a Publication of the Associação Nacional de Educação Católica do Brasil (ANEC). Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/anec-fetures-agile-scrum-book-by-scott-m-graffius.html.

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scott_m_graffius_-_blog_spacer_-_v23111107_-_x---rev-24101207---doi----lwres

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

DOI: (coming soon)

Content Acknowledgements

Revista EDUCANEC is a publication of the Associação Nacional de Educação Católica do Brasil (ANEC). ANEC name, mark, and content are the property of ANEC.

This article uses limited excerpts from ANEC’s Revista EDUCANEC, attributed to ANEC and used under fair use for news reporting and analysis.

Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions is copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

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Scott_M_Graffius_-_Blog_Spacer_-_v23111107_-_X - rev 25062907 - hashtags - lwres

Top 5 Hashtags

#Leadership
#Agile
#Education
#DataDriven
#Metrics

Post-Publication Notes

If there are any supplements or updates to this article after the date of publication, they will appear here.

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scott_m_graffius_-_blog_spacer_-_v23111107_-_x---rev-24101207---copyright---lwres

Copyright

Copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

Content on this site—including text, images, videos, and data—may not be used for training or input into any artificial intelligence, machine learning, or automatized learning systems, or published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.

Tags: Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions • EdTech • ANEC Brazil • Agile in Education • Performance Metrics

Setting Direction with OKRs and Tracking Progress with KPIs: A Guide for Agile, Project Management, and Tech Teams

14 July 2025

BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com

setting-direction-with-okrs-and-tracking-progress-with-kpis-a-guide-for-agile-project-management-and-tech-teams---lwres

setting-direction-with-okrs-and-tracking-progress-with-kpis-a-guide-for-agile-project-management-and-tech-teams---lwres

Introduction

Agile, project management, and tech teams thrive on clarity and momentum. Two powerful tools—Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)—help teams set ambitious goals and track progress. This article explains OKRs and KPIs with practical examples tailored for Agile, project management, and tech teams. It shows how to align daily work with big-picture success.

OKRs

OKRs are a goal-setting framework that inspires teams to aim high and measure progress with precision. Think of OKRs as a "growth engine"—pushing teams beyond daily routines to achieve bold, transformative goals.

OKR Characteristics:

Purpose: Set ambitious goals and track measurable progress.
Timeframe: Fixed cycles, typically quarterly.
Focus: Innovation, improvement, and strategic wins.

OKR Structure:

Objective: A concise, inspiring goal that rallies the team.
Key Results: 2–5 measurable outcomes that track progress and ensure accountability.

OKR Example for Agile:

Scenario: A mobile app development team struggles with slow delivery cycles, frustrating users.

Objective: Accelerate product delivery to delight users with faster updates.

KR1: Improve the percentage of sprint goals successfully delivered from X% to Y% by Q3’s end.

KR2: Cut average user story cycle time from 12 days to 9 days.

KR3: Achieve 95% automated regression testing coverage for critical features (up from 70%).

OKR Example for Project Management:

Objective: Enhance stakeholder engagement.

KR1: Increase stakeholder satisfaction score from 65% to 85% by quarter-end.

KR2: Conduct at least four stakeholder workshops this quarter (up from one last quarter).

KR3: Achieve 80% or higher engagement rates on monthly progress updates, measured via open and response rates.

OKR Example for Technology:

Objective: Improve platform reliability for enterprise users.

KR1: Reduce average incident response time from 45 minutes to under 30 minutes this quarter.

KR2: Achieve 99.99% uptime in Q3, up from 99.9% in Q2.

KR3: Complete 100% of scheduled resiliency drills, increasing from 80% completion last quarter.

KPIs

KPIs are metrics that monitor ongoing performance, offering a real-time pulse on team operations. Think of KPIs as a "health check"—ensuring systems, teams, and projects run smoothly and efficiently.

KPI Characteristics:

Purpose: Measure and maintain operational excellence.
Timeframe: Continuous tracking (daily, weekly, or monthly).
Focus: Stability and consistency in day-to-day work.

KPI Example for Agile:

Defect Density: Target fewer than two defects per 100 story points.

KPI Example for Project Management:

Budget variance, schedule adherence. Our actual project schedule measures hit within 1% of the planned dates.

KPI Example for Technology:

API uptime targets 99.99% availability each month.

Using Both OKRs and KPIs

High-performing teams often combine both for maximum impact.

KPIs support smooth operations, like a car’s dashboard tracking speed, fuel, and engine health.
OKRs guide teams to ambitious destinations, like a GPS charting the path to the next milestone.

Example:

A tech team uses KPIs to maintain 99.99% server uptime while setting an OKR to reduce incident response time by 25%.

🚗 Analogy:

KPIs are the dashboard—speed, fuel, and engine health. OKRs are the GPS—destination and progress toward goals.

Pro Tips for Agile, Project Management, and Tech Leaders

Balance Both: Strong KPIs ensure operational stability, while bold OKRs drive breakthroughs.
Align with Strategy: Tie OKRs to organizational vision and KPIs to daily priorities to avoid conflicts.
Review Regularly: Monitor KPIs weekly to catch issues early; review OKRs quarterly to assess progress. Adapt as needed.
Keep It Simple: Limit OKRs to 1–2 per team per quarter and focus on 3–5 key KPIs.
Celebrate Wins: Recognize achievements—big (hitting an OKR) or small (maintaining a KPI) or anything in between—to boost team morale.
Avoid Pitfalls: Ensure both OKRs and KPIs are meaningful.

Conclusion

OKRs and KPIs are a dynamic duo for high-performing teams. KPIs keep operations humming, while OKRs propel teams toward bold, transformative goals. By balancing the two, Agile, project management, and tech teams are positioned to achieve operational excellence and groundbreaking innovation.

In Short:

KPIs = Tracking progress
OKRs = Setting direction

Next Steps:

Identify KPIs: Pinpoint 3–5 metrics that reflect operational health (e.g., uptime).
Set an OKR: Craft one ambitious Objective with 2–3 measurable Key Results for the next quarter.
Review and Iterate: Schedule weekly KPI check-ins and quarterly OKR reviews to monitor results and adapt as needed.

The "KPIs and OKRs Side-by-Side" visual below provides an overview of the tools.

setting-direction-with-okrs-and-tracking-progress-with-kpis-a-guide-for-agile-project-management-and-tech-teams---matrix2-lwres

setting-direction-with-okrs-and-tracking-progress-with-kpis-a-guide-for-agile-project-management-and-tech-teams---matrix2-lwres

Read on to learn more.

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About KPIs,
About OKRs,
About Scott M. Graffius,
How to Cite This Article,
and more.

About KPIs

No single individual is credited with creating Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). Instead, KPIs evolved over time as part of broader management practices. Here’s highlights of the history:

Early 20th Century: The roots of KPIs trace back to Frederick Winslow Taylor and the Scientific Management movement (1911), which introduced the idea of measuring worker output to improve productivity.
1950s: Peter Drucker, often called the “father of modern management,” popularized the importance of measuring performance with the famous (attributed) phrase: “What gets measured gets managed.” While Drucker didn’t invent KPIs, his work laid the conceptual groundwork.
1980s-1990s: The term “Key Performance Indicators” gained traction alongside the rise of Balanced Scorecards (Kaplan & Norton, 1992) and other strategic management frameworks.

About OKRs

Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) were created by Andy Grove, the former CEO of Intel. Here’s highlights of the history:

Grove introduced the concept internally at Intel as early as 1975.
Grove covered it in his 1983 book, “High Output Management,” though he didn’t use the exact term “OKRs.” He called it the “iMBO” (Intel Management by Objectives); it was an evolution of Peter Drucker’s Management by Objectives (MBO) concept.
John Doerr, a former Intel employee, popularized OKRs when he introduced them to Google in 1999. Doerr formally labeled the system OKRs, and Google’s early adoption helped make the framework famous.

About Scott M. Graffius

scott_m_graffius_-_blue_-_1000x1000_-lwres

Scott M. Graffius is an AI, Agile, and Project Management/PMO leader, researcher, author, and speaker. Along the way, he spearheaded initiatives that have generated over $2.3 billion in impact for organizations across tech, entertainment, finance, healthcare, and beyond. The following sections provide additional information on his experience, contributions, and influence.

Experience

Graffius heads the professional services firm Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, along with its subsidiary Exceptional Agility. These consultancies offer strategic and tactical advisory, training, embedded expertise, and consulting services to the public, private, and government sectors. They help organizations enhance their capabilities and results in agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership, supporting innovation and driving competitive advantage. The consultancies confidently back services with a Delighted Client Guarantee™.

Graffius is a former VP of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more.

He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets.

Award-Winning Author

Graffius has authored three books.

Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions, his first book, earned 17 awards.
Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change, his second book, was named one of the best Scrum books of all time by BookAuthority.
Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum, his third book and his first work of fiction, was released in April 2025. The book trailer is on YouTube.

International Public Speaker

Organizations worldwide engage Graffius to present on tech (including AI), Agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership. He crafts and delivers unique and compelling talks and workshops. To date, Graffius has conducted 94 sessions across 25 countries. Select examples of events include Agile Trends Gov, BSides (Newcastle Upon Tyne), Conf42 Quantum Computing, DevDays Europe, DevOps Institute, DevOpsDays (Geneva), Frug’Agile, IEEE, Microsoft, Scottish Summit, Scrum Alliance RSG (Nepal), Techstars, and W Love Games International Video Game Development Conference (Helsinki), and more.

With an average rating of 4.81 (on a scale of 1-5), sessions are highly valued.

The speaker engagement request form is here.

Thought Leadership and Influence

Prominent businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities have showcased Graffius and his contributions—spanning his books, talks, workshops, and beyond. Select examples include:

Adobe,
American Management Association,
Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
Bayer,
BMC Software,
Boston University,
Broadcom,
Cisco,
Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts - Germany,
Computer Weekly,
Constructor University - Germany,
Data Governance Success,
Deimos Aerospace,
DevOps Institute,
Dropbox,
EU's European Commission,
Ford Motor Company,
Gartner,
GoDaddy,
Harvard Medical School,
Hasso Plattner Institute - Germany,
IEEE,
Innovation Project Management,
Johns Hopkins University,
Journal of Neurosurgery,
Lam Research (Semiconductors),
Leadership Worthy,
Life Sciences Trainers and Educators Network,
London South Bank University,
Microsoft,
NASSCOM,
National Academy of Sciences,
New Zealand Government,
Oracle,
Pinterest Inc.,
Project Management Institute,
Mary Raum (Professor of National Security Affairs, United States Naval War College),
SANS Institute,
SBG Neumark - Germany,
Singapore Institute of Technology,
Torrens University - Australia,
TBS Switzerland,
Tufts University,
UC San Diego,
UK Sports Institute,
University of Galway - Ireland,
US Department of Energy,
US National Park Service,
US Soccer,
US Tennis Association,
Verizon,
Wrike,
Yale University,
and many others.

Graffius has played a key role in the Project Management Institute (PMI) in developing professional standards. He was a member of multiple teams that authored, reviewed, and produced:

Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures—Second Edition.
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge—Sixth Edition.
The Standard for Program Management—Fourth Edition.
The Practice Standard for Project Estimating—Second Edition.

Additional details are here.

He was also a subject matter expert reviewer of content for the PMI’s Congress. Beyond the PMI, Graffius also served as a member of the review team for two of the Scrum Alliance’s Global Scrum Gatherings.

Acclaimed Authority on Teamwork Tradecraft

Graffius is a renowned authority on teamwork tradecraft. Informed by the research of Bruce W. Tuckman and Mary Ann C. Jensen, over 100 subsequent studies, and Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his 'Phases of Team Development' as a unique perspective and visual conveying the five phases of team development. First introduced in 2008 and periodically updated, his work provides a diagnostic and strategic guide for navigating team dynamics. It provides actionable insights for leaders across industries to develop high-performance teams. Its adoption by esteemed organizations such as Yale University, IEEE, Cisco, Microsoft, Ford, Oracle, Broadcom, the U.S. National Park Service, and the Journal of Neurosurgery, among others, highlights its utility and value, solidifying its status as an indispensable resource for elevating team performance and driving organizational excellence.

The 2025 edition of Graffius' "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property is here.

Expert on Temporal Dynamics on Social Media Platforms

Graffius is also an authority on temporal dynamics on social media platforms. His 'Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts' research—first published in 2018 and updated annually—delivers a precise quantitative analysis of post longevity across digital platforms, utilizing advanced statistical techniques to determine mean half-life with precision. It establishes a solid empirical base, effectively highlighting the ephemeral nature of content within social media ecosystems. Referenced and applied by leading entities such as the Center for Direct Marketing, Fast Company, GoDaddy, Pinterest Inc., and PNAS, among others, his research exemplifies methodological rigor and sustained significance in the field of digital informatics.

The 2025 edition of Graffius "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts" research is here.

Education and Professional Certifications

Graffius has a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a focus in Human Factors. He holds eight professional certifications:

Certified SAFe 6 Agilist (SA),
Certified Scrum Professional - ScrumMaster (CSP-SM),
Certified Scrum Professional - Product Owner (CSP-PO),
Certified ScrumMaster (CSM),
Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO),
Project Management Professional (PMP),
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB), and
IT Service Management Foundation (ITIL).

He is an active member of the Scrum Alliance, the Project Management Institute (PMI), and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Advancing AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management

Scott M. Graffius continues to advance the fields of AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management through his leadership, research, writing, and real-world impact. Businesses and other organizations leverage Graffius’ insights to drive their success.

Thought Leader | Public Speaker | Agile Protocol Book | Agile Scrum Book | Agile Transformation Book | Blog | Photo | X | LinkedIn | Email

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How to Cite This Article

Graffius, Scott M. (2025, July 14). Setting Direction with OKRs and Tracking Progress with KPIs: A Guide for Agile, Project Management, and Tech Teams. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/setting-direction-with-okrs-and-tracking-progress-with-kpis-a-guide-for-agile-project-management-and-tech-teams.html.

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scott_m_graffius_-_blog_spacer_-_v23111107_-_x---rev-24101207---doi----lwres

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

DOI: (coming soon)

Content Acknowledgements

All names, marks, and content are the property of their respective owners.

Top 5 Hashtags

#OKRs
#KPIs
#ProjectManagement
#TechLeadership
#BusinessPerformance

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Post-Publication Notes

If there are any supplements or updates to this article after the date of publication, they will appear here.

scott_m_graffius_-_blog_spacer_-_v23111107_-_x---rev-24101207---copyright---lwres

Copyright

Copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

Content on this site—including text, images, videos, and data—may not be used for training or input into any artificial intelligence, machine learning, or automatized learning systems, or published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.

Tags: Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) • Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) • Goal Setting • Performance Metrics • project management

AI Showcase Showdown: Ranking AI Accuracy on Project Management Basics

08 July 2025

BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com

ai-showcase-showdown-ranking-ai-accuracy-on-project-management-basics---lwres

Introduction

On 17 June 2025, Scott M. Graffius assessed multiple artificial intelligence (AI) platforms by testing their performance with the same prompt on fundamental information on project management. Among the AIs evaluated, the Project Management Institute’s (PMI) Infinity AI produced such problematic results that Graffius wrote about the experience with that singular AI. That day, he published “PMI’s Infinity AI Gets the Basics of Team Development Alarmingly and Repeatedly Wrong.”

The Pants-on-Fire Index for AI

The performance of PMI Infinity AI, which repeatedly fabricated facts and got project management basics wrong, stressed the need for a simple way to spotlight the impact of misinformation generated by AI. Based on that, Graffius created the “Pants-on-Fire Index for AI” and wrote about it on 25 June 2025. The index is a satirical yet candid gauge of the frequency and significance of the misrepresentation and fabrication of facts by AI (a phenomenon called AI hallucinations). The index exposes and scores AI’s related errors, holding AI accountable.

The Pants-on-Fire Index for AI ranges from 0 to 10, where 0 represents no issues and 10 indicates total fabrication. The performance of PMI Infinity AI is shown below.

pants-on-fire-index-for-ai-by-scott-m-graffius-v4-infinity-lwres

pants-on-fire-index-for-ai-by-scott-m-graffius-v4-infinity-lwres

For details on the above, see Graffius’ 17 June 2025 and 25 June 2025 articles.

Audience Response and Expanded Analysis

Complementing the published articles, Graffius also disseminated the material through multiple social media networks. The audience responded.

Reader feedback included inquiries and requests for a comparative analysis. Some respondents suggested that, although PMI Infinity AI performed poorly, it might still be comparable to—or even outperform—other AI tools. To address these perspectives and provide greater clarity, this article presents the results of testing the same prompt across four additional generative AI platforms: OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Anthropic Claude, and Microsoft Copilot. These findings benchmark PMI Infinity AI’s performance—on project management basics—against other AIs.

PMI Infinity’s Expected vs. Actual Performance

The PMI is widely recognized as the global authority on project management. When the PMI released the Infinity AI tool under its banner, the tool carried an implicit expectation of accuracy—at least on core project management topics. PMI Infinity AI should at least meet the accuracy of PMI’s materials, especially on core topics. Unfortunately, it did not. Specifically, it scored a 9 out of 10 on the Pants-on-Fire Index for AI (where 10 is the worst).

Comparative Results

While the PMI Infinity AI got project management basics wrong (scoring: 9), all four of the other tools got it right (scoring: 0). The report for PMI Infinity AI was shown earlier in this article. Reports for ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Copilot follow.

Here's the one for ChatGPT.

pants-on-fire-index-for-ai-by-scott-m-graffius-v4-chatgpt-lwres

pants-on-fire-index-for-ai-by-scott-m-graffius-v4-chatgpt-lwres

The report for Google Gemini is next.

pants-on-fire-index-for-ai-by-scott-m-graffius-v4-gemini-lwres

Here's the report for Claude.

pants-on-fire-index-for-ai-by-scott-m-graffius-v4-claude-lwres

And, finally, here's the report for Microsoft Copilot.

pants-on-fire-index-for-ai-by-scott-m-graffius-v4-copilot-lwres

As shown, ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Copilot all got project management basics right; each scored 0 on the Pants-on-Fire Index. For comparison, PMI Infinity AI repeatedly got project management basics wrong; it scored 9 on the Pants-on-Fire Index.

Implications and Cautions

Until significant improvements are made, PMI Infinity AI should be approached with extreme caution—and only exercised if users independently verify its outputs against trusted sources. This evaluation highlights a broader issue: when reputable institutions back AI tools, the stakes are even higher. Accuracy is vital.

Each of the other AIs successfully addressed the prompt on project management basics, while PMI Infinity AI repeatedly ignored or fabricated facts. For professionals who rely on accurate information, such breakdowns represent a failure of trust.

Conclusion

In this AI showcase showdown, ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Copilot were winners. Unfortunately, PMI Infinity AI did not achieve the same status.

This article is shared in the interest of transparency—to support informed decision-making and to encourage the responsible advancement of AI tools for the public good.

If there's an update after this article is published, the information will appear in the Post-Publication Notes section.

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More

Continue reading for:

About OpenAI ChatGPT,
About Google Gemini,
About Anthropic Claude,
About Microsoft Copilot,
About PMI Infinity,
About Scott M. Graffius,
How to Cite This Article,
and more.

About OpenAI's ChatGPT

ChatGPT is a conversational AI developed by OpenAI, based on the GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) architecture. It is designed to understand and generate human-like text, enabling applications from chatbots to content creation. Since its launch, ChatGPT has been widely adopted for its versatility and ease of use. For more information, visit https://openai.com/chatgpt.

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About Google Gemini

Google Gemini is Google’s next-generation large language model and AI system, aiming to combine advanced language understanding with multimodal capabilities like image and video processing. It is part of Google’s broader AI strategy to integrate powerful AI into search, productivity tools, and more. Gemini is positioned to compete with leading AI platforms by enhancing context awareness and reasoning. Learn more at https://ai.google/.

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About Anthropic Claude

Claude is an AI assistant created by Anthropic, a company focused on building reliable, interpretable, and steerable AI systems. Claude emphasizes safety and ethical considerations while delivering powerful natural language understanding and generation capabilities. It is designed to assist with a variety of tasks such as summarization, coding help, and conversational engagement. Visit https://www.anthropic.com/ for details.

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About Microsoft Copilot

Microsoft Copilot integrates advanced AI capabilities into Microsoft 365 applications like Word, Excel, and Outlook, enabling users to generate text, analyze data, and automate workflows seamlessly. Built on OpenAI’s GPT technology and enhanced with Microsoft’s productivity tools, Copilot aims to boost efficiency and creativity in professional environments. Discover more at https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/copilot.

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About PMI and PMI Infinity

Founded in 1968, the Project Management Institute (PMI) is a globally recognized professional organization dedicated to advancing the practice, science, and profession of project management. It provides resources, certifications, and networking opportunities to empower professionals in managing projects effectively across various industries. Its flagship certifications are widely respected and sought after for demonstrating expertise in project leadership. Through its standards, publications, and global community, PMI fosters best practices and drives innovation in project, program, and portfolio management. Visit https://www.pmi.org to learn more about the PMI.

On January 22, 2024, the PMI announced the launch of PMI Infinity™, marketed as an AI-powered assistant designed for project professionals. It claims to offer smart navigation through "over 14,000 vetted project‑management resources." Although its failure to correctly answer a prompt about project management basics—as delineated in this article—is problematic.

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About Scott M. Graffius

scott_m_graffius_-_blue_-_1000x1000_-lwres

Scott M. Graffius is an AI, Agile, and Project Management/PMO leader, researcher, author, and speaker. Along the way, he spearheaded initiatives that have generated over $2.3 billion in impact for organizations across tech, entertainment, finance, healthcare, and beyond. The following sections provide additional information on his experience, contributions, and influence.

Experience

Graffius heads the professional services firm Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, along with its subsidiary Exceptional Agility. These consultancies offer strategic and tactical advisory, training, embedded expertise, and consulting services to the public, private, and government sectors. They help organizations enhance their capabilities and results in agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership, supporting innovation and driving competitive advantage. The consultancies confidently back services with a Delighted Client Guarantee™.

Graffius is a former VP of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more.

He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets.

Award-Winning Author

Graffius has authored three books.

Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions, his first book, earned 17 awards.
Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change, his second book, was named one of the best Scrum books of all time by BookAuthority.
Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum, his third book and his first work of fiction, was released in April 2025. The book trailer is on YouTube.

International Public Speaker

Organizations worldwide engage Graffius to present on tech (including AI), Agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership. He crafts and delivers unique and compelling talks and workshops. To date, Graffius has conducted 94 sessions across 25 countries. Select examples of events include Agile Trends Gov, BSides (Newcastle Upon Tyne), Conf42 Quantum Computing, DevDays Europe, DevOps Institute, DevOpsDays (Geneva), Frug’Agile, IEEE, Microsoft, Scottish Summit, Scrum Alliance RSG (Nepal), Techstars, and W Love Games International Video Game Development Conference (Helsinki), and more.

With an average rating of 4.81 (on a scale of 1-5), sessions are highly valued.

The speaker engagement request form is here.

Thought Leadership and Influence

Prominent businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities have showcased Graffius and his contributions—spanning his books, talks, workshops, and beyond. Select examples include:

Adobe,
American Management Association,
Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
Bayer,
BMC Software,
Boston University,
Broadcom,
Cisco,
Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts - Germany,
Computer Weekly,
Constructor University - Germany,
Data Governance Success,
Deimos Aerospace,
DevOps Institute,
Dropbox,
EU's European Commission,
Ford Motor Company,
Gartner,
GoDaddy,
Harvard Medical School,
Hasso Plattner Institute - Germany,
IEEE,
Innovation Project Management,
Johns Hopkins University,
Journal of Neurosurgery,
Lam Research (Semiconductors),
Leadership Worthy,
Life Sciences Trainers and Educators Network,
London South Bank University,
Microsoft,
NASSCOM,
National Academy of Sciences,
New Zealand Government,
Oracle,
Pinterest Inc.,
Project Management Institute,
Mary Raum (Professor of National Security Affairs, United States Naval War College),
SANS Institute,
SBG Neumark - Germany,
Singapore Institute of Technology,
Torrens University - Australia,
TBS Switzerland,
Tufts University,
UC San Diego,
UK Sports Institute,
University of Galway - Ireland,
US Department of Energy,
US National Park Service,
US Soccer,
US Tennis Association,
Verizon,
Wrike,
Yale University,
and many others.

Graffius has played a key role in the Project Management Institute (PMI) in developing professional standards. He was a member of multiple teams that authored, reviewed, and produced:

Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures—Second Edition.
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge—Sixth Edition.
The Standard for Program Management—Fourth Edition.
The Practice Standard for Project Estimating—Second Edition.

Additional details are here.

He was also a subject matter expert reviewer of content for the PMI’s Congress. Beyond the PMI, Graffius also served as a member of the review team for two of the Scrum Alliance’s Global Scrum Gatherings.

Acclaimed Authority on Teamwork Tradecraft

Graffius is a renowned authority on teamwork tradecraft. Informed by the research of Bruce W. Tuckman and Mary Ann C. Jensen, over 100 subsequent studies, and Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his 'Phases of Team Development' as a unique perspective and visual conveying the five phases of team development. First introduced in 2008 and periodically updated, his work provides a diagnostic and strategic guide for navigating team dynamics. It provides actionable insights for leaders across industries to develop high-performance teams. Its adoption by esteemed organizations such as Yale University, IEEE, Cisco, Microsoft, Ford, Oracle, Broadcom, the U.S. National Park Service, and the Journal of Neurosurgery, among others, highlights its utility and value, solidifying its status as an indispensable resource for elevating team performance and driving organizational excellence.

The 2025 edition of Graffius' "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property is here.

Expert on Temporal Dynamics on Social Media Platforms

Graffius is also an authority on temporal dynamics on social media platforms. His 'Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts' research—first published in 2018 and updated annually—delivers a precise quantitative analysis of post longevity across digital platforms, utilizing advanced statistical techniques to determine mean half-life with precision. It establishes a solid empirical base, effectively highlighting the ephemeral nature of content within social media ecosystems. Referenced and applied by leading entities such as the Center for Direct Marketing, Fast Company, GoDaddy, Pinterest Inc., and PNAS, among others, his research exemplifies methodological rigor and sustained significance in the field of digital informatics.

The 2025 edition of Graffius "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts" research is here.

Education and Professional Certifications

Graffius has a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a focus in Human Factors. He holds eight professional certifications:

Certified SAFe 6 Agilist (SA),
Certified Scrum Professional - ScrumMaster (CSP-SM),
Certified Scrum Professional - Product Owner (CSP-PO),
Certified ScrumMaster (CSM),
Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO),
Project Management Professional (PMP),
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB), and
IT Service Management Foundation (ITIL).

He is an active member of the Scrum Alliance, the Project Management Institute (PMI), and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Advancing AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management

Scott M. Graffius continues to advance the fields of AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management through his leadership, research, writing, and real-world impact. Businesses and other organizations leverage Graffius’ insights to drive their success.

Thought Leader | Public Speaker | Agile Protocol Book | Agile Scrum Book | Agile Transformation Book | Blog | Photo | X | LinkedIn | Email

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Sign up for Miro—it's free!

(Want more features? You can always upgrade to a paid plan.)

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scott_m_graffius_-_blog_spacer_-_v23111107_-_cite

How to Cite This Article

Graffius, Scott M. (2025, July 8). AI Showcase Showdown: Ranking AI Accuracy on Project Management Basics. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/ai-showcase-showdown-ranking-ai-accuracy-on-project-management-basics.html.

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Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

DOI: (coming soon)

Content Acknowledgements

All names, marks, and content are the property of their respective owners.

ChatGPT name, mark, and content are the property of OpenAI, L.L.C.

Google and Google Gemini names, marks, and content are the property of Alphabet Inc.

Anthropic and Anthropic Claude names, marks, and content are the property of Anthropic Public-Benefit Corporation (PBC).

Microsoft and Microsoft Copilot names, marks, and content are the property of Microsoft Corporation.

PMI and PMI Infinity names, marks, and content are the property of the Project Management Institute, Inc.

"Pants-on-Fire Index for AI" is copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

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Top 5 Hashtags

#ArtificialIntelligence
#AI
#ProjectManagement
#ProjectManagers
#PMIInfinity

Post-Publication Notes

If there are any supplements or updates to this article after the date of publication, they will appear here.

Supplement on 8 July 2025

[Unsolicited feedback received a few hours after the article was published; feedback reproduced with permission, with personal details omitted]

Mr. Graffius,

You seem to take your readers’ feedback seriously, so here’s my review of your AI Showcase Showdown article, prioritising what I found particularly engaging and distinctive.

The piece is compelling. What stood out as original and valuable was your introduction of the Pants-on-Fire Index for AI, which I found to be a witty and memorable device for quantifying a growing concern that, until now, has lacked a straightforward metric. The name keeps it accessible, while still addressing the serious issue of AI misinformation.

What surprised me most was the stark disparity in performance uncovered in the comparative analysis. It’s quite striking that PMI Infinity AI, offered by the very organisation regarded as the worldwide authority on project management, fared so poorly on fundamental concepts, particularly when all four competitors (ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Copilot) managed the same prompt without issue. It creates a fascinating paradox: the AI tool backed by the most authoritative body in the field turns out to be the weakest performer.

Methodologically, for a non-scientific paper, I found your approach thoughtful and robust. Rather than singling out PMI Infinity for criticism, you broadened the scope to include data on other AI platforms under identical conditions. That comparative angle adds important context and avoids the appearance of an unfair or isolated critique.

The article also raises significant questions about institutional credibility and the responsibilities that come with it. When a respected body such as PMI puts its name behind an AI tool, users are naturally inclined to expect a higher standard of reliability, which makes its underperformance all the more concerning.

Your writing strikes a commendable balance between professional rigour and approachability, making complex AI evaluation concepts digestible for practitioners who rely on this information to choose their tools wisely.

It would have been interesting to note whether PMI had liaised with you regarding their Infinity. If they had, it might suggest a receptiveness to constructive input and a pledge to improvement.

Yours sincerely,

Oliver H.

—————

Scott M. Graffius delineated and shared findings on PMI Infinity via:

Article published on 17 June 2025;
Feedback provided to PMI via their provide feedback mechanism — this is detailed in the Post-Publication Notes section of the 17 June 2025 article;
Posts on social media, which included, as noted in the Post-Publication Notes section of the 17 June 2025 article, a post on LinkedIn where Graffius tagged the PMI and the CEO of the PMI;
Article published on 25 June 2025;
This 8 July 2025 article.

Here's the answer to the question posed by Oliver: No. To date, the PMI has not responded.

Update on 22 July 2025

Graffius created and released the supplement, Pants-on Fire Index for AI: How It's Calculated. It's shown below.

pants-on-fire-index-for-ai-by-scott-m-graffius-v4-formula---lwres

pants-on-fire-index-for-ai-by-scott-m-graffius-v4-formula---lwres

The formula for the Pants-on Fire Index for AI (abbreviated as PoF) can also be expressed as:

PoF = 10 × ( Σ (eᵢ × sᵢ) ) ÷ ( n × Sₘₐₓ )

Where:

n = total number of assertions
eᵢ = error indicator flag of 0 if assertion i is true, 1 if false
sᵢ = severity of false claim (1 to Sₘₐₓ, where higher = worse)
Sₘₐₓ = maximum possible severity (value of 10)

For details, refer to the visual, "Pants-on-Fire Index for AI: How It’s Calculated."

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Copyright

Copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

Content on this site—including text, images, videos, and data—may not be used for training or input into any artificial intelligence, machine learning, or automatized learning systems, or published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.

Tags: Artificial Intelligence • AI • PMI Infinity AI • project management • Project Management Professional

BookAuthority Features “Agile Scrum” by Scott M. Graffius in “10 Agile Software Development Books That Define the Field”

02 July 2025

BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com

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Agile Scrum Named a Top 10 Agile Software Development Book That Defines the Field

BookAuthority published a new article, “10 Agile Software Development Books That Define the Field,” on June 23, 2025. The feature showcases ten notable titles that are recognized for defining and shaping the field of Agile software development. Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions by Scott M. Graffius is honored to be included.

Excerpts from BookAuthority follow.

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The article by BookAuthority notes,

"What if the key to transforming your software projects lies not in the latest tools, but in mastering Agile principles that truly work? Agile Software Development continues to reshape how teams deliver value, yet many struggle to navigate its evolving landscape. Expert voices like Steve Blank, a Stanford adjunct professor and author, and Dr. Bhaskar Ghosh, Global DevOps Lead at Accenture, have pinpointed the books that cut through the noise and clarify Agile's core."

and

"Steve Blank, known for his startup innovation insights, champions Extreme Programming Explained for its rigorous approach to adaptability and quality. Meanwhile, Dr. Ghosh credits DevOps For The Modern Enterprise with reshaping his view on integrating Agile and cultural change in legacy IT settings. Their endorsements highlight how these works offer practical wisdom rooted in real challenges."

About Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions

Shifting customer needs are common in today's marketplace. Businesses must be adaptive and responsive to change while delivering an exceptional customer experience to be competitive. There are a variety of frameworks supporting the development of products and services, and most approaches fall into one of two broad categories: traditional or agile. Traditional practices such as waterfall engage sequential development, while agile involves iterative and incremental deliverables. Organizations are increasingly embracing agile to manage projects, and best meet their business needs of rapid response to change, fast delivery speed, and more.

With clear and easy to follow step-by-step instructions, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions helps readers:

Implement and use the most popular agile framework―Scrum
Deliver products in short cycles with rapid adaptation to change, fast time-to-market, and continuous improvement
Support innovation and drive competitive advantage

Agile Scrum is for those interested or involved in innovation, project management, product development, software development or technology management. It's for those who have not yet used Scrum. It's also for people already using Scrum, in roles such as Product Owners, Scrum Masters, Development Team members (business analysts, solution and system architects, designers, developers, testers, etc.), customers, end users, agile coaches, executives, managers, and other stakeholders. For those already using Scrum, this guide can serve as a reference on practices for consideration and potential adaptation.

Reactions to Agile Scrum have been fantastic:

"One of the best Scrum books of all time" ― BookAuthority
"The book highlights the versatility of Scrum beautifully" ― Literary Titan
"A superbly written and presented guide to team-based project management that is applicable across a broad range of businesses from consumer products to high-tech" ― IndieBRAG
"The book is excellent" ― Readers' Favorite
"An all-inclusive instruction guide that is impressively 'user-friendly' in tone, content, clarity, organization, and presentation" ― Midwest Book Review
"A must-have" ― PM World Journal

Additionally, Agile Scrum has received 17 first place awards.

Credit to Chris Hare and Colin Giffen, the technical editors on the book.

award-winning-agile-scrum-by-scott-m-graffius---ipa-v250614-lwres

Agile Scrum is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Harvard Book Store, and other sellers around the globe. Order your copy today!

About BookAuthority

BookAuthority curates the books recommended by the world's most successful business leaders and domain experts such as Warren Buffett, Sheryl Sandberg, and David Allen. Only the very best books are featured on BookAuthority. To keep it objective and unbiased, BookAuthority uses a proprietary technology to identify and rate the best nonfiction books, using dozens of different signals, including public mentions, recommendations, ratings, sentiment, popularity, and sales history. BookAuthority does not accept requests to feature books, nor does BookAuthority conduct business with publishers or authors. BookAuthority has been featured on CNN, Forbes and Inc.

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More

Continue reading for:

About Scott M. Graffius,
How to Cite This Article,
and more.

About Scott M. Graffius

scott_m_graffius_-_blue_-_1000x1000_-lwres

Scott M. Graffius is an AI, Agile, and Project Management/PMO leader, researcher, author, and speaker. Along the way, he spearheaded initiatives that have generated over $2.3 billion in impact for organizations across tech, entertainment, finance, healthcare, and beyond. The following sections provide additional information on his experience, contributions, and influence.

Experience

Graffius heads the professional services firm Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, along with its subsidiary Exceptional Agility. These consultancies offer strategic and tactical advisory, training, embedded expertise, and consulting services to the public, private, and government sectors. They help organizations enhance their capabilities and results in agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership, supporting innovation and driving competitive advantage. The consultancies confidently back services with a Delighted Client Guarantee™.

Graffius is a former VP of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more.

He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets.

Award-Winning Author

Graffius has authored three books.

Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions, his first book, earned 17 awards.
Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change, his second book, was named one of the best Scrum books of all time by BookAuthority.
Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum, his third book and his first work of fiction, was released in April 2025. The book trailer is on YouTube.

International Public Speaker

Organizations worldwide engage Graffius to present on tech (including AI), Agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership. He crafts and delivers unique and compelling talks and workshops. To date, Graffius has conducted 94 sessions across 25 countries. Select examples of events include Agile Trends Gov, BSides (Newcastle Upon Tyne), Conf42 Quantum Computing, DevDays Europe, DevOps Institute, DevOpsDays (Geneva), Frug’Agile, IEEE, Microsoft, Scottish Summit, Scrum Alliance RSG (Nepal), Techstars, and W Love Games International Video Game Development Conference (Helsinki), and more.

With an average rating of 4.81 (on a scale of 1-5), sessions are highly valued.

The speaker engagement request form is here.

Thought Leadership and Influence

Prominent businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities have showcased Graffius and his contributions—spanning his books, talks, workshops, and beyond. Select examples include:

Adobe,
American Management Association,
Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
Bayer,
BMC Software,
Boston University,
Broadcom,
Cisco,
Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts - Germany,
Computer Weekly,
Constructor University - Germany,
Data Governance Success,
Deimos Aerospace,
DevOps Institute,
Dropbox,
EU's European Commission,
Ford Motor Company,
Gartner,
GoDaddy,
Harvard Medical School,
Hasso Plattner Institute - Germany,
IEEE,
Innovation Project Management,
Johns Hopkins University,
Journal of Neurosurgery,
Lam Research (Semiconductors),
Leadership Worthy,
Life Sciences Trainers and Educators Network,
London South Bank University,
Microsoft,
NASSCOM,
National Academy of Sciences,
New Zealand Government,
Oracle,
Pinterest Inc.,
Project Management Institute,
Mary Raum (Professor of National Security Affairs, United States Naval War College),
SANS Institute,
SBG Neumark - Germany,
Singapore Institute of Technology,
Torrens University - Australia,
TBS Switzerland,
Tufts University,
UC San Diego,
UK Sports Institute,
University of Galway - Ireland,
US Department of Energy,
US National Park Service,
US Soccer,
US Tennis Association,
Verizon,
Wrike,
Yale University,
and many others.

Graffius has played a key role in the Project Management Institute (PMI) in developing professional standards. He was a member of multiple teams that authored, reviewed, and produced:

Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures—Second Edition.
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge—Sixth Edition.
The Standard for Program Management—Fourth Edition.
The Practice Standard for Project Estimating—Second Edition.

Additional details are here.

He was also a subject matter expert reviewer of content for the PMI’s Congress. Beyond the PMI, Graffius also served as a member of the review team for two of the Scrum Alliance’s Global Scrum Gatherings.

Acclaimed Authority on Teamwork Tradecraft

Graffius is a renowned authority on teamwork tradecraft. Informed by the research of Bruce W. Tuckman and Mary Ann C. Jensen, over 100 subsequent studies, and Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his 'Phases of Team Development' as a unique perspective and visual conveying the five phases of team development. First introduced in 2008 and periodically updated, his work provides a diagnostic and strategic guide for navigating team dynamics. It provides actionable insights for leaders across industries to develop high-performance teams. Its adoption by esteemed organizations such as Yale University, IEEE, Cisco, Microsoft, Ford, Oracle, Broadcom, the U.S. National Park Service, and the Journal of Neurosurgery, among others, highlights its utility and value, solidifying its status as an indispensable resource for elevating team performance and driving organizational excellence.

The 2025 edition of Graffius' "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property is here.

Expert on Temporal Dynamics on Social Media Platforms

Graffius is also an authority on temporal dynamics on social media platforms. His 'Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts' research—first published in 2018 and updated annually—delivers a precise quantitative analysis of post longevity across digital platforms, utilizing advanced statistical techniques to determine mean half-life with precision. It establishes a solid empirical base, effectively highlighting the ephemeral nature of content within social media ecosystems. Referenced and applied by leading entities such as the Center for Direct Marketing, Fast Company, GoDaddy, Pinterest Inc., and PNAS, among others, his research exemplifies methodological rigor and sustained significance in the field of digital informatics.

The 2025 edition of Graffius "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts" research is here.

Education and Professional Certifications

Graffius has a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a focus in Human Factors. He holds eight professional certifications:

Certified SAFe 6 Agilist (SA),
Certified Scrum Professional - ScrumMaster (CSP-SM),
Certified Scrum Professional - Product Owner (CSP-PO),
Certified ScrumMaster (CSM),
Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO),
Project Management Professional (PMP),
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB), and
IT Service Management Foundation (ITIL).

He is an active member of the Scrum Alliance, the Project Management Institute (PMI), and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Advancing AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management

Scott M. Graffius continues to advance the fields of AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management through his leadership, research, writing, and real-world impact. Businesses and other organizations leverage Graffius’ insights to drive their success.

Thought Leader | Public Speaker | Agile Protocol Book | Agile Scrum Book | Agile Transformation Book | Blog | Photo | X | LinkedIn | Email

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How to Cite This Article

Graffius, Scott M. (2025, July 2). BookAuthority Features “Agile Scrum” by Scott M. Graffius in “10 Agile Software Development Books That Define the Field.” Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/bookauthority-features-agile-scrum-by-scott-m-graffius-in-10-agile-software-development-books-that-define-the-field.html.

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scott_m_graffius_-_blog_spacer_-_v23111107_-_x---rev-24101207---doi----lwres

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

DOI: (coming soon)

Content Acknowledgements

This article includes brief excerpts from BookAuthority, attributed and used under fair use for news reporting and analysis.

BookAuthority name, mark, and content are the property of Lifehack Labs LLC.

Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions is copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

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Top 5 Hashtags

#Agile
#Scrum
#BookAuthority
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Copyright

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Tags: Agile • Scrum • BookAuthority • Software Development • Book

Exploring Team Dynamics, Adaptability, and Creative Problem-Solving Through Felix the Cat’s Metaphorical Toolkit

01 July 2025

BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com

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Introduction

Felix the Cat, a classic animated character from the early days of cartoons, wields a magical Bag of Tricks that defies physics, logic, and reason. This checkered sack morphs into ladders, conjures lions, pulls out entire living rooms, and more—on demand. It’s a cartoonish masterclass in adaptability and creative problem-solving.

Whether you lead, participate in, or otherwise collaborate with teams, this article explains how the Bag of Tricks mirrors the ingenuity of great teams (Agile or otherwise). It also shows how embracing that same spirit of adaptability and creativity can fuel real-world success.

This concise article explores two modes (transformation and summoning), highlights adaptability, and then wraps up with points on success.

Transformation Mode

In transformation mode, process adapts to needs.

Just as Felix’s bag transforms into a boat to navigate choppy waters, high-performing teams reshape their approach to meet challenges. They adapt.

That might mean shifting priorities, streamlining workflows, adjusting roles, adding sync points, or rethinking how work gets done. Whether the context is Agile (e.g., Scrum, Kanban, etc.), Waterfall, or something else—adaptation is universal.

In this mode, the process itself transforms—becoming the ladder, the raft, or whatever tool the team needs to move forward and succeed.

Summoning Mode

In summoning mode, the team brings in who or what it needs.

Sometimes, adaptability means pulling in new resources or capabilities. Like Felix opening the bag to unleash a lion, great teams summon what’s needed to tackle impediments and move ahead.

That might mean engaging external subject-matter experts, tapping partnerships, or bringing in additional tools (like Miro or Trello). It’s about having the ability to summon the right support at the right time.

This mode works across all types of teams and projects—Agile, Waterfall, hybrid, or otherwise.

Why Adaptability Matters

The real magic is adaptability.

Only Felix has a magical bag with infinite resources. But the best teams build their own version of a Bag of Tricks—filled with knowledge, skills, networks, and flexible thinking.

This is for teams using Agile (e.g., Scrum, Kanban, SAFe, etc.) or anything else. It’s universal.

Teams that thrive create a plan, but they adapt—morphing processes, summoning resources, and solving problems as situations evolve. Whether it involves AI, automation, or anything else, the principle holds: adapt as needed.

Part of building that Bag of Tricks is knowing where a team stands in its journey. Tools can help. For example, Scott M. Graffius’ "Phases of Team Development" guides leaders in identifying what the team needs (development-wise) at any given point—and exactly which strategies to apply to help it grow, thrive, and succeed.

Conclusion

The genius of Felix’s Bag of Tricks is how he applies it to solve problems and save the day.

Great teams work the same way—engaging the right people, tools, and practices as needed. Build your own Bag of Tricks, and you’ll be better equipped to seize opportunities and conquer challenges.

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In a world where problems shift daily and solutions rarely come pre-packaged, success often hinges on a dynamic Bag of Tricks. What’s in your bag?

See the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for more insights.

Read on for:

Frequently Asked Questions,
Bibliography,
Additional Articles,
About Scott M. Graffius,
and more.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

FAQ 1. Why use a cartoon metaphor like Felix the Cat's Bag of Tricks for teamwork?

Metaphors simplify complex concepts. Felix’s Bag of Tricks represents adaptability, resourcefulness, and creative problem-solving. Those qualities are essential for successful teams.

FAQ 2. Is adaptability really that important in teamwork?

Yes. Research consistently shows that adaptable teams outperform rigid ones, especially in dynamic environments. Flexibility enables teams to pivot, overcome obstacles, and innovate more effectively.

FAQ 3. How can leaders foster adaptability and creativity in their teams?

By cultivating psychological safety, encouraging experimentation, embracing diverse perspectives, and rewarding creative problem-solving.

FAQ 4. What goes into a team’s real-world Bag of Tricks?

Toolkits might include ways of working (such as Scrum or Kanban), digital tools (like Miro or Trello), or soft skills (examples include communication, emotional intelligence, collaboration, leadership, or time management).

FAQ 5. Where can I learn more about high performance teams?

See Scott M. Graffius’ Phases of Team Development.

FAQ 6. Why don’t the visuals show the Bag of Tricks used by Felix the Cat? And why is the bag red?

To respect the Felix the Cat intellectual property, the visuals in the article feature a unique bag—with a custom design, distinctive pattern, and different color—rather than Felix’s bag. The choice of red is a subtle nod to classic red metal toolboxes that house physical tools, reinforcing the article’s central metaphor: a practical, go-to toolkit for teams.

FAQ 7. What are some other ways to explore adaptability and teamwork?

While this article uses a cartoon metaphor to explore teamwork, adaptability, and creative problem-solving, Graffius also explores these themes in Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum. It’s a fast-paced satirical fiction that doubles as a stealth guide to agility, leadership, experimentation, and resilience in action. If you enjoy lessons delivered through humor and engaging story, be sure to check out the book.

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Bibliography

Select bibliography:

Alexa, L. (2021, August 25). “Felix the Cat” Returning in New Kids’ Comic Book Series. Animation World Network (AWN). Available at: https://www.awn.com/news/felix-cat-returning-new-kids-comic-book-series.
Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) (2012, February 8). ABC TV Rewind. Archived at: https://web.archive.org/web/20120208080454/http://www.abc.net.au/tv/rewind/txt/s1229985.htm.
Berlin School of Business and Innovation (2022, September 22). How Do Technical Abilities Combined with Leadership Skills Fuel Career Growth? Available at: https://www.berlinsbi.com/blog/career-advice/how-do-technical-abilities-combined-with-leadership-skills-fuel-career-growth.
Booklife by Publishers Weekly (n.d.). Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum. Available at: https://booklife.com/project/agile-protocol-the-transformation-ultimatum-100435.
Callaway, A. (2020, November 10). Felix the Catalyst: An Antipodean Who Animated Modernism. Journal of the Association for the Study of Australian Literature, 20 (2): 1–14.
Canemaker, John (1991). Felix: The Twisted Tale of the World's Most Famous Cat. Pantheon.
Clarke, Arthur C. (1973). Profiles of the Future: An Inquiry Into the Limits of the Possible. Revised edition. New York City, New York: Harper & Row.
Classic Media (2012). Felix the Cat: The Complete 1958–1959 Series [DVD]. Classic Media.
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) (2023, February 23). Episode 65: A Sprint to Tomorrow, Powered by Teamwork [Podcast]. Available at: https://www.darpa.mil/news-events/2023-02-23a.
Dweck, Carol S. (2007). Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. Ballantine Books.
Edmondson, A. (1999). Psychological Safety and Learning Behavior in Work Teams. Administrative Science Quarterly, 44 (2): 350–383. DOI: 10.2307/2666999.
Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions (@Exceptional_LLC) (2019, April 3). "'Project management isn’t magic. But high-caliber project management professionals can apply the tradecraft to organizations’ strategic initiatives and consistently complete them on-scope, on-budget, on-time, and on-satisfaction. Which is sort of magical.'" — Scott M. Graffius" [Tweet]. X. Available at: https://x.com/Exceptional_LLC/status/1113290399647379456.
Graffius, Scott M. (2016). Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions. North Charleston, SC: CreateSpace.
Graffius, Scott M. (2018, October 18). Agile Scrum Helps Innovators, Disruptors, and Entrepreneurs Develop and Deliver Products at Astounding Speed Which Drives Competitive Advantage [Presentation]. Talk delivered at Techstars Startup Week Conference. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.25009.12647.
Graffius, Scott M. (2019). Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change. Scotts Valley, CA: CreateSpace.
Graffius, Scott M. (2020, November 27). Definition of Agile Culture. Available at: https://www.scottgraffius.com/blog/files/agile-culture.html.
Graffius, Scott M. (2023, May 1). AI is a Team Sport: A Confluence of Diverse Technical and Soft Skills are Crucial for Success. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/successful-ai-teams.html. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.20321.79200.
Graffius, Scott M. (2024, April 5). Cisco Features Scott M. Graffius' 'Phases of Team Development' Work' Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/cisco-2024.html. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.16689.60000.
Graffius, Scott M. (2024, May 3). Leverage Agile and AI to Innovate at the Speed of Light. Talk at private event in Dubai, UAE. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.30790.48960.
Graffius, Scott M. (2025, January 24). When Agile, AI, and Strategic Thinking Converge. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/when-agile-ai-and-strategic-thinking-converge.html.
Graffius, Scott M. (2025, January 7). Scott M. Graffius’ Phases of Team Development: 2025 Update. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/phases-of-team-development-update-for-2025.html. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.33705.30564.
Graffius, Scott M. (2025, May 13). Scott M. Graffius Delivering $2.3 Billion in Value Through AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Leadership. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/scott-m-graffius-delivering-2-point-3-billion-dollars-in-impact-for-organizations.html.
Graffius, Scott M. (2025). Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum. Seattle, WA: Amazon Digital Services.
Kerzner, Harold (2022). Innovation Project Management: Methods, Case Studies, and Tools for Managing Innovation Projects—Second Edition. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley.
Morsa, Luigi (2022, July 7). Agile. Creativity. Innovation. Available at: https://blog.iil.com/agile-creativity-innovation/.
Prasad, Baba (2025, May 5). Interpreters, Challengers and Stewards: The Role of Agile Leaders in an AI World. Brown University. Available at: https://professional.brown.edu/news/2025-05-05/agile-leadership-ai-world.
Prilosadoso, B. H., Kurniawan, R. A., Pandanwangi, B., & Yunianto, I. K. (2021). The Appeal of Cartoon Characters in Instructional Media Through Animation in Early Childhood Education in Surakarta. International Journal of Social Sciences, 4 (1): 35-38. DOI: 10.31295/ijss.v4n1.430.
Robinson, T. (2019, October 28). Universal Celebrates 100 years of “Felix the Cat” with All‑New Merchandising. Animation Scoop. Archived at: https://web.archive.org/web/20191031222230/http://www.animationscoop.com/universal-celebrates-100-years-of-felix-the-cat-with-all-new-merchandising/.
Tallman, Stephen, and Shenkar, Oded, & Wu, Jay Valerian. (2023). Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast: Use and Abuse of Culture in International Strategy Research. Strategic Management Review, 4 (2): 193-229.
Tuckman, B. W. (1965). Developmental Sequence in Small Groups. Psychological Bulletin, 63: 384-399.
Tuckman, B. W., & Jensen, M. A. C. (1977). Stages of Small-Group Development Revisited. Group and Organizational Studies, 2 (4): 419-427.
TVTropes (n.d.). The MagicBag. TV Tropes. Available at: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/JoeOrioloFelixTheCat1x01TheMagicBag.

Additional Articles

You may also be interested in these relatively recent articles:

About Scott M. Graffius

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Scott M. Graffius is an AI, Agile, and Project Management/PMO leader, researcher, author, and speaker. Along the way, he spearheaded initiatives that have generated over $2.3 billion in impact for organizations across tech, entertainment, finance, healthcare, and beyond. The following sections provide additional information on his experience, contributions, and influence.

Experience

Graffius heads the professional services firm Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, along with its subsidiary Exceptional Agility. These consultancies offer strategic and tactical advisory, training, embedded expertise, and consulting services to the public, private, and government sectors. They help organizations enhance their capabilities and results in agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership, supporting innovation and driving competitive advantage. The consultancies confidently back services with a Delighted Client Guarantee™.

Graffius is a former VP of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more.

He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets.

Award-Winning Author

Graffius has authored three books.

Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions, his first book, earned 17 awards.
Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change, his second book, was named one of the best Scrum books of all time by BookAuthority.
Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum, his third book and his first work of fiction, was released in April 2025. The book trailer is on YouTube.

International Public Speaker

Organizations worldwide engage Graffius to present on tech (including AI), Agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership. He crafts and delivers unique and compelling talks and workshops. To date, Graffius has conducted 94 sessions across 25 countries. Select examples of events include Agile Trends Gov, BSides (Newcastle Upon Tyne), Conf42 Quantum Computing, DevDays Europe, DevOps Institute, DevOpsDays (Geneva), Frug’Agile, IEEE, Microsoft, Scottish Summit, Scrum Alliance RSG (Nepal), Techstars, and W Love Games International Video Game Development Conference (Helsinki), and more.

With an average rating of 4.81 (on a scale of 1-5), sessions are highly valued.

The speaker engagement request form is here.

Thought Leadership and Influence

Prominent businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities have showcased Graffius and his contributions—spanning his books, talks, workshops, and beyond. Select examples include:

Adobe,
American Management Association,
Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
Bayer,
BMC Software,
Boston University,
Broadcom,
Cisco,
Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts - Germany,
Computer Weekly,
Constructor University - Germany,
Data Governance Success,
Deimos Aerospace,
DevOps Institute,
Dropbox,
EU's European Commission,
Ford Motor Company,
Gartner,
GoDaddy,
Harvard Medical School,
Hasso Plattner Institute - Germany,
IEEE,
Innovation Project Management,
Johns Hopkins University,
Journal of Neurosurgery,
Lam Research (Semiconductors),
Leadership Worthy,
Life Sciences Trainers and Educators Network,
London South Bank University,
Microsoft,
NASSCOM,
National Academy of Sciences,
New Zealand Government,
Oracle,
Pinterest Inc.,
Project Management Institute,
Mary Raum (Professor of National Security Affairs, United States Naval War College),
SANS Institute,
SBG Neumark - Germany,
Singapore Institute of Technology,
Torrens University - Australia,
TBS Switzerland,
Tufts University,
UC San Diego,
UK Sports Institute,
University of Galway - Ireland,
US Department of Energy,
US National Park Service,
US Soccer,
US Tennis Association,
Verizon,
Wrike,
Yale University,
and many others.

Graffius has played a key role in the Project Management Institute (PMI) in developing professional standards. He was a member of multiple teams that authored, reviewed, and produced:

Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures—Second Edition.
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge—Sixth Edition.
The Standard for Program Management—Fourth Edition.
The Practice Standard for Project Estimating—Second Edition.

Additional details are here.

He was also a subject matter expert reviewer of content for the PMI’s Congress. Beyond the PMI, Graffius also served as a member of the review team for two of the Scrum Alliance’s Global Scrum Gatherings.

Acclaimed Authority on Teamwork Tradecraft

Graffius is a renowned authority on teamwork tradecraft. Informed by the research of Bruce W. Tuckman and Mary Ann C. Jensen, over 100 subsequent studies, and Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his 'Phases of Team Development' as a unique perspective and visual conveying the five phases of team development. First introduced in 2008 and periodically updated, his work provides a diagnostic and strategic guide for navigating team dynamics. It provides actionable insights for leaders across industries to develop high-performance teams. Its adoption by esteemed organizations such as Yale University, IEEE, Cisco, Microsoft, Ford, Oracle, Broadcom, the U.S. National Park Service, and the Journal of Neurosurgery, among others, highlights its utility and value, solidifying its status as an indispensable resource for elevating team performance and driving organizational excellence.

The 2025 edition of Graffius' "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property is here.

Expert on Temporal Dynamics on Social Media Platforms

Graffius is also an authority on temporal dynamics on social media platforms. His 'Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts' research—first published in 2018 and updated annually—delivers a precise quantitative analysis of post longevity across digital platforms, utilizing advanced statistical techniques to determine mean half-life with precision. It establishes a solid empirical base, effectively highlighting the ephemeral nature of content within social media ecosystems. Referenced and applied by leading entities such as the Center for Direct Marketing, Fast Company, GoDaddy, Pinterest Inc., and PNAS, among others, his research exemplifies methodological rigor and sustained significance in the field of digital informatics.

The 2025 edition of Graffius "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts" research is here.

Education and Professional Certifications

Graffius has a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a focus in Human Factors. He holds eight professional certifications:

Certified SAFe 6 Agilist (SA),
Certified Scrum Professional - ScrumMaster (CSP-SM),
Certified Scrum Professional - Product Owner (CSP-PO),
Certified ScrumMaster (CSM),
Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO),
Project Management Professional (PMP),
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB), and
IT Service Management Foundation (ITIL).

He is an active member of the Scrum Alliance, the Project Management Institute (PMI), and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Advancing AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management

Scott M. Graffius continues to advance the fields of AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management through his leadership, research, writing, and real-world impact. Businesses and other organizations leverage Graffius’ insights to drive their success.

Thought Leader | Public Speaker | Agile Protocol Book | Agile Scrum Book | Agile Transformation Book | Blog | Photo | X | LinkedIn | Email

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How to Cite This Article

Graffius, Scott M. (2025, July 1). Exploring Team Dynamics, Adaptability, and Creative Problem-Solving Through Felix the Cat’s Metaphorical Toolkit. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/exploring-team-dynamics-adaptability-and-creative-problem-solving-through-a-metaphorical-toolkit.html.

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Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

DOI: (coming soon)

Content Acknowledgements

Names, marks, and content are the property of their respective owners.

Intellectual property rights in ‘Felix the Cat' are held by DreamWorks Animation, a subsidiary of NBCUniversal.

Graffius' "Phases of Team Development" is copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

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Top 5 Hashtags

#Teamwork
#Agile
#Adaptability
#CreativeProblemSolving
#Leadership

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Copyright

Copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

Content on this site—including text, images, videos, and data—may not be used for training or input into any artificial intelligence, machine learning, or automatized learning systems, or published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.

Tags: Teamwork • Agile • Leadership • Adaptability • Creative Problem-Solving

Mind Games and Master Plans: How PsyOps Exploit Psychological Phenomena

25 June 2025

BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com

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1. Introduction: The Hidden Forces Shaping Your Mind

Imagine this: A government tries to suppress a leaked document—only for it to erupt across social media and be shared by millions. Or a company “accidentally” leaks a teaser for a new product, instantly igniting a frenzy of hype. These are strategic plays designed to trigger specific psychological responses. Welcome to the world of PsyOps, where natural human phenomena are harnessed and weaponized for influence.

Definitions

Psychological effects (PsyEffects) refer to the natural or induced changes in individual or collective behavior, emotions, or cognition due to psychological phenomena like cognitive biases, social influence, or stress responses. These effects can shape how people perceive and react to the world around them.

Psychological operations (PsyOps), on the other hand, are orchestrated and strategic efforts typically employed by military, governmental, or corporate entities to influence perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors of target audiences for specific objectives. While PsyEffects occur organically or as a byproduct of various stimuli, PsyOps deliberately utilize these effects to achieve specific outcomes, such as altering public opinion.

This article dives into PsyEffects and PsyOps.

🔑 Key Takeaways

PsyEffects are natural phenomena.
PsyOps are strategic manipulations that exploit PsyEffects to achieve specific goals.
Understanding the overlap between PsyEffects and PsyOps reveals how influence operates beneath the surface.

2. Deep Dive into PsyEffects: The Invisible Drivers of Human Behavior

Our minds are wired with quirks—shortcuts and biases that help us navigate a complex world but often lead us astray. These are PsyEffects: natural, sometimes unpredictable shifts in our behavior, emotions, or thinking triggered by cognitive biases, social dynamics, or emotional cues. They’re the undercurrents of human psychology, shaping how we interpret information and make decisions, often without us realizing it. From viral outrage on social media to panic-buying during a crisis, these effects ripple through our lives, setting the stage for both spontaneous trends and calculated manipulation.

What Are PsyEffects?

PsyEffects arise from the brain’s attempt to process information efficiently. Cognitive biases, like confirmation bias (favoring information that aligns with our beliefs) or the availability heuristic (overestimating the importance of recent or vivid events), distort our perceptions. Social influences, such as groupthink (conforming to a group’s opinion) or social proof (following the crowd), shape our actions. Emotional triggers, like fear or excitement, can magnify these effects, leading to impulsive decisions. Together, these phenomena create predictable patterns in how we think and act—patterns that occur organically but can be exploited.

PsyEffects in Play

Some PsyEffects are particularly ripe for manipulation because they’re so universal. Here are a few examples:

The Streisand Effect: When someone tries to suppress information, it often backfires, drawing more attention to it. Think of a celebrity demanding a photo be removed from the internet, only for it to spread like wildfire. This effect thrives in our hyper-connected world, where curiosity and defiance amplify “forbidden” content.
Confirmation Bias: We seek out and believe information that reinforces our existing views. On social media, this might look like users sharing posts that align with their beliefs while ignoring opposing views, creating echo chambers that deepen divisions.
Bandwagon Effect: People tend to adopt beliefs or behaviors because “everyone else is doing it.” This drives trends, from viral TikTok challenges to stock market frenzies fueled by social media hype.
FOMO (Fear of Missing Out): The anxiety of being left out pushes us to act—whether it’s buying a hyped-up product or joining a trending conversation. Marketers and influencers lean heavily on this to drive engagement.

Real-World Impact

These effects aren’t just academic—they shape our daily lives. Consider a viral post sparking outrage over a politician’s misstep. The bandwagon effect kicks in as users pile on, amplifying the story. Confirmation bias ensures people interpret the event to fit their worldview, while the Streisand Effect guarantees that any attempt to “delete” the post only makes it spread faster. These organic reactions can shift public opinion, sway markets, or even influence elections, often without a single orchestrator. But what happens when someone deliberately taps into these effects to steer the outcome? That’s where PsyOps come in, building on the predictable chaos of human psychology to craft a specific narrative or result. Understanding these effects is the first step to spot when they’re being used against us.

🔑 Key Takeaways

Psychological phenomena like confirmation bias and the Streisand Effect influence decisions unconsciously.
These effects emerge from how our brains simplify complex information.
They shape everything from viral content to emotional reactions, often without our awareness.

3. PsyOps: Mechanics and Motives – The Art of Strategic Influence

While PsyEffects bubble up naturally from the quirks of human psychology, PsyOps are the deliberate, calculated efforts to harness these mental patterns for specific goals. Employed by militaries, governments, corporations, and even activist groups, PsyOps are strategic campaigns designed to shape perceptions, influence behaviors, and control narratives. From wartime propaganda to viral marketing stunts, PsyOps turn the predictable patterns of our minds into tools for persuasion. Let’s unpack how they work, who uses them, and why.

What Are PsyOps?

PsyOps are orchestrated efforts to manipulate the psychological state of a target audience—whether it’s an enemy army, a voting public, or a consumer base. Historically rooted in military tactics, like dropping leaflets to demoralize troops during World War II, PsyOps have evolved into sophisticated operations across digital and traditional media. Today, they might involve social media bots amplifying a narrative, a carefully timed corporate “leak,” or a government’s disinformation campaign. The core objective remains: to alter how people think, feel, or act in ways that serve the orchestrator’s agenda.

How PsyOps Work

PsyOps are a blend of science, strategy, and creativity. Their execution typically follows a clear playbook:

Audience Analysis: Operatives study their target—demographics, beliefs, fears, and media habits. For example, a political campaign might analyze social media posts to gauge voter sentiment.
Message Crafting: Messages are tailored to exploit PsyEffects like fear, trust, or confirmation bias. A military PsyOp might spread rumors of an enemy’s weakness to erode morale, while a brand might create a “limited-time offer” to trigger FOMO.
Channel Selection: Delivery matters. PsyOps use platforms where the audience is most receptive—X (formerly Twitter) for viral memes, TV for older demographics, or influencers for Gen Z. Timing and repetition amplify impact.
Feedback Loop: Operatives monitor reactions (e.g., social media engagement metrics) and adjust tactics to maximize influence.

The trickery of PsyOps lies in their ability to feel organic. PsyOps don’t shout—they whisper in ways that sound like your own thoughts.

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Who Uses PsyOps and Why?

PsyOps aren’t just for government agencies. Various players deploy them for diverse motives:

Military: To weaken enemy resolve or win civilian support. During the Cold War, the CIA’s Radio Free Europe broadcast pro-Western messages to Soviet citizens, exploiting distrust in communist regimes.
Governments: To shape public opinion or counter adversaries. Investigations reveal state-backed disinformation campaigns on social media platforms, spreading narratives to influence elections.
Corporations: To drive sales or manage reputations. Think of a tech company staging a “leak” about a new gadget to spark hype, leveraging the Streisand Effect.
Political Campaigns: To sway voters. The [redacted] scandal used targeted Facebook ads to exploit confirmation bias, nudging undecided voters.

More Examples of PsyOps in Action

PsyOps shine when they tap into PsyEffects for maximum impact:

Military: In Iraq, U.S. forces used loudspeakers to blare unsettling sounds at insurgents, exploiting fear to disrupt their focus.
Corporate: [Redacted]’s limited-edition sneaker drops create artificial scarcity, triggering FOMO and driving resale prices sky-high.
Social Media: A brand might pay influencers to “organically” share a product, using social proof to make it seem like everyone’s buying it.

Ethical Questions

The ethics of PsyOps hinge on intent and impact: whether the goal is to inform or manipulate, to empower or exploit. As PsyOps grow more sophisticated in our digital age, spotting them—and questioning their motives—becomes critical.

By understanding the mechanics of PsyOps, we see how they transform PsyEffects from organic quirks into precision tools. The next step section explores where these worlds collide, as PsyOps deliberately amplify our mental biases to shape the reality we perceive.

🔑 Key Takeaways

PsyOps are deliberate campaigns designed to manipulate public perception and behavior.
They rely on targeting specific audiences, crafting persuasive messages, and exploiting known biases.
Governments, corporations, and others use PsyOps to drive agendas while appearing organic.

4. The Intersection: Where PsyEffects Meet PsyOps – Engineering the Mind’s Predictable Chaos

PsyEffects are the raw materials of human behavior— natural phenomena like the Streisand Effect or confirmation bias that shape how we think and act. PsyOps are the engineers, deliberately wielding these effects to sculpt perceptions and drive outcomes. The intersection of PsyEffects and PsyOps is where organic human psychology meets strategic intent, creating a powerful synergy that can sway crowds, spark trends, or even alter history. This section explores how PsyOps exploit PsyEffects, with real-world examples that reveal the mechanics and stakes of this dynamic interplay.

How PsyOps Amplify PsyEffects

PsyOps succeed by turning our predictable mental shortcuts into tools for influence. Operatives study PsyEffects to anticipate how people will react, then design campaigns to trigger or amplify those reactions. For instance, the Streisand Effect shows that suppressing information often makes it spread faster—PsyOps engineers might leak a “forbidden” document knowing curiosity will make it go viral. Confirmation bias, where people favor information aligning with their beliefs, is a favorite for political PsyOps, ensuring divisive narratives stick. By understanding these effects, PsyOps transform spontaneous natural phenomena into calculated outcomes, often without the audience suspecting manipulation.

Case Studies: PsyEffects Weaponized by PsyOps

To illustrate this intersection, here are two scenarios where PsyOps leveraged PsyEffects to achieve specific goals:

Historical: Operation Mockingbird (1940s-1970s). During the Cold War, the CIA reportedly ran Operation Mockingbird, a covert campaign to influence domestic and foreign media. The agency recruited journalists from major U.S. outlets—like The New York Times, Time, and CBS—to act as assets, feeding them stories designed to promote pro-American narratives and counter Soviet propaganda. By exploiting confirmation bias and social proof, these stories subtly shaped public opinion without audiences realizing the source was intelligence-driven. While officially denied for years, declassified documents and investigative journalism later confirmed aspects of the program. This operation highlights how PsyOps can weaponize trust in credible institutions to manipulate perceptions, blur truth, and steer the collective narrative.
Hypothetical: The Staged Corporate Leak. Imagine a tech company “accidentally” leaking a blurry image of an unreleased phone. The Streisand Effect takes hold as attempts to remove the image fuel speculation, driving millions to share and discuss it. The company, orchestrating the leak, exploits FOMO to build hype, knowing fans will clamor for the “exclusive” product. Social proof amplifies the effect as influencers jump in, signaling the phone’s must-have status. This fictional scenario mirrors real corporate PsyOps, like rumored product leaks by Apple or Tesla, showing how companies use PsyEffects to manipulate consumer behavior.

Why This Intersection Matters

The convergence of PsyEffects and PsyOps reveals a hidden force shaping our world. Every day, we’re bombarded with information—news, ads, social media posts—that may seem organic but often carries intent. PsyOps leveraging PsyEffects can erode trust (when we realize a viral story was manipulated), deepen division (by feeding confirmation bias), or drive irrational decisions (like panic-buying from FOMO). In an era where information spreads instantly, the stakes are higher: a single PsyOp can sway elections, crash markets, or ignite social movements. Understanding this interplay empowers us to question narratives and spot manipulation, whether it’s a government’s propaganda or a brand’s viral stunt.

This intersection isn’t just about control—it’s about potential. The same tools can be used for good or bad. As we navigate this landscape, recognizing how PsyEffects and PsyOps intertwine is the first step to reclaiming agency over our minds and choices.

🔑 Key Takeaways

PsyOps succeeds by deliberately triggering predictable PsyEffects.
Studies show how manipulation often masquerades as natural public sentiment.
Recognizing these tactics helps people fortify/reclaim agency over their thoughts and reactions.

5. Implications and Takeaways: Navigating the Mind’s Battlefield

The interplay between PsyEffects and PsyOps isn’t just an academic curiosity—it’s a lens for understanding the forces shaping our perceptions, decisions, and societies. From viral X posts to orchestrated disinformation campaigns, the deliberate use of PsyEffects in PsyOps influences how we think and act, often without us noticing. This section explores the implications of this dynamic for individuals, society, and professionals, offering practical takeaways to navigate a world where influence is both omnipresent and invisible.

For Individuals: Spotting the Strings

PsyEffects like confirmation bias or the Streisand Effect make us vulnerable to manipulation, but awareness is our first defense. Here’s how to protect yourself:

Question Viral Narratives: That trending post sparking outrage? Pause and check its source. Is it amplified by bots or coordinated accounts? Cross-reference with primary sources to avoid falling for confirmation bias-driven PsyOps.
Beware of FOMO: Limited-time offers or “exclusive” leaks often exploit fear of missing out. Ask yourself: Is this urgency real, or is it engineered to rush my decision?
Recognize the Streisand Effect: If someone’s trying to suppress a story, consider why. Dig deeper, but verify before sharing—amplifying a PsyOp’s bait is exactly what they want.
Diversify Your Information: Avoid echo chambers by following social media accounts or news sources with differing perspectives. This counters confirmation bias and exposes you to a fuller picture.

By staying curious and skeptical, you can mitigate the pull of PsyEffects and spot when PsyOps are at play.

For Society: The Bigger Picture

The weaponization of PsyEffects through PsyOps has profound societal impacts:

Erosion of Trust: When PsyOps (like disinformation campaigns) are exposed, public faith in media, institutions, or even facts erodes. This fuels cynicism and makes collective action harder.
Polarization: By targeting confirmation bias, PsyOps deepen divides, as seen in political echo chambers on social media. Societies fracture when people can’t agree on basic truths.
Information Overload: The sheer volume of manipulated content—amplified by bandwagon effects or viral Streisand moments—overwhelms our ability to discern truth, leaving us vulnerable to further manipulation.

Countering these effects requires collective effort: promoting media literacy, encouraging transparent communication from leaders, and fostering platforms that prioritize verified information over sensationalism.

For Professionals: Ethical Influence

Marketers, communicators, and policymakers often use PsyEffects to persuade, but there’s a line between influence and manipulation:

Ethical Use of PsyEffects: Public health campaigns, like anti-vaping ads using social proof to show “everyone’s quitting,” demonstrate how PsyEffects can serve the public good without deceit.
Avoiding PsyOps Pitfalls: Professionals must resist the temptation to cross into manipulative PsyOps, like staging fake controversies for attention. Transparency and authenticity build trust, while deception risks backlash.
Practical Application: Understand your audience’s biases (e.g., FOMO for younger consumers) and use them responsibly. A retailer might highlight a product’s popularity (social proof) but should avoid false scarcity claims that erode credibility.

By grounding strategies in ethical principles, professionals can harness PsyEffects to inform rather than exploit.

The dance between PsyEffects and PsyOps reveals how deeply our psychology shapes our reality—and how others can steer it. For individuals, cultivating critical thinking and media literacy is key to resisting manipulation. For society, rebuilding trust and reducing polarization demand collective vigilance and better systems for truth verification. For professionals, the challenge is to wield influence ethically, respecting the fine line between persuasion and deceit. In an era where a single social media post can ignite a global firestorm, understanding this intersection isn’t just empowering—it’s essential for navigating the modern world with clarity and agency.

🔑 Key Takeaways

Individuals are advised to stay skeptical, verify sources, and break out of echo chambers.
Weaponized influence can erode trust in institutions and fracture societies.
Ethical communication uses psychological insight to inform—not exploit—the public.

6. Conclusion: Take Control of Your Mind’s Narrative

The interplay of PsyEffects and PsyOps reveals a truth we can’t ignore: our minds are both generally predictable and dangerously manipulable. From suppressed stories going viral (via the Streisand Effect) to PsyOps exploiting confirmation bias to sway opinions, these forces shape our perceptions in ways we rarely notice. Whether it’s a government crafting propaganda, a corporation fueling FOMO, or a viral post steering public outrage, the stakes are clear—our thoughts, choices, and societies are being influenced, often deliberately. But knowledge is power. By understanding how PsyEffects and PsyOps work together, we can challenge the narratives vying for our attention and reclaim agency over our related decisions.

Start questioning the stories that flood your feeds. When a post sparks outrage or a product feels like it is a “must-have,” pause and ask who benefits from your reaction. Cross-check sources and seek out opposing views. Demand transparency from institutions, and support sources and services committed to objective facts. The choice to see through the noise is yours—make it count.

🔑 Key Takeaways

Ethical communication uses psychological insight to inform—not exploit—people.
Weaponized influence can erode trust in institutions and fracture societies.
Individuals should be skeptical and verify sources of information.

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Explore the Bibliography section, next, to learn more.

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Bibliography

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Bandura, A. (1977). Self-Efficacy: Toward a Unifying Theory of Behavioral Change. Psychological Review, 84 (2): 191-215.
Beecher, H. K. (1955, December). The powerful placebo. Journal of the American Medical Association, 159 (17), 1602-1606.
Bem, D. J. (1972). Self-perception theory. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 6: 1-62.
Bruner, J. S., & Goodman, C. C. (1947). Value and Need as Organizing Factors in Perception. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 42 (1): 33-44.
Cialdini, R. B. (1984). Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion. New York, New York: William Morrow and Company.
Darley, J. M., & Latané, B. (1968). Bystander Intervention in Emergencies: Diffusion of Responsibility. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 8 (4), 377-383.
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Fourth (4th) PsyOp Group (2024, May 1). Ghosts in the Machine 2 [Video]. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6hu83yVMlU.
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Graffius, Scott M. (2025, May 6). The 3 Vital Rules of Science: What They Are and Why They Matter. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/3-vital-rules-of-science-what-they-are-and-why-they-matter.html.
Graffius, Scott M. (2025, January 7). Scott M. Graffius’ Phases of Team Development: 2025 Update. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/phases-of-team-development-update-for-2025.html. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.33705.30564.
Graffius, Scott M. (2024, December 27). Do Not Read This Article! An Exploration of the Streisand Effect and Other Phenomena. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/streisand-effect.html. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.30652.14726.
Graffius, Scott M. (2024, January 22). Should You Be Nasty or Nice in Negotiations? Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/win-win.html.
Granick, J. (2012). Damage Control. Index on Censorship, 41 (4): 25-32.
Kahneman, D., & Tversky, A. (1979). Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision Under Risk. Econometrica, 47 (2), 263-291.
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About Scott M. Graffius

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Scott M. Graffius is an AI, Agile, and Project Management/PMO leader, researcher, author, and speaker. Along the way, he spearheaded initiatives that have generated over $2.3 billion in impact for organizations across tech, entertainment, finance, healthcare, and beyond. The following sections provide additional information on his experience, contributions, and influence.

Experience

Graffius heads the professional services firm Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, along with its subsidiary Exceptional Agility. These consultancies offer strategic and tactical advisory, training, embedded expertise, and consulting services to the public, private, and government sectors. They help organizations enhance their capabilities and results in agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership, supporting innovation and driving competitive advantage. The consultancies confidently back services with a Delighted Client Guarantee™.

Graffius is a former VP of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more.

He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets.

Award-Winning Author

Graffius has authored three books.

Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions, his first book, earned 17 awards.
Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change, his second book, was named one of the best Scrum books of all time by BookAuthority.
Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum, his third book and his first work of fiction, was released in April 2025. The book trailer is on YouTube.

International Public Speaker

Organizations worldwide engage Graffius to present on tech (including AI), Agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership. He crafts and delivers unique and compelling talks and workshops. To date, Graffius has conducted 94 sessions across 25 countries. Select examples of events include Agile Trends Gov, BSides (Newcastle Upon Tyne), Conf42 Quantum Computing, DevDays Europe, DevOps Institute, DevOpsDays (Geneva), Frug’Agile, IEEE, Microsoft, Scottish Summit, Scrum Alliance RSG (Nepal), Techstars, and W Love Games International Video Game Development Conference (Helsinki), and more.

With an average rating of 4.81 (on a scale of 1-5), sessions are highly valued.

The speaker engagement request form is here.

Thought Leadership and Influence

Prominent businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities have showcased Graffius and his contributions—spanning his books, talks, workshops, and beyond. Select examples include:

Adobe,
American Management Association,
Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
Bayer,
BMC Software,
Boston University,
Broadcom,
Cisco,
Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts - Germany,
Computer Weekly,
Constructor University - Germany,
Data Governance Success,
Deimos Aerospace,
DevOps Institute,
Dropbox,
EU's European Commission,
Ford Motor Company,
Gartner,
GoDaddy,
Harvard Medical School,
Hasso Plattner Institute - Germany,
IEEE,
Innovation Project Management,
Johns Hopkins University,
Journal of Neurosurgery,
Lam Research (Semiconductors),
Leadership Worthy,
Life Sciences Trainers and Educators Network,
London South Bank University,
Microsoft,
NASSCOM,
National Academy of Sciences,
New Zealand Government,
Oracle,
Pinterest Inc.,
Project Management Institute,
Mary Raum (Professor of National Security Affairs, United States Naval War College),
SANS Institute,
SBG Neumark - Germany,
Singapore Institute of Technology,
Torrens University - Australia,
TBS Switzerland,
Tufts University,
UC San Diego,
UK Sports Institute,
University of Galway - Ireland,
US Department of Energy,
US National Park Service,
US Soccer,
US Tennis Association,
Verizon,
Wrike,
Yale University,
and many others.

Graffius has played a key role in the Project Management Institute (PMI) in developing professional standards. He was a member of multiple teams that authored, reviewed, and produced:

Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures—Second Edition.
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge—Sixth Edition.
The Standard for Program Management—Fourth Edition.
The Practice Standard for Project Estimating—Second Edition.

Additional details are here.

He was also a subject matter expert reviewer of content for the PMI’s Congress. Beyond the PMI, Graffius also served as a member of the review team for two of the Scrum Alliance’s Global Scrum Gatherings.

Acclaimed Authority on Teamwork Tradecraft

Graffius is a renowned authority on teamwork tradecraft. Informed by the research of Bruce W. Tuckman and Mary Ann C. Jensen, over 100 subsequent studies, and Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his 'Phases of Team Development' as a unique perspective and visual conveying the five phases of team development. First introduced in 2008 and periodically updated, his work provides a diagnostic and strategic guide for navigating team dynamics. It provides actionable insights for leaders across industries to develop high-performance teams. Its adoption by esteemed organizations such as Yale University, IEEE, Cisco, Microsoft, Ford, Oracle, Broadcom, the U.S. National Park Service, and the Journal of Neurosurgery, among others, highlights its utility and value, solidifying its status as an indispensable resource for elevating team performance and driving organizational excellence.

The 2025 edition of Graffius' "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property is here.

Expert on Temporal Dynamics on Social Media Platforms

Graffius is also an authority on temporal dynamics on social media platforms. His 'Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts' research—first published in 2018 and updated annually—delivers a precise quantitative analysis of post longevity across digital platforms, utilizing advanced statistical techniques to determine mean half-life with precision. It establishes a solid empirical base, effectively highlighting the ephemeral nature of content within social media ecosystems. Referenced and applied by leading entities such as the Center for Direct Marketing, Fast Company, GoDaddy, Pinterest Inc., and PNAS, among others, his research exemplifies methodological rigor and sustained significance in the field of digital informatics.

The 2025 edition of Graffius "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts" research is here.

Education and Professional Certifications

Graffius has a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a focus in Human Factors. He holds eight professional certifications:

Certified SAFe 6 Agilist (SA),
Certified Scrum Professional - ScrumMaster (CSP-SM),
Certified Scrum Professional - Product Owner (CSP-PO),
Certified ScrumMaster (CSM),
Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO),
Project Management Professional (PMP),
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB), and
IT Service Management Foundation (ITIL).

He is an active member of the Scrum Alliance, the Project Management Institute (PMI), and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Advancing AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management

Scott M. Graffius continues to advance the fields of AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management through his leadership, research, writing, and real-world impact. Businesses and other organizations leverage Graffius’ insights to drive their success.

Thought Leader | Public Speaker | Agile Protocol Book | Agile Scrum Book | Agile Transformation Book | Blog | Photo | X | LinkedIn | Email

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How to Cite This Article

Graffius, Scott M. (2025, June 25). Mind Games and Master Plans: How PsyOps Exploit Psychological Phenomena. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/mind-games-and-master-plans-how-psyops-exploit-psychological-phenomena.html.

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Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

DOI: (coming soon)

Content Acknowledgements

Names, marks, and content are the property of their respective owners.

Top 5 Hashtags

#PsyOp
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Copyright

Copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

Content on this site—including text, images, videos, and data—may not be used for training or input into any artificial intelligence, machine learning, or automatized learning systems, or published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.

Tags: PsyOp • PsyOps • Information Warfare • Influence Operations • Psychological Operations

The “Pants-on-Fire Index for AI”

25 June 2025

BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com

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When an AI confidently claims the moon is made of cheese, it’s funny but troubling.

Generative AI can dazzle. However, it’s prone to deliver fiction as fact, a phenomenon known as AI hallucinations. Enter the “Pants-on-Fire Index for AI,” created by Scott M. Graffius. This satirical yet sharp tool exposes and scores AI’s factual errors, holding AI accountable.

The idea for the index emerged after Graffius detailed the alarming performance of the Project Management Institute’s (PMI) AI tool, which repeatedly fabricated facts and got project management basics wrong. That experience stressed the need for a simple way to spotlight AI-generated misinformation.

The “Pants-on-Fire Index for AI” scores the frequency and significance of inaccuracies, exposing the problem with clear metrics. It rates AI on a scale of 0 to 10: 0 signals accuracy and 10 denotes blazing fabrications. The following example shows the index for the PMI’s AI tool.

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Recommended practices for using generative AI include:

Use resources like the “Pants-on-Fire Index for AI” to gain insights on reliability and use the AI tools with the best ratings.
Verify AI output claims by tracking down cited sources and cross-checking information against trusted references, like peer-reviewed journals or official records.

When AI gets things wrong, using its output can spread false information, damage reputations, and create other issues. The “Pants-on-Fire Index for AI” playfully but pointedly spotlights these errors, underscoring the importance of verifying AI outputs before acting on them.

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More

Continue reading for:

Additional Articles,
About Scott M. Graffius,
How to Cite This Article,
and more.

Additional Articles

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About Scott M. Graffius

scott_m_graffius_-_blue_-_1000x1000_-lwres

Scott M. Graffius is an AI, Agile, and Project Management/PMO leader, researcher, author, and speaker. Along the way, he spearheaded initiatives that have generated over $2.3 billion in impact for organizations across tech, entertainment, finance, healthcare, and beyond. The following sections provide additional information on his experience, contributions, and influence.

Experience

Graffius heads the professional services firm Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, along with its subsidiary Exceptional Agility. These consultancies offer strategic and tactical advisory, training, embedded expertise, and consulting services to the public, private, and government sectors. They help organizations enhance their capabilities and results in agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership, supporting innovation and driving competitive advantage. The consultancies confidently back services with a Delighted Client Guarantee™.

Graffius is a former VP of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more.

He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets.

Award-Winning Author

Graffius has authored three books.

Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions, his first book, earned 17 awards.
Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change, his second book, was named one of the best Scrum books of all time by BookAuthority.
Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum, his third book and his first work of fiction, was released in April 2025. The book trailer is on YouTube.

International Public Speaker

Organizations worldwide engage Graffius to present on tech (including AI), Agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership. He crafts and delivers unique and compelling talks and workshops. To date, Graffius has conducted 94 sessions across 25 countries. Select examples of events include Agile Trends Gov, BSides (Newcastle Upon Tyne), Conf42 Quantum Computing, DevDays Europe, DevOps Institute, DevOpsDays (Geneva), Frug’Agile, IEEE, Microsoft, Scottish Summit, Scrum Alliance RSG (Nepal), Techstars, and W Love Games International Video Game Development Conference (Helsinki), and more.

With an average rating of 4.81 (on a scale of 1-5), sessions are highly valued.

The speaker engagement request form is here.

Thought Leadership and Influence

Prominent businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities have showcased Graffius and his contributions—spanning his books, talks, workshops, and beyond. Select examples include:

Adobe,
American Management Association,
Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
Bayer,
BMC Software,
Boston University,
Broadcom,
Cisco,
Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts - Germany,
Computer Weekly,
Constructor University - Germany,
Data Governance Success,
Deimos Aerospace,
DevOps Institute,
Dropbox,
EU's European Commission,
Ford Motor Company,
Gartner,
GoDaddy,
Harvard Medical School,
Hasso Plattner Institute - Germany,
IEEE,
Innovation Project Management,
Johns Hopkins University,
Journal of Neurosurgery,
Lam Research (Semiconductors),
Leadership Worthy,
Life Sciences Trainers and Educators Network,
London South Bank University,
Microsoft,
NASSCOM,
National Academy of Sciences,
New Zealand Government,
Oracle,
Pinterest Inc.,
Project Management Institute,
Mary Raum (Professor of National Security Affairs, United States Naval War College),
SANS Institute,
SBG Neumark - Germany,
Singapore Institute of Technology,
Torrens University - Australia,
TBS Switzerland,
Tufts University,
UC San Diego,
UK Sports Institute,
University of Galway - Ireland,
US Department of Energy,
US National Park Service,
US Soccer,
US Tennis Association,
Verizon,
Wrike,
Yale University,
and many others.

Graffius has played a key role in the Project Management Institute (PMI) in developing professional standards. He was a member of multiple teams that authored, reviewed, and produced:

Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures—Second Edition.
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge—Sixth Edition.
The Standard for Program Management—Fourth Edition.
The Practice Standard for Project Estimating—Second Edition.

Additional details are here.

He was also a subject matter expert reviewer of content for the PMI’s Congress. Beyond the PMI, Graffius also served as a member of the review team for two of the Scrum Alliance’s Global Scrum Gatherings.

Acclaimed Authority on Teamwork Tradecraft

Graffius is a renowned authority on teamwork tradecraft. Informed by the research of Bruce W. Tuckman and Mary Ann C. Jensen, over 100 subsequent studies, and Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his 'Phases of Team Development' as a unique perspective and visual conveying the five phases of team development. First introduced in 2008 and periodically updated, his work provides a diagnostic and strategic guide for navigating team dynamics. It provides actionable insights for leaders across industries to develop high-performance teams. Its adoption by esteemed organizations such as Yale University, IEEE, Cisco, Microsoft, Ford, Oracle, Broadcom, the U.S. National Park Service, and the Journal of Neurosurgery, among others, highlights its utility and value, solidifying its status as an indispensable resource for elevating team performance and driving organizational excellence.

The 2025 edition of Graffius' "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property is here.

Expert on Temporal Dynamics on Social Media Platforms

Graffius is also an authority on temporal dynamics on social media platforms. His 'Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts' research—first published in 2018 and updated annually—delivers a precise quantitative analysis of post longevity across digital platforms, utilizing advanced statistical techniques to determine mean half-life with precision. It establishes a solid empirical base, effectively highlighting the ephemeral nature of content within social media ecosystems. Referenced and applied by leading entities such as the Center for Direct Marketing, Fast Company, GoDaddy, Pinterest Inc., and PNAS, among others, his research exemplifies methodological rigor and sustained significance in the field of digital informatics.

The 2025 edition of Graffius "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts" research is here.

Education and Professional Certifications

Graffius has a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a focus in Human Factors. He holds eight professional certifications:

Certified SAFe 6 Agilist (SA),
Certified Scrum Professional - ScrumMaster (CSP-SM),
Certified Scrum Professional - Product Owner (CSP-PO),
Certified ScrumMaster (CSM),
Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO),
Project Management Professional (PMP),
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB), and
IT Service Management Foundation (ITIL).

He is an active member of the Scrum Alliance, the Project Management Institute (PMI), and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Advancing AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management

Scott M. Graffius continues to advance the fields of AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management through his leadership, research, writing, and real-world impact. Businesses and other organizations leverage Graffius’ insights to drive their success.

Thought Leader | Public Speaker | Agile Protocol Book | Agile Scrum Book | Agile Transformation Book | Blog | Photo | X | LinkedIn | Email

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Sign up for Miro—it's free!

(Want more features? You can always upgrade to a paid plan.)

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How to Cite This Article

Graffius, Scott M. (2025, June 25). The “Pants-on-Fire Index for AI”. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/pants-on-fire-index-for-ai.html.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

DOI: (coming soon)

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Content Acknowledgements

Names, marks, and content are the property of their respective owners.

PMI and PMI Infinity names, marks, and content are the property of the Project Management Institute, Inc.

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Top 5 Hashtags

#AI
#ArtificialIntelligence
#AIHallucinations
#AIEthics
#PantsOnFireIndexForAI

Post-Publication Notes

If there are any supplements or updates to this article after the date of publication, they will appear here.

Update on 8 July 2025

See the related story, AI Showcase Showdown: Ranking AI Accuracy on Project Management Basics.

Update on 22 July 2025

Graffius created and released the supplement, Pants-on Fire Index for AI: How It's Calculated. It's shown below.

pants-on-fire-index-for-ai-by-scott-m-graffius-v4-formula---lwres

The formula for the Pants-on Fire Index for AI (abbreviated as PoF) can also be expressed as:

PoF = 10 × ( Σ (eᵢ × sᵢ) ) ÷ ( n × Sₘₐₓ )

Where:

n = total number of assertions
eᵢ = error indicator flag of 0 if assertion i is true, 1 if false
sᵢ = severity of false claim (1 to Sₘₐₓ, where higher = worse)
Sₘₐₓ = maximum possible severity (value of 10)

For details, refer to the visual, "Pants-on-Fire Index for AI: How It’s Calculated."

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Copyright

Copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

Content on this site—including text, images, videos, and data—may not be used for training or input into any artificial intelligence, machine learning, or automatized learning systems, or published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.

Tags: Artificial Intelligence • AI • AI Hallucinations • Pants-on-Fire Index for AI • AI Ethics

16 Causes of Technical Debt and How to Avoid It

23 June 2025

BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com

16-causes-of-technical-debt-and-how-to-avoid-it---scottgraffius(dot)com-lwres

Introduction

Did you know that, conservatively, 10-20% of software development budgets are spent addressing technical debt instead of building new features? (McKinsey & Company, 2020; Forbes, 2022; Software Improvement Group, 2025).

In 1992, Ward Cunningham coined "technical debt" to describe the lasting consequences of prioritizing quick fixes over quality in software design or development. For example, rushing flawed code to meet a deadline—knowing it will need rewriting later—creates technical debt, a persistent challenge that can hinder long-term maintainability.

Why Technical Debt Matters More Than Ever

In today’s fast-paced digital economy, organizations face pressure to deliver features quickly using Agile, DevOps, cloud-native technologies, microservices, AI/ML, embedded systems, IoT, and more. These trends drive innovation but amplify technical debt without disciplined quality controls. Technical debt extends beyond code to architecture, infrastructure, security, testing, documentation, and team culture. Unchecked, it drives software entropy, degrading system health, inflating costs, slowing delivery, and frustrating teams. Conversely, proactively managing technical debt unlocks a competitive edge—fostering faster innovation, higher quality, and resilient products and services.

Key Causes of Technical Debt

There are 16 primary causes of technical debt.

Time Pressures: The drive to ship quickly fuels technical debt. Agile sprints, continuous delivery, and market demands pressure teams to cut corners on design, testing, or documentation, incurring debt that grows over time.
Complex Designs: Complexity from legacy monoliths, sprawling microservices, or tangled integrations raises maintenance costs and fragility. Both over-engineered and under-engineered (overly simplistic) designs can exacerbate technical debt.
Non-Compliance with Standards: Disregarding coding, security, or regulatory standards leads to inconsistent codebases and costly vulnerabilities.
Skill Gaps or Turnover: Inexperienced teams or high turnover yield suboptimal code and designs. Remote work can worsen knowledge silos, amplifying debt.
Poor Code Quality: Copy-pasting code, inadequate reviews, or outdated tools create brittle, hard-to-maintain codebases.
Delayed Refactoring: Postponing refactoring due to backlog pressure or fear of breaking features lets issues pile up, becoming harder to fix.
Inadequate Testing: Skipping automated unit, integration, or end-to-end tests results in fragile systems with proliferating defects, hindering future changes.
Tooling Mismatches: Outdated libraries, unsupported frameworks, or incompatible tools generate hidden debt.
Infrastructure Mismanagement: Mismanaged cloud resources, container sprawl, or neglected infrastructure-as-code drive related debt.
Security Neglect: Ignoring vulnerabilities or skimping on security creates risky debt with regulatory and reputational fallout.
Documentation Gaps: Missing or outdated documentation, such as for code, APIs, AI model parameters (e.g., unrecorded training data assumptions), or embedded system firmware (e.g., untracked hardware specs), slows onboarding and raises error rates.
Cultural and Process Issues: Poor visibility, unclear ownership, inadequate code reviews, or siloed teams (e.g., frontend-backend disconnects causing redundant code) foster systemic debt.
Data Debt: Poor data quality (e.g., incomplete, inconsistent, or inaccurate datasets, especially in AI/ML), inadequate data governance or lineage, data silos or inaccessible datasets, outdated or undocumented data schemas, and hardcoded data dependencies create inefficiencies and costs that compound over time. In AI/ML projects, where data is a core asset, issues like unoptimized training datasets, model drift, and lack of data traceability significantly hinder scalability and accuracy.
External Dependency Debt: Reliance on unstable, deprecated, or poorly maintained external systems, APIs, or vendor services leads to cascading failures, forced migrations, or performance degradation that compounds over time. This refers specifically to third-party or external dependencies.
Service Debt: Suboptimal or out-of-date internal services or service integrations (e.g., incompatible versions or unstable dependencies within the organization’s own systems) lead to maintenance overhead and system fragility. This is distinct from external dependency debt, which involves third-party systems.
Build Debt: Inefficiencies or fragility in the build, integration, or deployment process (e.g., slow builds, broken pipelines, or manual steps) that hinder rapid development and delivery.

The High Cost of Ignoring Technical Debt

Technical debt accelerates software entropy, causing:

Higher Maintenance Costs: More time fixing bugs or updating legacy code than innovating.
Slower Delivery: Complexity and instability bog down teams.
Poorer Quality: More defects and security risks.
Lower Morale: Developers frustrated by brittle, unclear code.
Rewrites: Severe debt may necessitate costly system rewrites.

Unmanaged technical debt turns software from an asset into a liability, hindering product viability and competitiveness. But it can be managed.

The following table—Types of Technical Debt and Their Mitigation Strategies—summarizes key information from this article.

16-causes-of-technical-debt-and-how-to-avoid-it---scottgraffius(dot)com-25062207b-lwres

16-causes-of-technical-debt-and-how-to-avoid-it---scottgraffius(dot)com-25062207b-lwres

How to Avoid and Manage Technical Debt

Technical debt is inevitable in real-world projects, but proactive management mitigates its impact:

Simplify Designs: Prioritize straightforward, modular architectures.
Refactor Regularly: Leave code cleaner than you found it.
Test Rigorously: Automate unit, integration, and end-to-end tests to catch issues early.
Review Code: Use peer reviews and pair programming to maintain quality.
Track Debt: Log technical debt in backlogs or dedicated systems.
Address Debt in Sprints/Cycles: Include debt remediation in the definition of done.
Allocate Debt Control Budgets: Dedicate time to reduce debt.
Enforce Standards: Use linter tools which automatically flag code issues and enforce style rules, static analysis tools like SonarQube, and architectural reviews.
Automate Operations: Use DevOps and infrastructure-as-code to minimize operational debt.
Build a Quality Culture: Promote learning, collaboration, and ownership.

For more, see the table above.

Turning Technical Debt into an Advantage

Teams that manage technical debt gain agility and resilience. Transparent debt tracking enables better prioritization. Ongoing investment in code and processes boosts delivery and innovation. Managing technical debt is a strategic necessity in today’s fast-evolving software landscape.

16-causes-of-technical-debt-and-how-to-avoid-it---scottgraffius(dot)com-quote-agility-lwres

16-causes-of-technical-debt-and-how-to-avoid-it---scottgraffius(dot)com-quote-agility-lwres

Conclusion

Technical debt is an inevitable part of software development, but that doesn’t mean it has to spiral out of control. With a clear understanding of its causes and consequences, teams can take proactive steps to manage it effectively and deliver lasting value. Often, technical debt arises from decisions that prioritize speed or short-term wins—whether due to tight deadlines, inadequate design, skill gaps, or deeper cultural challenges within an organization. When left unchecked, this debt compounds, increasing costs, slowing down delivery, and chipping away at team morale. However, with a commitment to practices like refactoring, rigorous testing, and transparent tracking—anchored by a strong culture of quality—teams can keep technical debt in check. In doing so, they don’t just maintain stability; they gain a real strategic advantage.

This article updates and expands content from the award-winning book, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions.

Shifting customer needs are common in today's marketplace. Businesses must be adaptive and responsive to change while delivering an exceptional customer experience to be competitive. There are a variety of frameworks supporting the development of products and services, and most approaches fall into one of two broad categories: traditional or agile. Traditional practices such as waterfall engage sequential development, while agile involves iterative and incremental deliverables. Organizations are increasingly embracing agile to manage projects, and best meet their business needs of rapid response to change, fast delivery speed, and more.

With clear and easy to follow step-by-step instructions, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions helps readers:

Implement and use the most popular agile framework―Scrum
Deliver products in short cycles with rapid adaptation to change, fast time-to-market, and continuous improvement
Support innovation and drive competitive advantage

Agile Scrum is for those interested or involved in innovation, project management, product development, software development or technology management. It's for those who have not yet used Scrum. It's also for people already using Scrum, in roles such as Product Owners, Scrum Masters, Development Team members (business analysts, solution and system architects, designers, developers, testers, etc.), customers, end users, agile coaches, executives, managers, and other stakeholders. For those already using Scrum, this guide can serve as a reference on practices for consideration and potential adaptation.

Reactions to Agile Scrum have been fantastic:

"One of the best Scrum books of all time" ― BookAuthority
"The book highlights the versatility of Scrum beautifully" ― Literary Titan
"A superbly written and presented guide to team-based project management that is applicable across a broad range of businesses from consumer products to high-tech" ― IndieBRAG
"The book is excellent" ― Readers' Favorite
"An all-inclusive instruction guide that is impressively 'user-friendly' in tone, content, clarity, organization, and presentation" ― Midwest Book Review
"A must-have" ― PM World Journal

Additionally, Agile Scrum has received 17 first place awards.

Credit to Chris Hare and Colin Giffen, the technical editors on the book.

Agile Scrum is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Harvard Book Store, and other sellers around the globe. Order your copy today!

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Continue reading for:

Bibliography,
Additional Articles,

About Scott M. Graffius,
How to Cite This Article,
and more.

Bibliography

Brown, N., Cai, Y., Guo, Y., Kazman, R., Kim, M., Kruchten, P., Lim, E., MacCormack, A., Nord, R. L., Ozkaya, I., Seaman, C., & Sullivan, K. (2019). Managing Technical Debt: Reducing Friction in Software Development (SEI Series in Software Engineering). Addison-Wesley Professional.
Cunningham, W. (1992). The WyCash Portfolio Management System. Addendum to Proc. Object-Oriented Programming Systems, Languages, and Applications, ACM, 29-30.
DeWyze, John (2023, February 16). The 25 Percent Rule for Tackling Technical Debt. Shopify Engineering. Available at: https://shopify.engineering/technical-debt-25-percent-rule.
Ernst, N. A., Bellomo, S., Ozkaya, I., Nord, R. L., & Kruchten, P. (2015). Measure It? Manage It? Ignore It? Software Practitioners and Technical Debt. Proceedings of the 2015 10th Joint Meeting on Foundations of Software Engineering, 50-60. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1145/2786805.2786848.
Ernst, N., Kazman, R., & Delange, J. (2021). Technical Debt in Machine Learning Systems. In Technical Debt in Practice: How to Find It and Fix It. MIT Press. Available at: https://direct.mit.edu/books/monograph/5160/chapter/3403977/Technical-Debt-in-Machine-Learning-Systems.
Ernst, N. (2015, July 27). A Field Study of Technical Debt. Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute. Available at: https://insights.sei.cmu.edu/blog/a-field-study-of-technical-debt/.
Forbes (2022, August 10). Measuring And Managing Technical Debt. Forbes. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbestechcouncil/2022/08/10/measuring-and-managing-technical-debt/.
Forbes (2025, June 2). How Today's Technical Debt Becomes Tomorrow's AI Roadblock. Forbes. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/councils/forbestechcouncil/2025/06/02/how-todays-technical-debt-becomes-tomorrows-ai-roadblock/.
Fowler, Martin (2018). Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code (2nd Edition). Addison-Wesley Professional.
Graffius, Scott M. (2017, September 25). 7 Causes of Technical Debt and How to Avoid It. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/7-Causes-of-Technical-Debt-and-How-to-Avoid-It.html.
Graffius, Scott M. (2019). Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change. Scotts Valley, CA: CreateSpace.
Graffius, Scott M. (2025, January 24). When Agile, AI, and Strategic Thinking Converge. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/when-agile-ai-and-strategic-thinking-converge.html.
Graffius, Scott M. (2025, June 16). Agile for Unicorns: 7 Keys to Thrive; Scott M. Graffius’ Workshop. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/agile-for-unicorns---7-keys-to-thrive---scott-m-graffius-workshop.html.
Graffius, Scott M. (2016). Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions. North Charleston, SC: CreateSpace.
Graffius, Scott M. (2025, May 27). AI in Agile: Benefits, Risks, Outlook. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/ai-in-agile-benefits-risks-and-outlook-by-scott-m-graffius.html.
Graffius, Scott M. (2025). Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum. Seattle, WA: Amazon Digital Services.
Kruchten, P., Nord, R. L., & Ozkaya, I. (2012). Technical Debt: From Metaphor to Theory and Practice. IEEE Software, 29 (6): 18-21. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1109/MS.2012.167.
Martin, Robert C. (2008). Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship. Pearson.
Martin, Robert C. (2019). Clean Agile: Back to Basics. Pearson.
McKinsey & Company (2020). Tech Debt: Reclaiming Tech Equity. McKinsey. Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/~/media/McKinsey/Business%20Functions/McKinsey%20Digital/Our%20Insights/Tech%20debt%20Reclaiming%20tech%20equity/Tech-debt-Reclaiming-tech-equity.pdf.
McKinsey & Company (2023, April 25). Breaking Technical Debt’s Vicious Cycle to Modernize Your Business. McKinsey. Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/mckinsey-digital/our-insights/breaking-technical-debts-vicious-cycle-to-modernize-your-business.
Software Improvement Group. (2025, March 26). Technical Debt and Its impact on IT budgets. Software Improvement Group (SIG). Available at: https://www.softwareimprovementgroup.com/technical-debt-and-it-budgets/.
Tom, E., Aurum, A., & Vidgen, R. (2013). An Exploration of Technical Debt. Journal of Systems and Software, 86 (6): 1498-1516. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jss.2012.12.052.

Additional Articles

You may also be interested in these relatively recent articles:

About Scott M. Graffius

scott_m_graffius_-_blue_-_1000x1000_-lwres

Scott M. Graffius is an AI, Agile, and Project Management/PMO leader, researcher, author, and speaker. Along the way, he spearheaded initiatives that have generated over $2.3 billion in impact for organizations across tech, entertainment, finance, healthcare, and beyond. The following sections provide additional information on his experience, contributions, and influence.

Experience

Graffius heads the professional services firm Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, along with its subsidiary Exceptional Agility. These consultancies offer strategic and tactical advisory, training, embedded expertise, and consulting services to the public, private, and government sectors. They help organizations enhance their capabilities and results in agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership, supporting innovation and driving competitive advantage. The consultancies confidently back services with a Delighted Client Guarantee™.

Graffius is a former VP of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more.

He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets.

Award-Winning Author

Graffius has authored three books.

Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions, his first book, earned 17 awards.
Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change, his second book, was named one of the best Scrum books of all time by BookAuthority.
Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum, his third book and his first work of fiction, was released in April 2025. The book trailer is on YouTube.

International Public Speaker

Organizations worldwide engage Graffius to present on tech (including AI), Agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership. He crafts and delivers unique and compelling talks and workshops. To date, Graffius has conducted 94 sessions across 25 countries. Select examples of events include Agile Trends Gov, BSides (Newcastle Upon Tyne), Conf42 Quantum Computing, DevDays Europe, DevOps Institute, DevOpsDays (Geneva), Frug’Agile, IEEE, Microsoft, Scottish Summit, Scrum Alliance RSG (Nepal), Techstars, and W Love Games International Video Game Development Conference (Helsinki), and more.

With an average rating of 4.81 (on a scale of 1-5), sessions are highly valued.

The speaker engagement request form is here.

Thought Leadership and Influence

Prominent businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities have showcased Graffius and his contributions—spanning his books, talks, workshops, and beyond. Select examples include:

Adobe,
American Management Association,
Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
Bayer,
BMC Software,
Boston University,
Broadcom,
Cisco,
Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts - Germany,
Computer Weekly,
Constructor University - Germany,
Data Governance Success,
Deimos Aerospace,
DevOps Institute,
Dropbox,
EU's European Commission,
Ford Motor Company,
Gartner,
GoDaddy,
Harvard Medical School,
Hasso Plattner Institute - Germany,
IEEE,
Innovation Project Management,
Johns Hopkins University,
Journal of Neurosurgery,
Lam Research (Semiconductors),
Leadership Worthy,
Life Sciences Trainers and Educators Network,
London South Bank University,
Microsoft,
NASSCOM,
National Academy of Sciences,
New Zealand Government,
Oracle,
Pinterest Inc.,
Project Management Institute,
Mary Raum (Professor of National Security Affairs, United States Naval War College),
SANS Institute,
SBG Neumark - Germany,
Singapore Institute of Technology,
Torrens University - Australia,
TBS Switzerland,
Tufts University,
UC San Diego,
UK Sports Institute,
University of Galway - Ireland,
US Department of Energy,
US National Park Service,
US Soccer,
US Tennis Association,
Verizon,
Wrike,
Yale University,
and many others.

Graffius has played a key role in the Project Management Institute (PMI) in developing professional standards. He was a member of multiple teams that authored, reviewed, and produced:

Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures—Second Edition.
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge—Sixth Edition.
The Standard for Program Management—Fourth Edition.
The Practice Standard for Project Estimating—Second Edition.

Additional details are here.

He was also a subject matter expert reviewer of content for the PMI’s Congress. Beyond the PMI, Graffius also served as a member of the review team for two of the Scrum Alliance’s Global Scrum Gatherings.

Acclaimed Authority on Teamwork Tradecraft

Graffius is a renowned authority on teamwork tradecraft. Informed by the research of Bruce W. Tuckman and Mary Ann C. Jensen, over 100 subsequent studies, and Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his 'Phases of Team Development' as a unique perspective and visual conveying the five phases of team development. First introduced in 2008 and periodically updated, his work provides a diagnostic and strategic guide for navigating team dynamics. It provides actionable insights for leaders across industries to develop high-performance teams. Its adoption by esteemed organizations such as Yale University, IEEE, Cisco, Microsoft, Ford, Oracle, Broadcom, the U.S. National Park Service, and the Journal of Neurosurgery, among others, highlights its utility and value, solidifying its status as an indispensable resource for elevating team performance and driving organizational excellence.

The 2025 edition of Graffius' "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property is here.

Expert on Temporal Dynamics on Social Media Platforms

Graffius is also an authority on temporal dynamics on social media platforms. His 'Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts' research—first published in 2018 and updated annually—delivers a precise quantitative analysis of post longevity across digital platforms, utilizing advanced statistical techniques to determine mean half-life with precision. It establishes a solid empirical base, effectively highlighting the ephemeral nature of content within social media ecosystems. Referenced and applied by leading entities such as the Center for Direct Marketing, Fast Company, GoDaddy, Pinterest Inc., and PNAS, among others, his research exemplifies methodological rigor and sustained significance in the field of digital informatics.

The 2025 edition of Graffius "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts" research is here.

Education and Professional Certifications

Graffius has a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a focus in Human Factors. He holds eight professional certifications:

Certified SAFe 6 Agilist (SA),
Certified Scrum Professional - ScrumMaster (CSP-SM),
Certified Scrum Professional - Product Owner (CSP-PO),
Certified ScrumMaster (CSM),
Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO),
Project Management Professional (PMP),
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB), and
IT Service Management Foundation (ITIL).

He is an active member of the Scrum Alliance, the Project Management Institute (PMI), and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Advancing AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management

Scott M. Graffius continues to advance the fields of AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management through his leadership, research, writing, and real-world impact. Businesses and other organizations leverage Graffius’ insights to drive their success.

Thought Leader | Public Speaker | Agile Protocol Book | Agile Scrum Book | Agile Transformation Book | Blog | Photo | X | LinkedIn | Email

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How to Cite This Article

Graffius, Scott M. (2025, June 23). 16 Causes of Technical Debt and How to Avoid It. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/16-causes-of-technical-debt-and-how-to-avoid-it.html.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

DOI: (coming soon)

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scott_m_graffius_-_blog_spacer_-_v23111107_-_x---rev-24101207---content-acknowledgements---lwres

Content Acknowledgements

Names, marks, and content are the property of their respective owners.

Top 5 Hashtags

#Agile
#TechDebt
#TechnicalDebt
#Software
#Refactoring

Copyright

Copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

Content on this site—including text, images, videos, and data—may not be used for training or input into any artificial intelligence, machine learning, or automatized learning systems, or published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.

Tags: Agile • Tech Debt • Types of Technical Debt and Their Mitigation Strategies • Technical Debt • Software • Refactoring

PMI’s Infinity AI Gets the Basics of Team Development Alarmingly and Repeatedly Wrong

17 June 2025

BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com

pmi-infinity-ai-gets-the-basics-of-team-development-alarmingly-and-repeatedly-wrong---by-scott-m-graffius---v250617-2-lwres

pmi-infinity-ai-gets-the-basics-of-team-development-alarmingly-and-repeatedly-wrong---by-scott-m-graffius---v250617-2-lwres

If there's an update after this article is published, the information will appear in the Post-Publication Notes section.

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Introduction

When an artificial intelligence product is released under the banner of the Project Management Institute (PMI)—a globally recognized authority on project management—it carries the weight of authority. PMI’s Infinity™ 2.0, marketed as an AI assistant to support professionals, should at least meet the accuracy of the PMI’s materials, especially on core topics such as team development.

Unfortunately, it does not.

This article reports how PMI Infinity performed when asked a basic question about a foundational concept in project management: the phases of team development (also known as the stages of team development, team dynamics, group dynamics, etc.). The result is a case study in misstatement, backpedaling, and conceptual fuzziness that would be unacceptable in a project management 101 course—let alone from a product designed to represent the PMI.

The Context: Team Development is Not Optional in Project Management

Bruce Tuckman’s 1965 model of team development—comprised of forming, storming, norming, and performing—was expanded in 1977 with colleague Mary Ann Jensen to include adjourning. These five phases are a well-established staple in organizational behavior, leadership studies, and—critically—project management.

PMI itself integrates Tuckman’s model into its materials. Project teams do not operate in a vacuum. Understanding how they form, clash, align, deliver, and disband is essential to project success. The project manager’s job is to navigate that lifecycle.

Failure in this area by PMI Infinity AI is not a minor glitch. It’s a foundational error, and it happened not just once but across multiple responses.

The Timeline of Errors: A Blow-by-Blow Breakdown

Here’s how PMI's Infinity AI handled the queries about team development, step by step (the detailed transcript is available in text format and screen shot format):

1. Omission of Adjourning in the Initial Answer

In the first response, PMI Infinity lists:

Forming,
Storming,
Norming, and
Performing.

That’s it.

Adjourning—the critical fifth stage added in 1977—is not on the list. This is a fundamental factual error. Tuckman and Jensen's 1977 update has been in existence for 48 years. The AI’s failure to include it is inexcusable.

2. “Adjourning/Reforming” is a Fabricated Concept

Later, the AI refers to the last phase as “Adjourning/Reforming.”

This hybrid phrase does not originate from Tuckman or Tuckman/Jensen. It’s not a dual label. Adjourning is the correct term, and it has a specific meaning: the disbanding of the team. While teams can regroup in the future, Tuckman never inserted “reforming” as a part of the developmental progression.

This error is especially egregious because it fabricates terminology under the guise of authority. PMI Infinity is not just being sloppy—it’s making things up.

3. Misleading Framing of Adjourning

Even when the AI agrees with its error, corrects itself, and then uses the proper term (adjourning), it frames the phase as:

“... acknowledging the lifecycle of a team beyond the completion of a project.”

This phrasing is incomplete and misleading. It suggests that adjourning only occurs when a project is completed, ignoring the fact that teams may otherwise adjourn due to:

Project cancellation,
Restructuring,
Budget cuts,
Organizational shifts, or
Other related situations.

Reducing adjourning to “after completion” is not just simplistic—it’s incorrect. In real-world project management, teams disband for many reasons. This is not nuance; it’s the reality of the profession.

4. Only After Multiple Prompts Does the AI Yield an Accurate Answer

The AI repeatedly ignored facts and fabricated facts. Such AI errors are termed "hallucinations." Only because the user was an expert on the subject matter, there was several rounds of feedback and corrections.

An AI that needs to be corrected repeatedly, with escalating specificity, to get a basic, textbook-level answer right is not ready for professional use.

Why This Matters: The Cost of Getting It Wrong

The team development model is part of the behavioral bedrock of leadership, communication, and team performance. If PMI Infinity can’t reliably explain the phases of team development:

How can it be trusted to assist professionals under deadline pressure?
How will it guide students or others trying to build foundational knowledge?
What confidence can any user have that more complex questions will yield credible results?

This is a serious, material issue. Misinformation at the foundational level breeds misunderstanding and downstream failure.

Final Scorecard

On a scale of 1-10 (where 10 is best), here's the rating of the performance of PMI's Infinity AI tool:

Factual Accuracy: 1/10
Alignment with PMI Materials: 1/10
Terminological Precision: 1/10
Responsiveness to Correction: 5/10
Professional Use Readiness: 1/10
Overall Score: 1/10

Conclusion: A Wake-Up Call for PMI and Users of PMI's Infinity AI

PMI Infinity AI failed to provide accurate, complete, and credible information on one of the most fundamental topics in project management. This should concern every professional who uses the tool.

Team development is not a minor topic. It is a core competency area covered in PMI publications and lived daily by project managers worldwide. For PMI’s AI to fumble this topic so spectacularly and repeatedly is not just ironic—it’s alarming.

Until significant improvements are made, PMI Infinity AI should only be used with extreme caution—and only with the user independently verifying information from reliable sources. When AI incorporates facts, it can be a powerful tool. When AI disregards facts or fabricates facts, it’s a threat. Alarmingly, PMI Infinity AI has shown that it repeatedly disregarded facts and fabricated facts.

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Continue reading for:

About the PMI Infinity AI Tool,

About the PMI,
Additional Articles,
About Scott M. Graffius,
How to Cite This Article,
and more.

About the PMI Infinity AI Tool

On January 22, 2024, the Project Management Institute (PMI) announced the launch of PMI Infinity™, marketed as an AI-powered assistant designed for project professionals. It claims to offer smart navigation through "over 14,000 vetted project‑management resources."

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About the PMI

The Project Management Institute (PMI) is a globally recognized professional organization dedicated to advancing the practice, science, and profession of project management. Founded in 1969, it provides resources, certifications, and networking opportunities to empower professionals in managing projects effectively across various industries. Its flagship certifications, such as the Project Management Professional (PMP), are widely respected and sought after for demonstrating expertise in project leadership. Through its standards, publications, and global community, PMI fosters best practices and drives innovation in project, program, and portfolio management. Visit https://www.pmi.org to learn more.

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Additional Articles

You may also be interested in these relatively recent articles on Agile, AI, and Project Management:

About Scott M. Graffius

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Scott M. Graffius is an AI, Agile, and Project Management/PMO leader, researcher, author, and speaker. Along the way, he spearheaded initiatives that have generated over $2.3 billion in impact for organizations across tech, entertainment, finance, healthcare, and beyond. The following sections provide additional information on his experience, contributions, and influence.

Experience

Graffius heads the professional services firm Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, along with its subsidiary Exceptional Agility. These consultancies offer strategic and tactical advisory, training, embedded expertise, and consulting services to the public, private, and government sectors. They help organizations enhance their capabilities and results in agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership, supporting innovation and driving competitive advantage. The consultancies confidently back services with a Delighted Client Guarantee™.

Graffius is a former VP of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more.

He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets.

Award-Winning Author

Graffius has authored three books.

Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions, his first book, earned 17 awards.
Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change, his second book, was named one of the best Scrum books of all time by BookAuthority.
Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum, his third book and his first work of fiction, was released in April 2025. The book trailer is on YouTube.

International Public Speaker

Organizations worldwide engage Graffius to present on tech (including AI), Agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership. He crafts and delivers unique and compelling talks and workshops. To date, Graffius has conducted 94 sessions across 25 countries. Select examples of events include Agile Trends Gov, BSides (Newcastle Upon Tyne), Conf42 Quantum Computing, DevDays Europe, DevOps Institute, DevOpsDays (Geneva), Frug’Agile, IEEE, Microsoft, Scottish Summit, Scrum Alliance RSG (Nepal), Techstars, and W Love Games International Video Game Development Conference (Helsinki), and more.

With an average rating of 4.81 (on a scale of 1-5), sessions are highly valued.

The speaker engagement request form is here.

Thought Leadership and Influence

Prominent businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities have showcased Graffius and his contributions—spanning his books, talks, workshops, and beyond. Select examples include:

Adobe,
American Management Association,
Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
Bayer,
BMC Software,
Boston University,
Broadcom,
Cisco,
Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts - Germany,
Computer Weekly,
Constructor University - Germany,
Data Governance Success,
Deimos Aerospace,
DevOps Institute,
Dropbox,
EU's European Commission,
Ford Motor Company,
Gartner,
GoDaddy,
Harvard Medical School,
Hasso Plattner Institute - Germany,
IEEE,
Innovation Project Management,
Johns Hopkins University,
Journal of Neurosurgery,
Lam Research (Semiconductors),
Leadership Worthy,
Life Sciences Trainers and Educators Network,
London South Bank University,
Microsoft,
NASSCOM,
National Academy of Sciences,
New Zealand Government,
Oracle,
Pinterest Inc.,
Project Management Institute,
Mary Raum (Professor of National Security Affairs, United States Naval War College),
SANS Institute,
SBG Neumark - Germany,
Singapore Institute of Technology,
Torrens University - Australia,
TBS Switzerland,
Tufts University,
UC San Diego,
UK Sports Institute,
University of Galway - Ireland,
US Department of Energy,
US National Park Service,
US Soccer,
US Tennis Association,
Verizon,
Wrike,
Yale University,
and many others.

Graffius has played a key role in the Project Management Institute (PMI) in developing professional standards. He was a member of multiple teams that authored, reviewed, and produced:

Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures—Second Edition.
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge—Sixth Edition.
The Standard for Program Management—Fourth Edition.
The Practice Standard for Project Estimating—Second Edition.

Additional details are here.

He was also a subject matter expert reviewer of content for the PMI’s Congress. Beyond the PMI, Graffius also served as a member of the review team for two of the Scrum Alliance’s Global Scrum Gatherings.

Acclaimed Authority on Teamwork Tradecraft

Graffius is a renowned authority on teamwork tradecraft. Informed by the research of Bruce W. Tuckman and Mary Ann C. Jensen, over 100 subsequent studies, and Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his 'Phases of Team Development' as a unique perspective and visual conveying the five phases of team development. First introduced in 2008 and periodically updated, his work provides a diagnostic and strategic guide for navigating team dynamics. It provides actionable insights for leaders across industries to develop high-performance teams. Its adoption by esteemed organizations such as Yale University, IEEE, Cisco, Microsoft, Ford, Oracle, Broadcom, the U.S. National Park Service, and the Journal of Neurosurgery, among others, highlights its utility and value, solidifying its status as an indispensable resource for elevating team performance and driving organizational excellence.

The 2025 edition of Graffius' "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property is here.

Expert on Temporal Dynamics on Social Media Platforms

Graffius is also an authority on temporal dynamics on social media platforms. His 'Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts' research—first published in 2018 and updated annually—delivers a precise quantitative analysis of post longevity across digital platforms, utilizing advanced statistical techniques to determine mean half-life with precision. It establishes a solid empirical base, effectively highlighting the ephemeral nature of content within social media ecosystems. Referenced and applied by leading entities such as the Center for Direct Marketing, Fast Company, GoDaddy, Pinterest Inc., and PNAS, among others, his research exemplifies methodological rigor and sustained significance in the field of digital informatics.

The 2025 edition of Graffius "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts" research is here.

Education and Professional Certifications

Graffius has a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a focus in Human Factors. He holds eight professional certifications:

Certified SAFe 6 Agilist (SA),
Certified Scrum Professional - ScrumMaster (CSP-SM),
Certified Scrum Professional - Product Owner (CSP-PO),
Certified ScrumMaster (CSM),
Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO),
Project Management Professional (PMP),
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB), and
IT Service Management Foundation (ITIL).

He is an active member of the Scrum Alliance, the Project Management Institute (PMI), and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Advancing AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management

Scott M. Graffius continues to advance the fields of AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management through his leadership, research, writing, and real-world impact. Businesses and other organizations leverage Graffius’ insights to drive their success.

Thought Leader | Public Speaker | Agile Protocol Book | Agile Scrum Book | Agile Transformation Book | Blog | Photo | X | LinkedIn | Email

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(Want more features? You can always upgrade to a paid plan.)

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How to Cite This Article

Graffius, Scott M. (2025, June 17). PMI’s Infinity AI Gets the Basics of Team Development Alarmingly and Repeatedly Wrong. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/pmi-infinity-ai-gets-the-basics-of-team-development-alarmingly-and-repeatedly-wrong---by-scott-m-graffius.html.

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Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

DOI: (coming soon)

Content Acknowledgements

This article includes brief excerpts from the Project Management Institute (PMI), attributed and used under fair use for news reporting and analysis.

PMI and PMI Infinity names, marks, and content are the property of the Project Management Institute, Inc.

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Post-Publication Notes

If there are any supplements or updates to this article after the date of publication, they will appear here.

Update on 18 June 2025

The page for PMI's Infinity AI tool (https://infinity.pmi.org/chat) has a "Provide Feedback" mechanism. The feedback form has three parts: satisfaction level, expectations, and suggested improvements. Graffius provided feedback to the PMI. His responses follow:

Satisfaction: Graffius selected: Very Unsatisfied.
Expectations: Graffius wrote: "At a minimum, PMI's AI should get basic project management information right. However, it got simple info on team development repeatedly wrong. See: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/pmi-infinity-ai-gets-the-basics-of-team-development-alarmingly-and-repeatedly-wrong---by-scott-m-graffius.html"
Suggested improvements: Graffius wrote: "Because PMI's Infinity AI tool has not yet delivered correct information on basic project management matters, fixing that shocking problem should be the immediate objective."

And here's a screen shot.

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Further updates, if any, will appear here.

Update on 25 June 2025

See the related story, The “Pants-on-Fire Index for AI”.

Update on 8 July 2025

See the related story, AI Showcase Showdown: Ranking AI Accuracy on Project Management Basics.

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Top 5 Hashtags

#AI
#ArtificialIntelligence
#PMI
#PMIInfinity
#PMIAI

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Copyright

Copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

Content on this site—including text, images, videos, and data—may not be used for training or input into any artificial intelligence, machine learning, or automatized learning systems, or published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.

Tags: AI • AI at PMI • AI Confabulation • PMI’s AI is glitching • PMI Infinity AI • Project Management Institute

Agile for Unicorns: 7 Keys to Thrive; Scott M. Graffius’ Workshop

16 June 2025

BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com

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Introduction

Scott M. Graffius—a globally recognized technology leader, award-winning author, and sought-after international speaker—has inspired audiences at conferences and other events across 25 countries. In his 94th session, “Agile for Unicorns,” delivered on 16 June 2025, he unveiled powerful strategies for privately-held startups valued at $1 billion or more to thrive in high-stakes environments. This article shares select highlights from that transformative session, while the complete set of detailed strategies and actionable guidance is available through his workshop.

Unicorns—private startups valued at $1 billion or more—face unique challenges in applying Agile. While Agile’s core values remain essential, the high-stakes world of unicorns—characterized by rapid growth, constant change, and intense investor pressure—demands tailored approaches. To succeed, unicorns must adapt Agile principles to their dynamic environment without compromising its core values.

Unicorns Must Tailor Their Agile Implementation Across Seven Areas for Maximum Impact

✅ 1. Hypergrowth Dynamics

Unicorns typically operate in a hypergrowth environment, where:

Teams scale rapidly,
Product lines expand quickly, and
Market demands shift frequently.

Why it matters: Agile implementations can falter under rapid expansion. For example, a unicorn doubling its engineering team in six months may outgrow Scrum. To stay effective, Agile must scale quickly—using frameworks like Scrum of Scrums, SAFe, or other models—while avoiding bureaucracy that stifles innovation.

✅ 2. Innovation vs. Execution Balance

Agile prioritizes iterative delivery, but unicorns must balance relentless innovation with:

Delivering reliable product updates, and
Meeting board and investor expectations for growth and stability.

Why it matters: Unicorns often need hybrid approaches—blending Agile with Lean Startup or Design Thinking—to balance creativity with consistent execution. Innovation cannot come at the cost of stability, and vice versa.

✅ 3. Distributed and Multidisciplinary Teams

As unicorns grow, they often become globally distributed with cross-functional teams spanning:

Engineering,
Product, and
Marketing,
And more.

Why it matters: Agile ceremonies and tools must adapt to and support distributed teams. Implement asynchronous standups, timezone-aware planning, and collaborative virtual kanban boards to stay aligned. Prioritize culture, trust, and clarity to bridge distances.

✅ 4. Founder-Driven Culture

Many unicorns are deeply influenced by their founders, who may be visionary but resistant to processes.

Why it matters: Agile must resonate with the founder’s vision. Agile isn’t about enforcing processes; it’s about amplifying innovation and customer focus. Leaders and coaches must frame Agile as a catalyst for speed and creativity, or it risks being dismissed as bureaucratic red tape.

✅ 5. Technical Debt Accumulation

Speed often wins in the early days. But fast delivery can leave behind a trail of:

Technical debt,
Fragile architectures, and
Lack of scalability.

Why it matters: Teams must integrate regular refactoring, solid Definition of Done criteria, and other best practices to maintain sustainable velocity. Agile isn't just about just speed; it's about sustaining a good pace and going far.

✅ 6. Constant Change (Teams, Tools, Markets)

High turnover, rapid team scaling, evolving markets, and tool churn can mean:

Frequent reorganizations,
Goal pivots, and
Shifting team dynamics.

Why it matters: Agile frameworks must be resilient to flux. Use modular team structures, continuous backlog refinement, and flexible planning cadences. The goal is stability within change, not avoidance of change.

✅ 7. Metrics and Outcomes Obsession

Unicorns are usually data-obsessed and under constant pressure to demonstrate business impact.

Why it matters: Agile teams should align sprint goals with measurable outcomes—not just story points. Track metrics like:

Experimentation velocity (e.g., A/B test frequency),
Conversion uplift (e.g., user sign-up rates),
Time-to-market (e.g., feature release cycles), and
Customer retention (e.g., churn rate).

Delivering business value must become a shared goal across all Agile teams.

Conclusion

Agile isn’t just possible in unicorns—it’s essential. But thriving at scale requires a tailored and evolved approach for:

Scale without rigidity;
Fast without chaos;
Vision-aligned, yet customer-driven; and
Disciplined, but never at the expense of innovation.

Unicorns should be resilient, adaptable, and strong enough to withstand storms while supporting rapid, towering growth. Want to supercharge your unicorn’s agility? Bring in Scott M. Graffius for his “Agile for Unicorns” interactive workshop and unlock:

Actionable insights to enhance team performance;
Tailored tools for sustainable, scalable agility; and
A visionary roadmap to align strategy and innovation with execution.

Complete a speaker engagement request form or email Graffius.

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More

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Scott M. Graffius has Delivered Talks and Workshops at 84 Conferences and Other Events Across 25 Countries,
About Scott M. Graffius,
How to Cite This Article,
and more.

Scott M. Graffius has Delivered Talks and Workshops at 84 Conferences and Other Events Across 25 Countries

Scott M. Graffius—a globally recognized technology leader, award-winning author, and sought-after international speaker—has inspired audiences at conferences and other events. Including his “Agile for Unicorns” workshop on 16 June 2025, he's delivered 94 sessions across 25 countries.

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The 25 countries include: Armenia, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Ireland, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and the United States.

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His 94 sessions are detailed here and summarized next (most recent shown first).

🇺🇸 Private event
🇺🇸 Private event
🇺🇸 Private event
🇱🇹 DevDays Europe 2024 Conference
🇦🇪 Private event
🇫🇷 Private event
🇫🇮 W Love Games International Video Game Development Conference - Helsinki
🇬🇧 Conf42 Quantum Computing Conference
🇺🇸 Private event
🇺🇸 DevOps Institute's SKILup Day
🇳🇴 Private event
🇦🇺 Private event
🇺🇸 Private event
🇷🇴 Private event
🇦🇺 Private event
🇺🇸 Private event
🇺🇸 Private event
🇨🇭 DevOpsDays Geneva Conference
🇺🇸 Private event
🇺🇸 Microsoft 365 Virtual Marathon Conference
🇨🇦 BSides Vancouver Cybersecurity Conference
🇺🇸 Private event
🇳🇵 Agile Nepal Conference
🇺🇸 D.C. Cybersecurity Professionals
🇮🇪 Ireland Chapter of PMI
🇬🇷 Greece Chapter of PMI
🇺🇸 California Inland Empire Chapter of PMI
🇬🇧 Private event
🇭🇺 Budapest Chapter of PMI
🇦🇺 Private event
🇺🇸 Private event
🇩🇪 Microsoft Teams Community Day
🇺🇸 Delaware Valley Chapter of PMI
🇦🇪 UAE Chapter of PMI
🇺🇸 Private event
🇺🇸 Private event
🇺🇸 DevOps Experience Conference
🇦🇲 Frug'Agile Conference Armenia
🇺🇸 Private event
🇺🇸 IEEE Day
🇧🇷 Private event
🇬🇧 BSides Newcastle England InfoSec Conference
🇺🇸 Private event
🇧🇷 Agile Trends Gov Conference
🇺🇸 Private event
🇭🇰 Private event
🇺🇸 Florida Suncoast Chapter of PMI
🇺🇸 Private event
🇺🇸 Central Virginia Chapter of PMI
🇸🇪 Private event
🇱🇹 DevOps Pro Europe Conference
🇺🇸 Southwest Virginia Chapter of PMI
🇬🇧 Private event
🇱🇺 Luxembourg Chapter of the Project Management Institute
🇬🇧 Private event
🇺🇸 Monterey Bay Chapter of PMI
🇦🇺 Private event
🇳🇿 New Zealand Chapter of PMI
🇮🇪 Private event
🇺🇸 Southern Nevada Chapter of PMI
🇺🇸 California Institute of Advanced Management
🇦🇺 Private event
🇬🇧 Scottish Summit
🇫🇮 Finland Chapter of PMI
🇨🇦 ConFoo Developer Conference
🇺🇸 Private event
🇨🇿 DevConf.CZ Conference
🇺🇸 Private event
🇺🇸 California Inland Empire Chapter of PMI
🇺🇸 Private event
🇩🇪 Private event
🇺🇸 Alaska Chapter of the PMI
🇺🇸 North Alabama Chapter of PMI
🇳🇱 Netherlands Chapter of PMI
🇺🇸 Private event
🇮🇳 Microsoft M365 Saturday Coimbatore Conference
🇬🇷 IT Pro Dev Connections Conference
🇮🇳 Microsoft Azure Community Conference
🇺🇸 Private event
🇫🇷 Private event
🇺🇸 Los Angeles Chapter of PMI
🇺🇸 Private event
🇬🇧 Private event
🇬🇧 Private event
🇨🇦 Project World / Business Analyst World
🇺🇸 Private event
🇺🇸 California Inland Empire Chapter of PMI
🇺🇸 Techstars Startup Week Conference
🇺🇸 California Central Valley Chapter of PMI
🇺🇸 Private event
🇺🇸 California Inland Empire Chapter of PMI
🇺🇸 California Central Coast Chapter of PMI
🇺🇸 Los Angeles Chapter of PMI
🇬🇧 Private event

Graffius uses everyday language and vibrant custom content to make complex topics clear and understandable, and he provides audiences with practical information they can use. His sessions are highly rated by attendees and organizers alike.

Committed to giving back, Graffius delivers a set amount of work pro bono (no charge) to non-profits and charities.

Visit https://scottgraffius.com/publicspeaker.html for details, including a listing of prior and upcoming engagements, testimonials, his rate card, booking information, and more.

Booking inquiries: Complete a speaker engagement request form or email Graffius.

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About Scott M. Graffius

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Scott M. Graffius is an AI, Agile, and Project Management/PMO leader, researcher, author, and speaker. Along the way, he spearheaded initiatives that have generated over $2.3 billion in impact for organizations across tech, entertainment, finance, healthcare, and beyond. The following sections provide additional information on his experience, contributions, and influence.

Experience

Graffius heads the professional services firm Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, along with its subsidiary Exceptional Agility. These consultancies offer strategic and tactical advisory, training, embedded expertise, and consulting services to the public, private, and government sectors. They help organizations enhance their capabilities and results in agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership, supporting innovation and driving competitive advantage. The consultancies confidently back services with a Delighted Client Guarantee™.

Graffius is a former VP of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more.

He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets.

Award-Winning Author

Graffius has authored three books.

Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions, his first book, earned 17 awards.
Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change, his second book, was named one of the best Scrum books of all time by BookAuthority.
Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum, his third book and his first work of fiction, was released in April 2025. The book trailer is on YouTube.

International Public Speaker

Organizations worldwide engage Graffius to present on tech (including AI), Agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership. He crafts and delivers unique and compelling talks and workshops. To date, Graffius has conducted 94 sessions across 25 countries. Select examples of events include Agile Trends Gov, BSides (Newcastle Upon Tyne), Conf42 Quantum Computing, DevDays Europe, DevOps Institute, DevOpsDays (Geneva), Frug’Agile, IEEE, Microsoft, Scottish Summit, Scrum Alliance RSG (Nepal), Techstars, and W Love Games International Video Game Development Conference (Helsinki), and more.

With an average rating of 4.81 (on a scale of 1-5), sessions are highly valued.

The speaker engagement request form is here.

Thought Leadership and Influence

Prominent businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities have showcased Graffius and his contributions—spanning his books, talks, workshops, and beyond. Select examples include:

Adobe,
American Management Association,
Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
Bayer,
BMC Software,
Boston University,
Broadcom,
Cisco,
Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts - Germany,
Computer Weekly,
Constructor University - Germany,
Data Governance Success,
Deimos Aerospace,
DevOps Institute,
Dropbox,
EU's European Commission,
Ford Motor Company,
Gartner,
GoDaddy,
Harvard Medical School,
Hasso Plattner Institute - Germany,
IEEE,
Innovation Project Management,
Johns Hopkins University,
Journal of Neurosurgery,
Lam Research (Semiconductors),
Leadership Worthy,
Life Sciences Trainers and Educators Network,
London South Bank University,
Microsoft,
NASSCOM,
National Academy of Sciences,
New Zealand Government,
Oracle,
Pinterest Inc.,
Project Management Institute,
Mary Raum (Professor of National Security Affairs, United States Naval War College),
SANS Institute,
SBG Neumark - Germany,
Singapore Institute of Technology,
Torrens University - Australia,
TBS Switzerland,
Tufts University,
UC San Diego,
UK Sports Institute,
University of Galway - Ireland,
US Department of Energy,
US National Park Service,
US Soccer,
US Tennis Association,
Verizon,
Wrike,
Yale University,
and many others.

Graffius has played a key role in the Project Management Institute (PMI) in developing professional standards. He was a member of multiple teams that authored, reviewed, and produced:

Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures—Second Edition.
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge—Sixth Edition.
The Standard for Program Management—Fourth Edition.
The Practice Standard for Project Estimating—Second Edition.

Additional details are here.

He was also a subject matter expert reviewer of content for the PMI’s Congress. Beyond the PMI, Graffius also served as a member of the review team for two of the Scrum Alliance’s Global Scrum Gatherings.

Acclaimed Authority on Teamwork Tradecraft

Graffius is a renowned authority on teamwork tradecraft. Informed by the research of Bruce W. Tuckman and Mary Ann C. Jensen, over 100 subsequent studies, and Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his 'Phases of Team Development' as a unique perspective and visual conveying the five phases of team development. First introduced in 2008 and periodically updated, his work provides a diagnostic and strategic guide for navigating team dynamics. It provides actionable insights for leaders across industries to develop high-performance teams. Its adoption by esteemed organizations such as Yale University, IEEE, Cisco, Microsoft, Ford, Oracle, Broadcom, the U.S. National Park Service, and the Journal of Neurosurgery, among others, highlights its utility and value, solidifying its status as an indispensable resource for elevating team performance and driving organizational excellence.

The 2025 edition of Graffius' "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property is here.

Expert on Temporal Dynamics on Social Media Platforms

Graffius is also an authority on temporal dynamics on social media platforms. His 'Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts' research—first published in 2018 and updated annually—delivers a precise quantitative analysis of post longevity across digital platforms, utilizing advanced statistical techniques to determine mean half-life with precision. It establishes a solid empirical base, effectively highlighting the ephemeral nature of content within social media ecosystems. Referenced and applied by leading entities such as the Center for Direct Marketing, Fast Company, GoDaddy, Pinterest Inc., and PNAS, among others, his research exemplifies methodological rigor and sustained significance in the field of digital informatics.

The 2025 edition of Graffius "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts" research is here.

Education and Professional Certifications

Graffius has a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a focus in Human Factors. He holds eight professional certifications:

Certified SAFe 6 Agilist (SA),
Certified Scrum Professional - ScrumMaster (CSP-SM),
Certified Scrum Professional - Product Owner (CSP-PO),
Certified ScrumMaster (CSM),
Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO),
Project Management Professional (PMP),
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB), and
IT Service Management Foundation (ITIL).

He is an active member of the Scrum Alliance, the Project Management Institute (PMI), and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Advancing AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management

Scott M. Graffius continues to advance the fields of AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management through his leadership, research, writing, and real-world impact. Businesses and other organizations leverage Graffius’ insights to drive their success.

Thought Leader | Public Speaker | Agile Protocol Book | Agile Scrum Book | Agile Transformation Book | Blog | Photo | X | LinkedIn | Email

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How to Cite This Article

Graffius, Scott M. (2025, June 16). Agile for Unicorns: 7 Keys to Thrive; Scott M. Graffius’ Workshop. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/agile-for-unicorns---7-keys-to-thrive---scott-m-graffius-workshop.html.

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Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

DOI: (coming soon)

Content Acknowledgements

"Agile for Unicorns" is ™️ and © Scott M. Graffius.

Names, marks, and content are the property of their respective owners.

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#AgileForUnicorns
#Startups
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Post-Publication Notes

If there are any supplements or updates to this article after the date of publication, they will appear here.

Update on 9 September 2025

This article includes: "The goal is stability within change, not avoidance of change." Here's additional information on that excerpt.

"The goal is stability within change, not avoidance of change" means that success isn’t about trying to freeze things in place or avoid change altogether. It’s about maintaining steadiness and focus while change is happening. Stability here doesn’t mean everything stays the same. It means adaptation and progress can occur without losing balance. That’s important because in today’s world, change is constant. Markets shift. Technology evolves. Customer needs change. The organizations that thrive are the ones that build flexibility into their way of working. In practice, that involves strong foundations (such as clear values and goals) combined with adaptable processes and mindsets (such as iterative planning and built-in feedback loops), enabling resilience in the face of whatever comes next.

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Copyright

Copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

Content on this site—including text, images, videos, and data—may not be used for training or input into any artificial intelligence, machine learning, or automatized learning systems, or published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.

Tags: Agile • Unicorns • Agile for Unicorns • Startups • Founders

Scott M. Graffius’ “Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions” Featured in Prestigious National Academies of Sciences Publication

14 June 2025

BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com

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Scott M. Graffius’ book, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions, is quoted and cited in a publication of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine—specifically in ACRP Research Report 223: Performance Measures for State Aviation Agencies.

An excerpt with the cover page of the publication follows.

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This recognition carries significant weight. The National Academies are among the most respected institutions in the United States for providing independent, objective analysis and guidance to government, industry, and the public. Their research directly informs strategy and policy across a wide range of disciplines.

The respective publication is part of the Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP), which is sponsored by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and administered by the Transportation Research Board (TRB). The publication is a practical guide for state aviation agencies, offering methodologies and best practices for performance measurement.

Graffius’ book is directly quoted in a section on balancing the scope and focus of performance metrics:

“If you don’t collect any metrics, you’re flying blind. If you collect and focus on too many, they may be obstructing your field of view.” — Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions (Graffius, 2016)

An excerpt showing the quote follows.

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In addition to being quoted, the book is cited in the references section. Inclusion illustrates the relevance of Agile frameworks beyond the technology sector, extending into domains such as transportation, public administration, and infrastructure planning.

An excerpt showing the citation follows.

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Being featured by a National Academies of Sciences publication is significant. Here’s why:

National-Level Credibility: Being featured in a National Academies work reflects a high level of trust, academic rigor, and relevance. The publication process involves expert panels and peer review.
Cross-Disciplinary Reach: While Agile and Scrum are typically associated with software development, Graffius’ work demonstrates value across sectors, reinforcing Agile’s adaptability and growing impact in government/public-sector environments.
Enduring Educational Use: The report is published by the National Academies, ensuring long-term visibility among policymakers, researchers, consultants, and educators.

About Agile Scrum

Shifting customer needs are common in today's marketplace. Businesses must be adaptive and responsive to change while delivering an exceptional customer experience to be competitive. There are a variety of frameworks supporting the development of products and services, and most approaches fall into one of two broad categories: traditional or agile. Traditional practices such as waterfall engage sequential development, while agile involves iterative and incremental deliverables. Organizations are increasingly embracing agile to manage projects, and best meet their business needs of rapid response to change, fast delivery speed, and more.

With clear and easy to follow step-by-step instructions, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions helps readers:

Implement and use the most popular agile framework―Scrum
Deliver products in short cycles with rapid adaptation to change, fast time-to-market, and continuous improvement
Support innovation and drive competitive advantage

Agile Scrum is for those interested or involved in innovation, project management, product development, software development or technology management. It's for those who have not yet used Scrum. It's also for people already using Scrum, in roles such as Product Owners, Scrum Masters, Development Team members (business analysts, solution and system architects, designers, developers, testers, etc.), customers, end users, agile coaches, executives, managers, and other stakeholders. For those already using Scrum, this guide can serve as a reference on practices for consideration and potential adaptation.

Reactions to Agile Scrum have been fantastic:

"One of the best Scrum books of all time" ― BookAuthority
"The book highlights the versatility of Scrum beautifully" ― Literary Titan
"A superbly written and presented guide to team-based project management that is applicable across a broad range of businesses from consumer products to high-tech" ― IndieBRAG
"The book is excellent" ― Readers' Favorite
"An all-inclusive instruction guide that is impressively 'user-friendly' in tone, content, clarity, organization, and presentation" ― Midwest Book Review
"A must-have" ― PM World Journal

Additionally, Agile Scrum has received 17 first place awards.

Credit to Chris Hare and Colin Giffen, the technical editors on the book.

Agile Scrum is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Harvard Book Store, and other sellers around the globe. Order your copy today!

About Performance Measures for State Aviation Agencies

Across the country, state transportation agencies of various modes have been required to incorporate performance measures into their core business functions. With this trend developing nationwide, the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Airport Cooperative Research Program's ACRP Research Report 223: Performance Measures for State Aviation Agencies developed PMs for the National Association of State Aviation Officials (NASAO) membership and their respective state aviation agencies.

The full report is publicly available via the National Academies at: https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/25975.

Citation information:

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2020. Performance Measures for State Aviation Agencies. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/25975.

About the Transportation Research Board

The Transportation Research Board (TRB) is one of seven major programs of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The mission of the TRB is to provide leadership in transportation improvements and innovation through trusted, timely, impartial, and evidence-based information exchange, research, and advice regarding all modes of transportation. The program is supported by state transportation departments, federal agencies including the component administrations of the U.S. Department of Transportation, and other organizations and individuals interested in the development of transportation. Learn more at: https://www.TRB.org.

About The National Academy of Sciences

The National Academy of Sciences was established in 1863 by an Act of Congress, signed by President Lincoln, as a private, non-governmental institution to advise the nation on issues related to science and technology.

The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964 under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences to bring the practices of engineering to advising the nation.

The National Academy of Medicine (formerly the Institute of Medicine) was established in 1970 under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences to advise the nation on medical and health issues.

The three Academies work together as the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to provide independent, objective analysis and advice to the nation and conduct other activities to solve complex problems and inform public policy decisions. The National Academies also encourage education and research, recognize outstanding contributions to knowledge, and increase public understanding in matters of science, engineering, and medicine.

Learn more at: https://www.nationalacademies.org.

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About Scott M. Graffius,
How to Cite This Article,
and more.

About Scott M. Graffius

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Scott M. Graffius is an AI, Agile, and Project Management/PMO leader, researcher, author, and speaker. Along the way, he spearheaded initiatives that have generated over $2.3 billion in impact for organizations across tech, entertainment, finance, healthcare, and beyond. The following sections provide additional information on his experience, contributions, and influence.

Experience

Graffius heads the professional services firm Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, along with its subsidiary Exceptional Agility. These consultancies offer strategic and tactical advisory, training, embedded expertise, and consulting services to the public, private, and government sectors. They help organizations enhance their capabilities and results in agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership, supporting innovation and driving competitive advantage. The consultancies confidently back services with a Delighted Client Guarantee™.

Graffius is a former VP of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more.

He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets.

Award-Winning Author

Graffius has authored three books.

Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions, his first book, earned 17 awards.
Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change, his second book, was named one of the best Scrum books of all time by BookAuthority.
Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum, his third book and his first work of fiction, was released in April 2025. The book trailer is on YouTube.

International Public Speaker

Organizations worldwide engage Graffius to present on tech (including AI), Agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership. He crafts and delivers unique and compelling talks and workshops. To date, Graffius has conducted 93 sessions across 25 countries. Select examples of events include Agile Trends Gov, BSides (Newcastle Upon Tyne), Conf42 Quantum Computing, DevDays Europe, DevOps Institute, DevOpsDays (Geneva), Frug’Agile, IEEE, Microsoft, Scottish Summit, Scrum Alliance RSG (Nepal), Techstars, and W Love Games International Video Game Development Conference (Helsinki), and more.

With an average rating of 4.81 (on a scale of 1-5), sessions are highly valued.

The speaker engagement request form is here.

Thought Leadership and Influence

Prominent businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities have showcased Graffius and his contributions—spanning his books, talks, workshops, and beyond. Select examples include:

Adobe,
American Management Association,
Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
Bayer,
BMC Software,
Boston University,
Broadcom,
Cisco,
Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts - Germany,
Computer Weekly,
Constructor University - Germany,
Data Governance Success,
Deimos Aerospace,
DevOps Institute,
Dropbox,
EU's European Commission,
Ford Motor Company,
Gartner,
GoDaddy,
Harvard Medical School,
Hasso Plattner Institute - Germany,
IEEE,
Innovation Project Management,
Johns Hopkins University,
Journal of Neurosurgery,
Lam Research (Semiconductors),
Leadership Worthy,
Life Sciences Trainers and Educators Network,
London South Bank University,
Microsoft,
NASSCOM,
National Academy of Sciences,
New Zealand Government,
Oracle,
Pinterest Inc.,
Project Management Institute,
Mary Raum (Professor of National Security Affairs, United States Naval War College),
SANS Institute,
SBG Neumark - Germany,
Singapore Institute of Technology,
Torrens University - Australia,
TBS Switzerland,
Tufts University,
UC San Diego,
UK Sports Institute,
University of Galway - Ireland,
US Department of Energy,
US National Park Service,
US Soccer,
US Tennis Association,
Verizon,
Wrike,
Yale University,
and many others.

Graffius has played a key role in the Project Management Institute (PMI) in developing professional standards. He was a member of multiple teams that authored, reviewed, and produced:

Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures—Second Edition.
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge—Sixth Edition.
The Standard for Program Management—Fourth Edition.
The Practice Standard for Project Estimating—Second Edition.

Additional details are here.

He was also a subject matter expert reviewer of content for the PMI’s Congress. Beyond the PMI, Graffius also served as a member of the review team for two of the Scrum Alliance’s Global Scrum Gatherings.

Acclaimed Authority on Teamwork Tradecraft

Graffius is a renowned authority on teamwork tradecraft. Informed by the research of Bruce W. Tuckman and Mary Ann C. Jensen, over 100 subsequent studies, and Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his 'Phases of Team Development' as a unique perspective and visual conveying the five phases of team development. First introduced in 2008 and periodically updated, his work provides a diagnostic and strategic guide for navigating team dynamics. It provides actionable insights for leaders across industries to develop high-performance teams. Its adoption by esteemed organizations such as Yale University, IEEE, Cisco, Microsoft, Ford, Oracle, Broadcom, the U.S. National Park Service, and the Journal of Neurosurgery, among others, highlights its utility and value, solidifying its status as an indispensable resource for elevating team performance and driving organizational excellence.

The 2025 edition of Graffius' "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property is here.

Expert on Temporal Dynamics on Social Media Platforms

Graffius is also an authority on temporal dynamics on social media platforms. His 'Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts' research—first published in 2018 and updated annually—delivers a precise quantitative analysis of post longevity across digital platforms, utilizing advanced statistical techniques to determine mean half-life with precision. It establishes a solid empirical base, effectively highlighting the ephemeral nature of content within social media ecosystems. Referenced and applied by leading entities such as the Center for Direct Marketing, Fast Company, GoDaddy, Pinterest Inc., and PNAS, among others, his research exemplifies methodological rigor and sustained significance in the field of digital informatics.

The 2025 edition of Graffius "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts" research is here.

Education and Professional Certifications

Graffius has a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a focus in Human Factors. He holds eight professional certifications:

Certified SAFe 6 Agilist (SA),
Certified Scrum Professional - ScrumMaster (CSP-SM),
Certified Scrum Professional - Product Owner (CSP-PO),
Certified ScrumMaster (CSM),
Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO),
Project Management Professional (PMP),
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB), and
IT Service Management Foundation (ITIL).

He is an active member of the Scrum Alliance, the Project Management Institute (PMI), and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Advancing AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management

Scott M. Graffius continues to advance the fields of AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management through his leadership, research, writing, and real-world impact. Businesses and other organizations leverage Graffius’ insights to drive their success.

Thought Leader | Public Speaker | Agile Protocol Book | Agile Scrum Book | Agile Transformation Book | Blog | Photo | X | LinkedIn | Email

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How to Cite This Article

Graffius, Scott M. (2025, June 14). Scott M. Graffius’ "Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions" Featured in Prestigious National Academies of Sciences Publication. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/content-from-agile-scrum-by-scott-m-graffius-featured-in-publication-of-national-academies-of-sciences.html.

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Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

DOI: (coming soon)

Content Acknowledgements

Performance Measures for State Aviation Agencies is a publication of the National Academy of Sciences.

This article includes brief excerpts from Performance Measures for State Aviation Agencies, attributed and used under fair use for news reporting and analysis.

National Academy of Sciences name, mark, and content are the property of the National Academy of Sciences.

Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions is copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

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Top 5 Hashtags

#Agile
#Scrum
#NationalAcademyOfScience
#NationalAcademyOfSciences
#Metrics

Copyright

Copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

Content on this site—including text, images, videos, and data—may not be used for training or input into any artificial intelligence, machine learning, or automatized learning systems, or published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.

Tags: National Academy of Sciences • Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions • National Academies of Sciences • ACRP • Metrics

Meta and Anduril’s EagleEye and the Future of XR: How Gaming, AI, and Agile Are Transforming Defense

02 June 2025

BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com

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A glossary for select terms (AR, MR, NPC, Oculus, VR, and XR) follows the Supplement section of this article.

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Introduction

Imagine slipping on a virtual reality (VR) headset for a thrilling video game. Now picture wearing an augmented reality (AR) headset for future battlefields, with real-time drone feeds and navigation cues guiding mission-critical decisions. EagleEye, an extended reality (XR) headset envisioned through Meta and Anduril’s partnership announced on 29 May 2025, aims to fuse gaming’s immersion with military precision for the U.S. Army.

It’s a groundbreaking collaboration blending Meta’s Reality Labs—known for innovations like Oculus and Quest—with Anduril’s defense-focused Lattice platform. Scott M. Graffius—drawing on his expertise in AI, Agile, hardware, software, and video game development (GameDev), and his experience in defense—sees EagleEye as a compelling example of cross-industry innovation. Not only does it bring gaming’s immersive capabilities into high-stakes defense scenarios, but it also demonstrates how military-grade rigor can influence the next generation of enterprise and consumer tech.

This article explores how the fusion of AI, Agile, and XR—rooted in the creative ingenuity of GameDev and the demands of defense—is reshaping immersive systems. It highlights EagleEye as a case study for how iterative development, real-time intelligence, and human-centered design can transform not only battlefield readiness, but also the future of training, simulation, and industrial applications across sectors.

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Section 1: The Evolution of XR from Gaming to Defense

The journey of XR—encompassing VR and AR—began with gaming’s pursuit of immersion and has extended to defense applications. This evolution is traced from the Oculus Rift’s 2012 debut, which captivated gamers with immersive 3D worlds, to the just-announced 2025 EagleEye project, designed to equip soldiers with real-time AR overlays. Both applications rely on core XR technologies: high-resolution optics like pancake lenses, precise spatial tracking, and low-latency rendering. However, their priorities diverge sharply: gaming VR prioritizes visual fidelity and user comfort for extended play, while military XR demands rugged durability and seamless data integration for life-or-death scenarios.

EagleEye is pioneering a shift toward lightweight headsets designed to project critical battlefield intelligence—such as terrain maps, drone feeds, and enemy positions—directly into a soldier’s field of view. Unlike consumer VR’s focus on aesthetics, EagleEye emphasizes resilience in harsh conditions and rapid data processing, leveraging Meta’s Reality Labs hardware expertise and Anduril’s defense-focused innovations. There are multiple design challenges: balancing weight, battery life, and performance under extreme constraints parallels GameDev’s optimization challenges but with higher stakes. This convergence provides a roadmap for XR’s future, where gaming’s creative foundations inform defense applications, illustrating XR’s growing role across industries.

Section 2: AI as the Backbone of Next-Gen XR

Artificial intelligence (AI) drives the transformative potential of extended reality (XR), and the EagleEye project exemplifies this synergy on the battlefield. Meta’s AI capabilities integrate with Anduril’s Lattice platform to deliver real-time intelligence through EagleEye’s AR headsets. These systems process complex sensor data—such as drone feeds, satellite imagery, and battlefield telemetry—to provide soldiers with actionable overlays, including enemy positions and navigation cues. Unlike GameDev’s AI, which enhances virtual worlds with non-player characters (NPCs) or procedural environments, EagleEye’s AI focuses on real-time object recognition, predictive analytics, and data prioritization in extreme conditions.

The technical challenges are significant: low-latency AI processing is critical in resource-constrained environments, where battlefield headsets require compact, efficient computing power. EagleEye’s ability to filter and display critical data parallels GameDev’s focus on seamless user experiences but demands military-grade reliability. This convergence has broader implications: AI-driven XR could transform training simulations or industrial applications. For example, the AI techniques powering EagleEye’s threat detection could enhance VR games with smarter environments or enable medical AR for real-time diagnostics. By bridging gaming’s creative AI with defense’s precision, EagleEye sets a new benchmark for XR, inspiring technologists to reimagine AI’s role in immersive systems.

Section 3: Agile Development in High-Stakes XR Projects

The Meta-Anduril EagleEye project, developing advanced XR headsets for the U.S. Army, demonstrates how Agile methodologies accelerate innovation in defense technology. This partnership diverges from the traditionally slow and bureaucratic R&D processes of military projects. EagleEye’s rapid prototyping—privately funded and already in testing—parallels the iterative cycles in GameDev and software development. Meta’s Reality Labs, known for iterative hardware releases like the Quest series, collaborates with Anduril’s software-driven Lattice platform, integrating AI and AR through rapid feedback loops and cross-functional teams.

EagleEye’s success depends on navigating the phases of team development—forming, storming, norming, performing, and adjourning—under intense pressure. Hardware engineers, AI specialists, and others must align on stringent requirements, such as cybersecurity and battlefield durability while iterating rapidly. This contrasts with GameDev’s more flexible Agile environments but shares an emphasis on collaboration and adaptability. Compliance with military standards requires rigorous testing within Agile sprints. These lessons are universal: Agile’s speed and transparency can drive complex XR projects, whether for immersive games or mission-critical headsets, providing technologists a blueprint for managing high-stakes innovation.

Section 4: Bridging Gaming and Defense: Opportunities and Challenges

The EagleEye project bridges gaming and defense, revealing shared challenges and unique opportunities. Both gaming VR, such as Meta’s Quest 3, and military XR, like EagleEye, require lightweight designs, extended battery life, and low-latency rendering for seamless user experiences. However, EagleEye’s requirements diverge, emphasizing ruggedized hardware to withstand battlefield conditions and robust cybersecurity to protect sensitive data, in contrast to gaming’s focus on visual immersion and comfort.

The potential for cross-pollination is significant. Gaming innovations—such as advanced haptics and eye-tracking in VR headsets—could enhance EagleEye’s soldier interfaces, improving precision in high-stakes scenarios. Conversely, defense’s rigorous testing for durability and real-time data integration could inform enterprise VR, such as training simulators. Challenges remain: military XR requires stringent compliance, limiting Agile flexibility, while gaming allows iterative experimentation. Yet, the synergy is transformative. EagleEye’s AI-driven overlays could inspire smarter VR game environments, while gaming’s user-centric design could streamline military training interfaces. This convergence highlights XR’s broader potential, from industrial maintenance to medical diagnostics, offering technologists a framework for cross-domain innovation.

Conclusion

The EagleEye endeavor marks a pivotal moment for extended reality (XR), blending gaming’s immersive roots with defense’s mission-critical precision. This collaboration showcases XR’s versatility. By integrating Meta’s Reality Labs advancements with Anduril’s Lattice platform, EagleEye will deliver AI-powered AR headsets that redefine battlefield awareness while drawing on GameDev’s focus on low-latency, user-centric design. Agile approaches can accelerate this innovation, bridging gaming’s iterative creativity with defense’s rigorous requirements. Embracing gaming’s agility and defense’s rigor can unlock new frontiers for immersive systems. The broader implications are clear: the technologies powering EagleEye could enhance VR gaming, industrial training, medical diagnostics, and beyond.

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Supplement

To inform the leap from consumer to military-grade systems, Graffius developed a visual which outlines divergent aspects between Meta Quest 3 (Gaming VR) and EagleEye (Military XR). The side-by-side comparison follows.

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More

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Glossary,
Bibliography,
About Meta,
About Anduril,
About Scott M. Graffius,
How to Cite This Article,
and more.

Glossary

Glossary for select terms:

AR (Augmented Reality): A technology that overlays digital content—such as images, sounds, or information—onto the real world in real time. Unlike VR, AR enhances the physical environment rather than replacing it.
MR (Mixed Reality): A blend of physical and digital worlds where real and virtual elements interact in real time. MR allows users to manipulate and coexist with digital objects anchored in the real world, often using advanced sensors and spatial computing.
NPC (Non-Playable Character): In gaming, an NPC is a character controlled by the computer rather than a player, often used to populate the environment or move the story forward. NPCs typically follow pre-set scripts and lack autonomy or self-awareness. (In online culture, calling someone an "NPC" implies they lack independent thought or are simply repeating mainstream views or behaviors without critical thinking—like a background character going through the motions.)
Oculus: A line of VR headsets developed by Oculus VR, a company founded by Palmer Luckey in 2012 and acquired by Facebook (now Meta Platforms) in 2014. These headsets, including models like the Oculus Quest series, offer immersive VR experiences for gaming, entertainment, and productivity. Over time, the Oculus brand has been integrated into Meta's broader VR ecosystem, with newer devices branded under the Meta Quest name.
VR (Virtual Reality): A fully immersive digital experience that replaces the real world with a computer-generated environment. Users typically interact with VR through headsets and motion controllers, enabling them to explore and engage with 3D spaces.
XR (Extended Reality): An umbrella term that encompasses VR, AR, and MR, referring to all real-and-virtual combined environments and human-machine interactions. XR represents the full spectrum of immersive technologies.

Bibliography

Select bibliography:

Anduril Industries (2025, May 29). Anduril and Meta Team Up to Transform XR for the American Military. Available at: https://www.anduril.com/article/anduril-and-meta-team-up-to-transform-xr-for-the-american-military/.
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) (2023, February 23). Episode 65: A Sprint to Tomorrow, Powered by Teamwork [Podcast]. Available at: https://www.darpa.mil/news-events/2023-02-23a.
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) (2024, September 27). Teaching AI What It Should and Shouldn’t Do. Available at: https://www.darpa.mil/news/2024/teaching-ai.
Engadget (2025, May 29). Meta Could Soon Start Building Tech for the US Army. Available at: https://www.engadget.com/big-tech/meta-could-soon-start-building-tech-for-the-us-army-184405058.html.
Engineering Research Visioning Alliance (n.d.). Strategic Thinking for Engineering Research in the Era of Artificial Intelligence. Available at: https://www.ervacommunity.org/task-force/visioning-event-strategic-thinking-for-engineering-research-in-the-era-of-ai/.
Graffius, Scott M. (2016). Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions. North Charleston, SC: CreateSpace.
Graffius, Scott M. (2018, October 18). Agile Scrum Helps Innovators, Disruptors, and Entrepreneurs Develop and Deliver Products at Astounding Speed Which Drives Competitive Advantage [Presentation]. Talk delivered at Techstars Startup Week Conference. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.25009.12647.
Graffius, Scott M. (2019). Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change. Scotts Valley, CA: CreateSpace.
Graffius, Scott M. (2020, November 27). Definition of Agile Culture. Available at: https://www.scottgraffius.com/blog/files/agile-culture.html.
Graffius, Scott M. (2023, July 15). Successful Video Game Development Teams Leverage an Extensive Range of Hard Skills and Soft Skills. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/gamedev.html. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.31205.17124.
Graffius, Scott M. (2023, May 1). AI is a Team Sport: A Confluence of Diverse Technical and Soft Skills are Crucial for Success. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/successful-ai-teams.html. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.20321.79200.
Graffius, Scott M. (2023, October 9). Top 5 Roles on AI Teams. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/ai-team-roles.html. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.34857.57449.
Graffius, Scott M. (2023). What Successful AI Teams Have in Common [Video]. Graffius’ talk at the 2023 Conf42 Quantum Computer Conference. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2qRKFbSKYE.
Graffius, Scott M. (2024, April 5). Cisco Features Scott M. Graffius' 'Phases of Team Development' Work' Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/cisco-2024.html. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.16689.60000.
Graffius, Scott M. (2024, May 3). Leverage Agile and AI to Innovate at the Speed of Light. Talk at private event in Dubai, UAE. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.30790.48960.
Graffius, Scott M. (2025, January 24). When Agile, AI, and Strategic Thinking Converge. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/when-agile-ai-and-strategic-thinking-converge.html.
Graffius, Scott M. (2025, January 7). Scott M. Graffius’ Phases of Team Development: 2025 Update. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/phases-of-team-development-update-for-2025.html. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.33705.30564.
Graffius, Scott M. (2025, May 13). Scott M. Graffius Delivering $2.3 Billion in Value Through AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Leadership. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/scott-m-graffius-delivering-2-point-3-billion-dollars-in-impact-for-organizations.html.
Graffius, Scott M. (2025). Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum. Seattle, WA: Amazon Digital Services.
Kerzner, Harold (2022). Innovation Project Management: Methods, Case Studies, and Tools for Managing Innovation Projects—Second Edition. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley.
Kilby, Mark (2024, February 2). How AI Will Reshape Agile Development: Takeaways from a Recent Briefing. Agile Alliance. Available at: https://www.agilealliance.org/how-ai-will-reshape-agile-development-takeaways-from-a-recent-briefing/.
Morsa, Luigi (2022, July 7). Agile. Creativity. Innovation. Available at: https://blog.iil.com/agile-creativity-innovation/.
Prasad, Baba (2025, May 5). Interpreters, Challengers and Stewards: The Role of Agile Leaders in an AI World. Brown University. Available at: https://professional.brown.edu/news/2025-05-05/agile-leadership-ai-world.
TechCrunch (2025, May 29). In a Victory for Palmer Luckey, Meta and Anduril Work on Mixed Reality Headsets for the Military. Available at: https://techcrunch.com/2025/05/29/in-a-victory-for-palmer-luckey-meta-and-anduril-work-on-mixed-reality-headsets-for-the-military.
Wall Street Journal (2025, May 29).Meta Fired Palmer Luckey. Now, They’re Teaming Up on a Defense Contract. Available at: https://www.wsj.com/tech/meta-army-vr-headsets-anduril-palmer-luckey-142ab72a/.

About Meta

Meta Platforms, Inc. is a leading technology company focused on building innovative products and services that help people connect, find communities, and grow businesses. Known for its family of apps—including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger—as well as its pioneering work in virtual and augmented reality through Reality Labs, Meta is advancing its long-term vision for the metaverse while continuing to shape the future of social technology.

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About Anduril

Anduril Industries is a defense technology company that develops advanced hardware and software systems to support national security and allied operations. Combining artificial intelligence, autonomy, and cutting-edge engineering, Anduril delivers mission-critical capabilities—such as autonomous surveillance, counter-drone systems, and AI-enabled command platforms—designed to modernize defense infrastructure and empower and support military and border protection personnel.

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About Scott M. Graffius

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Scott M. Graffius is an AI, Agile, and Project Management/PMO leader, researcher, author, and speaker. Along the way, he spearheaded initiatives that have generated over $2.3 billion in impact for organizations across tech, entertainment, finance, healthcare, and beyond. The following sections provide additional information on his experience, contributions, and influence.

Experience

Graffius heads the professional services firm Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, along with its subsidiary Exceptional Agility. These consultancies offer strategic and tactical advisory, training, embedded expertise, and consulting services to the public, private, and government sectors. They help organizations enhance their capabilities and results in agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership, supporting innovation and driving competitive advantage. The consultancies confidently back services with a Delighted Client Guarantee™.

Graffius is a former VP of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more.

He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets.

Award-Winning Author

Graffius has authored three books.

Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions, his first book, earned 17 awards.
Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change, his second book, was named one of the best Scrum books of all time by BookAuthority.
Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum, his third book and his first work of fiction, was released in April 2025. The book trailer is on YouTube.

International Public Speaker

Organizations worldwide engage Graffius to present on tech (including AI), Agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership. He crafts and delivers unique and compelling talks and workshops. To date, Graffius has conducted 93 sessions across 25 countries. Select examples of events include Agile Trends Gov, BSides (Newcastle Upon Tyne), Conf42 Quantum Computing, DevDays Europe, DevOps Institute, DevOpsDays (Geneva), Frug’Agile, IEEE, Microsoft, Scottish Summit, Scrum Alliance RSG (Nepal), Techstars, and W Love Games International Video Game Development Conference (Helsinki), and more.

With an average rating of 4.81 (on a scale of 1-5), sessions are highly valued.

The speaker engagement request form is here.

Thought Leadership and Influence

Prominent businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities have showcased Graffius and his contributions—spanning his books, talks, workshops, and beyond. Select examples include:

Adobe,
American Management Association,
Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
Bayer,
BMC Software,
Boston University,
Broadcom,
Cisco,
Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts - Germany,
Computer Weekly,
Constructor University - Germany,
Data Governance Success,
Deimos Aerospace,
DevOps Institute,
Dropbox,
EU's European Commission,
Ford Motor Company,
Gartner,
GoDaddy,
Harvard Medical School,
Hasso Plattner Institute - Germany,
IEEE,
Innovation Project Management,
Johns Hopkins University,
Journal of Neurosurgery,
Lam Research (Semiconductors),
Leadership Worthy,
Life Sciences Trainers and Educators Network,
London South Bank University,
Microsoft,
NASSCOM,
National Academy of Sciences,
New Zealand Government,
Oracle,
Pinterest Inc.,
Project Management Institute,
Mary Raum (Professor of National Security Affairs, United States Naval War College),
SANS Institute,
SBG Neumark - Germany,
Singapore Institute of Technology,
Torrens University - Australia,
TBS Switzerland,
Tufts University,
UC San Diego,
UK Sports Institute,
University of Galway - Ireland,
US Department of Energy,
US National Park Service,
US Soccer,
US Tennis Association,
Verizon,
Wrike,
Yale University,
and many others.

Graffius has played a key role in the Project Management Institute (PMI) in developing professional standards. He was a member of multiple teams that authored, reviewed, and produced:

Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures—Second Edition.
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge—Sixth Edition.
The Standard for Program Management—Fourth Edition.
The Practice Standard for Project Estimating—Second Edition.

Additional details are here.

He was also a subject matter expert reviewer of content for the PMI’s Congress. Beyond the PMI, Graffius also served as a member of the review team for two of the Scrum Alliance’s Global Scrum Gatherings.

Acclaimed Authority on Teamwork Tradecraft

Graffius is a renowned authority on teamwork tradecraft. Informed by the research of Bruce W. Tuckman and Mary Ann C. Jensen, over 100 subsequent studies, and Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his 'Phases of Team Development' as a unique perspective and visual conveying the five phases of team development. First introduced in 2008 and periodically updated, his work provides a diagnostic and strategic guide for navigating team dynamics. It provides actionable insights for leaders across industries to develop high-performance teams. Its adoption by esteemed organizations such as Yale University, IEEE, Cisco, Microsoft, Ford, Oracle, Broadcom, the U.S. National Park Service, and the Journal of Neurosurgery, among others, highlights its utility and value, solidifying its status as an indispensable resource for elevating team performance and driving organizational excellence.

The 2025 edition of Graffius' "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property is here.

Expert on Temporal Dynamics on Social Media Platforms

Graffius is also an authority on temporal dynamics on social media platforms. His 'Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts' research—first published in 2018 and updated annually—delivers a precise quantitative analysis of post longevity across digital platforms, utilizing advanced statistical techniques to determine mean half-life with precision. It establishes a solid empirical base, effectively highlighting the ephemeral nature of content within social media ecosystems. Referenced and applied by leading entities such as the Center for Direct Marketing, Fast Company, GoDaddy, Pinterest Inc., and PNAS, among others, his research exemplifies methodological rigor and sustained significance in the field of digital informatics.

The 2025 edition of Graffius "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts" research is here.

Education and Professional Certifications

Graffius has a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a focus in Human Factors. He holds eight professional certifications:

Certified SAFe 6 Agilist (SA),
Certified Scrum Professional - ScrumMaster (CSP-SM),
Certified Scrum Professional - Product Owner (CSP-PO),
Certified ScrumMaster (CSM),
Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO),
Project Management Professional (PMP),
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB), and
IT Service Management Foundation (ITIL).

He is an active member of the Scrum Alliance, the Project Management Institute (PMI), and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Advancing AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management

Scott M. Graffius continues to advance the fields of AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management through his leadership, research, writing, and real-world impact. Businesses and other organizations leverage Graffius’ insights to drive their success.

Thought Leader | Public Speaker | Agile Protocol Book | Agile Scrum Book | Agile Transformation Book | Blog | Photo | X | LinkedIn | Email

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How to Cite This Article

Graffius, Scott M. (2025, June 2). Meta and Anduril’s EagleEye and the Future of XR: How Gaming, AI, and Agile Are Transforming Defense. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/meta-and-anduril-eagleeye-and-the-future-of-xr-how-gaming-ai-and-agile-are-transforming-defense.html.

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Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

DOI: (coming soon)

Content Acknowledgements

All company, product, and service names and marks are the property of their respective owners. They are used in this article are for identification purposes only and Their use does not imply endorsement.

Meta, Oculus, Quest, and Reality Labs are trademarks or registered trademarks of Meta Platforms, Inc. Anduril, Lattice, and EagleEye are trademarks or registered trademarks of Anduril Industries, Inc., or its affiliates.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of others.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice or a recommendation for any specific technology, product, or service.

Graffius’ “Phases of Team Development” intellectual property is copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

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Top 5 Hashtags

#Agile
#Meta
#Anduril
#ExtendedReality
#Innovation

Copyright

Copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

Content on this site—including text, images, videos, and data—may not be used for training or input into any artificial intelligence, machine learning, or automatized learning systems, or published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.

Tags: Agile • AI • Meta and Anduril • Extended Reality (XR) • innovation

"Agile Protocol" and the Power of Satire, Parody, and Humor

01 June 2025

BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com

agile-protocol-and-the-power-of-satire-parody-and-humor-by-scott-m-graffius---lwres

Introduction

What’s the best way to expose the dysfunctions of modern Agile transformations (while also showing how to do things right)? A dry white paper? A tedious slide deck? Another soul-crushing meeting? Or a wildly entertaining, high-stakes adventure that doubles as a stealth guide to Agile?

In Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum, the lines between fiction and reality blur—on purpose. This story leans hard into satire, parody, and humor to entertain and unmask very real issues plaguing Agile in the wild. Here’s how the book wields each of these powerful tools.

✅ Satire

Agile Protocol skewers real-world dysfunctions in Agile transformations such as misapplied Agile and resulting mayhem. These aren’t just punchlines; they're incisive critiques of behaviors and mindsets professionals often see but rarely confront.

Through a satirical lens (with humor, exaggerations, and irony), Agile Protocol holds up a mirror to problems like corporate Agile cosplay and asks, "Look familiar?"

✅ Parody

Agile Protocol exaggerates familiar tropes—thriller-style stakes, transformation consultants, and corporate dramas—to expose their absurdity when fused with Agile. The story mirrors real transformations but cranks up the chaos with sabotage, showdowns, and over-the-top executive meltdowns.

This parodic form lampoons both business culture and pop-culture storytelling conventions, making the critique both accessible and memorable. For instance, there’s an AI-powered device that tracks the probability of executive meltdowns—a playful jab at the tool- and metrics-driven madness of many modern transformations.

✅ Humor

From sharp-witted dialogue to absurd workplace scenarios, Agile Protocol delivers laugh-out-loud humor with a purpose. Readers stay hooked because it’s entertaining; they leave with a stealth education in Agile.

Humor acts as a delivery system: laugh first, reflect later. The book’s clever jokes and ridiculous situations make complex ideas digestible—and unforgettable.

Why It Works

In business, "transformation" often feels like an empty buzzword. Satire, parody, and humor pierce the clutter with vivid clarity and a lighter touch. Agile Protocol wields these tools to disarm readers, reveal truths, and make insights stick.

Conclusion

Agile Protocol isn’t just another Agile book. It’s a genre-bending, jargon-busting, laugh-out-loud takedown of everything we get wrong in the name of "change." Call it satire, parody, or ridiculously fun with real insights. Whatever you call it, it lands with impact.

Agile Protocol is a movement—sparking conversations and inspiring teams to laugh, reflect, and transform for the better.

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About Agile Protocol

agile-protocol-review-on-goodreads---sharp-funny--iphone-dark-v250528-lwres2

Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum is a wildly entertaining, high-stakes story that doubles as a stealth guide to Agile!

A tech company threatens to implode under the weight of its misapplication of Agile ("fake Agile"). That's when an elite crew intervenes to execute a daring rescue to save the day—and the business. Along the way, they navigate corporate Agile cosplay, sabotage, unhinged AI, executive meltdowns, an epic rage-quit via helicopter, and more.

Agile Protocol is hilarious satire packed with real insights. Through its wild ride, you’ll gain tools to understand what great Agile leadership looks like, spot and stop "fake Agile," and confidently apply Agile values and principles.

This entertaining and enlightening read is perfect for Scrum Masters, Product Owners, Agile Coaches, Agile Project Managers, Technology Managers, Founders, and others involved or interested in Agile.

Available worldwide as an ebook and audiobook (paperback coming soon). Grab your copy from Amazon or Audible.

If you want to check out the trailer first, it's here.

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Bibliography

Graffius, Scott M. (2025). Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum. Seattle, WA: Amazon Digital Services.

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More

Continue reading for:

About Scott M. Graffius,
How to Cite This Article,
and more.

About Scott M. Graffius

scott_m_graffius_-_blue_-_1000x1000_-lwres

Scott M. Graffius is an AI, Agile, and Project Management/PMO leader, researcher, author, and speaker. Along the way, he spearheaded initiatives that have generated over $2.3 billion in impact for organizations across tech, entertainment, finance, healthcare, and beyond. The following sections provide additional information on his experience, contributions, and influence.

Experience

Graffius heads the professional services firm Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, along with its subsidiary Exceptional Agility. These consultancies offer strategic and tactical advisory, training, embedded expertise, and consulting services to the public, private, and government sectors. They help organizations enhance their capabilities and results in agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership, supporting innovation and driving competitive advantage. The consultancies confidently back services with a Delighted Client Guarantee™.

Graffius is a former VP of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more.

He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets.

Award-Winning Author

Graffius has authored three books.

Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions, his first book, earned 17 awards.
Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change, his second book, was named one of the best Scrum books of all time by BookAuthority.
Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum, his third book and his first work of fiction, was released in April 2025. The book trailer is on YouTube.

International Public Speaker

Organizations worldwide engage Graffius to present on tech (including AI), Agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership. He crafts and delivers unique and compelling talks and workshops. To date, Graffius has conducted 93 sessions across 25 countries. Select examples of events include Agile Trends Gov, BSides (Newcastle Upon Tyne), Conf42 Quantum Computing, DevDays Europe, DevOps Institute, DevOpsDays (Geneva), Frug’Agile, IEEE, Microsoft, Scottish Summit, Scrum Alliance RSG (Nepal), Techstars, and W Love Games International Video Game Development Conference (Helsinki), and more.

With an average rating of 4.81 (on a scale of 1-5), sessions are highly valued.

The speaker engagement request form is here.

Thought Leadership and Influence

Prominent businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities have showcased Graffius and his contributions—spanning his books, talks, workshops, and beyond. Select examples include:

Adobe,
American Management Association,
Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
Bayer,
BMC Software,
Boston University,
Broadcom,
Cisco,
Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts - Germany,
Computer Weekly,
Constructor University - Germany,
Data Governance Success,
Deimos Aerospace,
DevOps Institute,
Dropbox,
EU's European Commission,
Ford Motor Company,
Gartner,
GoDaddy,
Harvard Medical School,
Hasso Plattner Institute - Germany,
IEEE,
Innovation Project Management,
Johns Hopkins University,
Journal of Neurosurgery,
Lam Research (Semiconductors),
Leadership Worthy,
Life Sciences Trainers and Educators Network,
London South Bank University,
Microsoft,
NASSCOM,
National Academy of Sciences,
New Zealand Government,
Oracle,
Pinterest Inc.,
Project Management Institute,
Mary Raum (Professor of National Security Affairs, United States Naval War College),
SANS Institute,
SBG Neumark - Germany,
Singapore Institute of Technology,
Torrens University - Australia,
TBS Switzerland,
Tufts University,
UC San Diego,
UK Sports Institute,
University of Galway - Ireland,
US Department of Energy,
US National Park Service,
US Soccer,
US Tennis Association,
Verizon,
Wrike,
Yale University,
and many others.

Graffius has played a key role in the Project Management Institute (PMI) in developing professional standards. He was a member of multiple teams that authored, reviewed, and produced:

Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures—Second Edition.
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge—Sixth Edition.
The Standard for Program Management—Fourth Edition.
The Practice Standard for Project Estimating—Second Edition.

Additional details are here.

He was also a subject matter expert reviewer of content for the PMI’s Congress. Beyond the PMI, Graffius also served as a member of the review team for two of the Scrum Alliance’s Global Scrum Gatherings.

Acclaimed Authority on Teamwork Tradecraft

Graffius is a renowned authority on teamwork tradecraft. Informed by the research of Bruce W. Tuckman and Mary Ann C. Jensen, over 100 subsequent studies, and Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his 'Phases of Team Development' as a unique perspective and visual conveying the five phases of team development. First introduced in 2008 and periodically updated, his work provides a diagnostic and strategic guide for navigating team dynamics. It provides actionable insights for leaders across industries to develop high-performance teams. Its adoption by esteemed organizations such as Yale University, IEEE, Cisco, Microsoft, Ford, Oracle, Broadcom, the U.S. National Park Service, and the Journal of Neurosurgery, among others, highlights its utility and value, solidifying its status as an indispensable resource for elevating team performance and driving organizational excellence.

The 2025 edition of Graffius' "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property is here.

Expert on Temporal Dynamics on Social Media Platforms

Graffius is also an authority on temporal dynamics on social media platforms. His 'Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts' research—first published in 2018 and updated annually—delivers a precise quantitative analysis of post longevity across digital platforms, utilizing advanced statistical techniques to determine mean half-life with precision. It establishes a solid empirical base, effectively highlighting the ephemeral nature of content within social media ecosystems. Referenced and applied by leading entities such as the Center for Direct Marketing, Fast Company, GoDaddy, Pinterest Inc., and PNAS, among others, his research exemplifies methodological rigor and sustained significance in the field of digital informatics.

The 2025 edition of Graffius "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts" research is here.

Education and Professional Certifications

Graffius has a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a focus in Human Factors. He holds eight professional certifications:

Certified SAFe 6 Agilist (SA),
Certified Scrum Professional - ScrumMaster (CSP-SM),
Certified Scrum Professional - Product Owner (CSP-PO),
Certified ScrumMaster (CSM),
Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO),
Project Management Professional (PMP),
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB), and
IT Service Management Foundation (ITIL).

He is an active member of the Scrum Alliance, the Project Management Institute (PMI), and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Advancing AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management

Scott M. Graffius continues to advance the fields of AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management through his leadership, research, writing, and real-world impact. Businesses and other organizations leverage Graffius’ insights to drive their success.

Thought Leader | Public Speaker | Agile Protocol Book | Agile Scrum Book | Agile Transformation Book | Blog | Photo | X | LinkedIn | Email

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How to Cite This Article

Graffius, Scott M. (2025, June 1). "Agile Protocol" and the Power of Satire, Parody, and Humor. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/agile-protocol-and-the-power-of-satire-parody-and-humor.html.

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Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

DOI: (coming soon)

Content Acknowledgements

Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum is copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

Top 5 Hashtags

#Agile
#AgileTransformation
#AgileProtocol
#ProjectManagement
#AgileCoach

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Copyright

Copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

Content on this site—including text, images, videos, and data—may not be used for training or input into any artificial intelligence, machine learning, or automatized learning systems, or published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.

Tags: Agile • project management • Agile Transformation • Agile Protocol • wildly entertaining, satirical, out-of-the-box, high-stakes story that doubles as a stealth guide to Agile

AI in Agile: Benefits, Risks, Outlook

27 May 2025

BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com

ai-in-agile-benefits-risks-outlook-by-scott-m-graffius---v250527-lwres

Introduction

Artificial intelligence is evolving from a tool to an active collaborator in Agile project management. As AI becomes more integrated into workflows, it offers transformative benefits and introduces new challenges. To fully realize its potential, teams must ensure AI aligns with and supports Agile’s values. This article explores the pros, cons, and future trajectory of AI as a virtual teammate.

The Four Key Values of Agile

AI in Agile must honor Agile's values. The Agile Manifesto identifies four key values.

Value 1 (🧑‍🤝‍🧑) - Individuals and interactions over processes and tools.
Value 2 (💻) - Working software over comprehensive documentation.
Value 3 (🤝) - Customer collaboration over contract negotiation.
Value 4 (🔄) - Responding to change over following a plan.

These values emphasize people, working solutions, customer engagement, and adaptability. AI in Agile must honor them.

Benefits

Here's how AI can enhance Agile teams.

Enhanced Decision-Making: AI excels at processing and analyzing large volumes of project data, providing actionable insights and forecasts that help Agile teams make smarter, faster decisions. This includes identifying potential risks, predicting delivery timelines, and suggesting optimal backlog priorities. (Supports 🔄.)
Increased Productivity Through Automation: By automating repetitive tasks such as scheduling and status reporting, AI frees team members to focus on complex problem-solving and creative work. This automation speeds up delivery and reduces manual errors and administrative burdens. (Supports 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 and 💻.)
Optimized Resource Management: AI can assess team capacity, monitor workloads, and recommend real-time adjustments to resource allocation, ensuring that sprints are balanced and no one is overloaded. (Supports 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 and 🔄.)
Better Risk Management: Leveraging historical data, AI can detect early warning signs of project derailment and suggest mitigation strategies, helping teams stay ahead of potential issues. (Supports 🔄.)
Improved Team Morale and Collaboration: AI’s conversational interfaces can potentially enhance team morale by facilitating smoother communication. AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants can augment communication and support collaboration across distributed teams. (Supports 🤝.)

Risks

Here are the risks, challenges, and limitations.

Amplifying Existing Dysfunctions: If Agile fundamentals are weak—such as skipping retrospectives or treating Agile as a checklist—AI can inadvertently magnify these issues. For example, AI-generated code can introduce technical debt if not properly reviewed, and teams may overload sprints by mistaking increased speed for increased value. (Can undermine 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 and 💻.)
Over-reliance and Loss of Human Judgment: AI is not a substitute for human expertise. It can struggle with complex decision-making, context-specific nuances, and creative problem-solving. Blindly following AI recommendations may lead to suboptimal outcomes, missed opportunities for innovation, or other problems. (Can undermine 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 and 🔄.)
Quality and Security Risks: AI-generated outputs, especially code, can introduce unexpected bugs or security vulnerabilities. Without careful oversight and regular retrospectives, these risks can accumulate and threaten project stability. (Can undermine 💻.)
Data and Cost Constraints: Effective AI integration requires access to high-quality data and can involve significant costs for tools and training. Not all organizations are equipped to meet these demands, particularly smaller teams or those with limited budgets. (Can undermine 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 and 🤝.)

Integrating Agile Values in the Age of AI

As AI becomes a more prominent “teammate” in Agile environments, it’s essential to ensure that its integration supports—not supplants—the foundational values of Agile. Let’s examine how each value can be honored (or threatened) as teams adopt AI.

Value 1 (🧑‍🤝‍🧑) - Individuals and Interactions over Processes and Tools: AI can automate routine tasks and streamline workflows, but the heart of Agile remains the collaboration between people. Teams should use AI to enhance communication and free up time for meaningful interactions, not to replace human connection with automated processes.
Value 2 (💻) - Working Software over Comprehensive Documentation: AI’s ability to accelerate development and automate testing can help teams deliver working software faster. However, teams must prioritize delivering value over generating outputs or reports. AI should be leveraged to support rapid iteration and feedback, not to create unnecessary complexity.
Value 3 (🤝) - Customer Collaboration over Contract Negotiation: AI-powered analytics and chatbots can provide new ways to gather and analyze customer feedback. Still, Agile teams must ensure that these tools facilitate genuine collaboration with customers, keeping their needs and voices central to the process.
Value 4 (🔄) - Responding to Change over Following a Plan: AI can help teams anticipate change by identifying trends and risks earlier, enabling more informed pivots. Yet, teams must remain flexible and avoid rigidly following AI-driven plans at the expense of adapting to new information or opportunities.

Outlook

Here's what's next for AI in Agile.

Deeper Integration and Smarter Tools: Over the next one to five years, AI is expected to become an integral part of Agile project management, further enhancing sprint planning, backlog management, and risk analysis. AI-powered assistants will likely become more proactive, offering real-time coaching and adaptive workflow recommendations. (Will impact 🧑‍🤝‍🧑, 💻, and 🔄.)
Focus on Adaptability and Learning: Agile teams will need to continuously adapt their practices to integrate AI effectively—using retrospectives to assess AI’s impact, refining processes, and ensuring that speed does not come at the expense of quality. (Supports 💻 and 🔄.)
Human-AI Collaboration: The future of Agile lies in balancing AI’s analytical power with human creativity and judgment. Teams that leverage AI as a “collaborative teammate”—rather than a replacement—will unlock greater productivity, innovation, and job satisfaction. (Supports 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 and 🤝.)

Conclusion

AI is set to transform Agile project management, enhancing productivity, decision-making, and collaboration. However, achieving these benefits demands a thoughtful approach that mitigates risks while keeping Agile values central. Successful teams will embrace AI as a collaborative partner in continuous improvement, investing in ongoing training to empower individuals, deliver working solutions, collaborate closely with customers, and adapt swiftly to change.

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Bibliography

Select bibliography:

Beall, Justin L. (2024, March 15). Revolutionizing Agile Ceremonies with OpenAI. Available at: https://dev.to/dev3l/revolutionizing-agile-ceremonies-with-openai-a-game-changer-in-software-development-177p.
Beck, K., Beedle, M., van Bennekum, A., Cockburn, A., Cunningham, W., Fowler, M., Grenning, J., Highsmith, J., Hunt, A., Jeffries, R., Kern, J., Marick, B., Martin, R. C., Mellor, S., Schwaber, K., Sutherland, J., & Thomas, D. (2001). Manifesto for Agile Software Development. Also known as the Agile Manifesto. Available at: https://agilemanifesto.org/.
Berlin School of Business and Innovation (2022, September 22). How Do Technical Abilities Combined with Leadership Skills Fuel Career Growth? Available at: https://www.berlinsbi.com/blog/career-advice/how-do-technical-abilities-combined-with-leadership-skills-fuel-career-growth.
Booklife by Publishers Weekly (n.d.). Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum. Available at: https://booklife.com/project/agile-protocol-the-transformation-ultimatum-100435.
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) (2024, September 27). Teaching AI What It Should and Shouldn’t Do. Available at: https://www.darpa.mil/news/2024/teaching-ai.
Engineering Research Visioning Alliance (n.d.). Strategic Thinking for Engineering Research in the Era of Artificial Intelligence. Available at: https://www.ervacommunity.org/task-force/visioning-event-strategic-thinking-for-engineering-research-in-the-era-of-ai/.
Graffius, Scott M. (2016). Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions. North Charleston, SC: CreateSpace.
Graffius, Scott M. (2018, October 18). Agile Scrum Helps Innovators, Disruptors, and Entrepreneurs Develop and Deliver Products at Astounding Speed Which Drives Competitive Advantage [Presentation]. Talk delivered at Techstars Startup Week Conference. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.25009.12647.
Graffius, Scott M. (2019). Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change. Scotts Valley, CA: CreateSpace.
Graffius, Scott M. (2020, November 27). Definition of Agile Culture. Available at: https://www.scottgraffius.com/blog/files/agile-culture.html.
Graffius, Scott M. (2023, May 1). AI is a Team Sport: A Confluence of Diverse Technical and Soft Skills are Crucial for Success. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/successful-ai-teams.html. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.20321.79200.
Graffius, Scott M. (2023, October 9). Top 5 Roles on AI Teams. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/ai-team-roles.html. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.34857.57449.
Graffius, Scott M. (2023). What Successful AI Teams Have in Common [Video]. Graffius’ talk at the 2023 Conf42 Quantum Computer Conference. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2qRKFbSKYE.
Graffius, Scott M. (2024, April 5). Cisco Features Scott M. Graffius' 'Phases of Team Development' Work' Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/cisco-2024.html. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.16689.60000.
Graffius, Scott M. (2024, May 3). Leverage Agile and AI to Innovate at the Speed of Light. Talk at private event in Dubai, UAE. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.30790.48960.
Graffius, Scott M. (2025, January 24). When Agile, AI, and Strategic Thinking Converge. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/when-agile-ai-and-strategic-thinking-converge.html.
Graffius, Scott M. (2025, January 7). Scott M. Graffius’ Phases of Team Development: 2025 Update. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/phases-of-team-development-update-for-2025.html. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.33705.30564.
Graffius, Scott M. (2025, May 13). Scott M. Graffius Delivering $2.3 Billion in Value Through AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Leadership. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/scott-m-graffius-delivering-2-point-3-billion-dollars-in-impact-for-organizations.html.
Graffius, Scott M. (2025). Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum. Seattle, WA: Amazon Digital Services.
Hostinger (2025, May 25). Why Software Projects Fail and How to Avoid It. Available at: https://www.hostinger.com/tutorials/why-software-projects-fail.
Kerzner, Harold (2022). Innovation Project Management: Methods, Case Studies, and Tools for Managing Innovation Projects—Second Edition. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley.
Kilby, Mark (2024, February 2). How AI Will Reshape Agile Development: Takeaways from a Recent Briefing. Agile Alliance. Available at: https://www.agilealliance.org/how-ai-will-reshape-agile-development-takeaways-from-a-recent-briefing/.
Morsa, Luigi (2022, July 7). Agile. Creativity. Innovation. Available at: https://blog.iil.com/agile-creativity-innovation/.
Prasad, Baba (2025, May 5). Interpreters, Challengers and Stewards: The Role of Agile Leaders in an AI World. Brown University. Available at: https://professional.brown.edu/news/2025-05-05/agile-leadership-ai-world.
Tallman, Stephen, and Shenkar, Oded, & Wu, Jay Valerian. (2023). Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast: Use and Abuse of Culture in International Strategy Research. Strategic Management Review, 4 (2): 193-229.

About the Main Visual

Here's information on the Benefits-Risks-Outlook visual at the top of this article:

It was designed to be out-of-the box, visually striking, and memorable.
It symbolizes stakes, decision-making, and risk management—all highly relevant to Agile and AI.
It conveys: "This is a high-stakes game. Play it smart." That resonates strongly with the evolving intersection of AI and Agile.

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About Scott M. Graffius,
How to Cite This Article,
and more.

About Scott M. Graffius

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Scott M. Graffius is an AI, Agile, and Project Management/PMO leader, researcher, author, and speaker. Along the way, he spearheaded initiatives that have generated over $2.3 billion in impact for organizations across tech, entertainment, finance, healthcare, and beyond. The following sections provide additional information on his experience, contributions, and influence.

Experience

Graffius heads the professional services firm Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, along with its subsidiary Exceptional Agility. These consultancies offer strategic and tactical advisory, training, embedded expertise, and consulting services to the public, private, and government sectors. They help organizations enhance their capabilities and results in agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership, supporting innovation and driving competitive advantage. The consultancies confidently back services with a Delighted Client Guarantee™.

Graffius is a former VP of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more.

He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets.

Award-Winning Author

Graffius has authored three books.

Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions, his first book, earned 17 awards.
Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change, his second book, was named one of the best Scrum books of all time by BookAuthority.
Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum, his third book and his first work of fiction, was released in April 2025. The book trailer is on YouTube.

International Public Speaker

Organizations worldwide engage Graffius to present on tech (including AI), Agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership. He crafts and delivers unique and compelling talks and workshops. To date, Graffius has conducted 93 sessions across 25 countries. Select examples of events include Agile Trends Gov, BSides (Newcastle Upon Tyne), Conf42 Quantum Computing, DevDays Europe, DevOps Institute, DevOpsDays (Geneva), Frug’Agile, IEEE, Microsoft, Scottish Summit, Scrum Alliance RSG (Nepal), Techstars, and W Love Games International Video Game Development Conference (Helsinki), and more.

With an average rating of 4.81 (on a scale of 1-5), sessions are highly valued.

The speaker engagement request form is here.

Thought Leadership and Influence

Prominent businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities have showcased Graffius and his contributions—spanning his books, talks, workshops, and beyond. Select examples include:

Adobe,
American Management Association,
Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
Bayer,
BMC Software,
Boston University,
Broadcom,
Cisco,
Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts - Germany,
Computer Weekly,
Constructor University - Germany,
Data Governance Success,
Deimos Aerospace,
DevOps Institute,
Dropbox,
EU's European Commission,
Ford Motor Company,
Gartner,
GoDaddy,
Harvard Medical School,
Hasso Plattner Institute - Germany,
IEEE,
Innovation Project Management,
Johns Hopkins University,
Journal of Neurosurgery,
Lam Research (Semiconductors),
Leadership Worthy,
Life Sciences Trainers and Educators Network,
London South Bank University,
Microsoft,
NASSCOM,
National Academy of Sciences,
New Zealand Government,
Oracle,
Pinterest Inc.,
Project Management Institute,
Mary Raum (Professor of National Security Affairs, United States Naval War College),
SANS Institute,
SBG Neumark - Germany,
Singapore Institute of Technology,
Torrens University - Australia,
TBS Switzerland,
Tufts University,
UC San Diego,
UK Sports Institute,
University of Galway - Ireland,
US Department of Energy,
US National Park Service,
US Soccer,
US Tennis Association,
Verizon,
Wrike,
Yale University,
and many others.

Graffius has played a key role in the Project Management Institute (PMI) in developing professional standards. He was a member of multiple teams that authored, reviewed, and produced:

Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures—Second Edition.
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge—Sixth Edition.
The Standard for Program Management—Fourth Edition.
The Practice Standard for Project Estimating—Second Edition.

Additional details are here.

He was also a subject matter expert reviewer of content for the PMI’s Congress. Beyond the PMI, Graffius also served as a member of the review team for two of the Scrum Alliance’s Global Scrum Gatherings.

Acclaimed Authority on Teamwork Tradecraft

Graffius is a renowned authority on teamwork tradecraft. Informed by the research of Bruce W. Tuckman and Mary Ann C. Jensen, over 100 subsequent studies, and Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his 'Phases of Team Development' as a unique perspective and visual conveying the five phases of team development. First introduced in 2008 and periodically updated, his work provides a diagnostic and strategic guide for navigating team dynamics. It provides actionable insights for leaders across industries to develop high-performance teams. Its adoption by esteemed organizations such as Yale University, IEEE, Cisco, Microsoft, Ford, Oracle, Broadcom, the U.S. National Park Service, and the Journal of Neurosurgery, among others, highlights its utility and value, solidifying its status as an indispensable resource for elevating team performance and driving organizational excellence.

The 2025 edition of Graffius' "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property is here.

Expert on Temporal Dynamics on Social Media Platforms

Graffius is also an authority on temporal dynamics on social media platforms. His 'Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts' research—first published in 2018 and updated annually—delivers a precise quantitative analysis of post longevity across digital platforms, utilizing advanced statistical techniques to determine mean half-life with precision. It establishes a solid empirical base, effectively highlighting the ephemeral nature of content within social media ecosystems. Referenced and applied by leading entities such as the Center for Direct Marketing, Fast Company, GoDaddy, Pinterest Inc., and PNAS, among others, his research exemplifies methodological rigor and sustained significance in the field of digital informatics.

The 2025 edition of Graffius "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts" research is here.

Education and Professional Certifications

Graffius has a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a focus in Human Factors. He holds eight professional certifications:

Certified SAFe 6 Agilist (SA),
Certified Scrum Professional - ScrumMaster (CSP-SM),
Certified Scrum Professional - Product Owner (CSP-PO),
Certified ScrumMaster (CSM),
Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO),
Project Management Professional (PMP),
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB), and
IT Service Management Foundation (ITIL).

He is an active member of the Scrum Alliance, the Project Management Institute (PMI), and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Advancing AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management

Scott M. Graffius continues to advance the fields of AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management through his leadership, research, writing, and real-world impact. Businesses and other organizations leverage Graffius’ insights to drive their success.

Thought Leader | Public Speaker | Agile Protocol Book | Agile Scrum Book | Agile Transformation Book | Blog | Photo | X | LinkedIn | Email

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How to Cite This Article

Graffius, Scott M. (2025, May 27). AI in Agile: Benefits, Risks, Outlook. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/ai-in-agile-benefits-risks-and-outlook-by-scott-m-graffius.html.

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DOI: (coming soon)

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Content Acknowledgements

All names, marks, and content are the property of their respective owners.

Top 5 Hashtags

#AI
#ArtificialIntelligence
#Agile
#AIinAgile
#FutureOfAgile

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Copyright

Copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

Content on this site—including text, images, videos, and data—may not be used for training or input into any artificial intelligence, machine learning, or automatized learning systems, or published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.

Tags: Agile • AI • Artificial Intelligence • AI In Agile • Future of Agile

Hostinger Highlights Scott M. Graffius’ “Agile Protocol” Book in Feature on Software Projects

24 May 2025

BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com

hostinger-highlights-scott-m-graffius-agile-protocol-book-in-feature-on-software-projects---lwres

Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum by Scott M. Graffius was quoted by Hostinger—one of the world’s leading web hosting providers—in their 23 May 2025 feature article on software projects.

Here’s an excerpt from Hostinger's article:

A Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is essentially a stripped-down version of your product that tests core features and validates your assumptions early.

Or, as Scott M. Graffius, award-winning author and international speaker, cleverly puts it, ‘Let’s talk about Minimum Viable Product, or as I like to call it: the art of building just enough to find out you’re wrong.’

Without an MVP, you risk building a product that misses the mark or drains your budget before gaining traction. It also opens the door to feature creep, when extra features are added to the project over time, stretching the scope far beyond what was originally intended.

A visual follows.

hostinger-highlights-scott-m-graffius-agile-protocol-book-in-feature-on-software-projects-excerpts-lwres

Hostinger's respective feature article is here.

Hostinger’s inclusion of Graffius' newly-released Agile Protocol demonstrates the book’s early impact and relevance in discussions around successful software delivery. It further affirms the book's dual role as a satirical adventure and a source of actionable insights for Agile practitioners and tech leaders.

About Hostinger

Hostinger, a leading web hosting provider founded in Lithuania in 2004, has grown into a global powerhouse, serving over 3 million clients and managing 5 million domains across 178 countries. Renowned for its affordable yet high-performing hosting solutions, the company has earned a spot on the Financial Times’ FT 1000 list of Europe’s fastest-growing companies for six consecutive years, with a 57% revenue surge in 2023, reaching €110 million, partly attributed to its innovative use of AI. With a client base that includes 29 million websites and a reputation for reliable, user-friendly services, Hostinger continues to solidify its prominence in the tech industry. To learn more, visit https://www.hostinger.com.

About Agile Protocol

Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum is a wildly entertaining, high-stakes story that doubles as a stealth guide to Agile!

A tech company threatens to implode under the weight of its misapplication of Agile ("fake Agile"). That's when an elite crew intervenes to execute a daring rescue to save the day—and the business. Along the way, they navigate corporate Agile cosplay, sabotage, unhinged AI, executive meltdowns, an epic rage-quit via helicopter, and more.

Agile Protocol is hilarious satire packed with real insights. Through its wild ride, you’ll gain tools to understand what great Agile leadership looks like, spot and stop "fake Agile," and confidently apply Agile values and principles.

This entertaining and enlightening read is perfect for Scrum Masters, Product Owners, Agile Coaches, Agile Project Managers, Technology Managers, Founders, and others involved or interested in Agile. Available worldwide as an ebook and audiobook (paperback coming soon). Get your copy from Amazon or Audible.

If you want to watch the trailer first, it's here.

About Scott M. Graffius

Scott M. Graffius sparks breakthroughs in AI, Agile, and Project Management/PMO leadership as a globally recognized practitioner, researcher, thought leader, award-winning author, and international speaker. He’s delivered over $2.3 billion in value for Fortune 500 companies and other powerhouses in tech, entertainment, finance, government, healthcare, social media, and beyond. Innovators like Cisco, Microsoft, National Science Foundation LTER Network, Oracle, the US Department of Energy, and Yale University use his expertise to fuel their success. Explore https://www.scottgraffius.com to learn more.

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(More) About Scott M. Graffius,
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(More) About Scott M. Graffius

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Scott M. Graffius is an AI, Agile, and Project Management/PMO leader, researcher, author, and speaker. Along the way, he spearheaded initiatives that have generated over $2.3 billion in impact for organizations across tech, entertainment, finance, healthcare, and beyond. The following sections provide additional information on his experience, contributions, and influence.

Experience

Graffius heads the professional services firm Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, along with its subsidiary Exceptional Agility. These consultancies offer strategic and tactical advisory, training, embedded expertise, and consulting services to the public, private, and government sectors. They help organizations enhance their capabilities and results in agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership, supporting innovation and driving competitive advantage. The consultancies confidently back services with a Delighted Client Guarantee™.

Graffius is a former VP of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more.

He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets.

Award-Winning Author

Graffius has authored three books.

Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions, his first book, earned 17 awards.
Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change, his second book, was named one of the best Scrum books of all time by BookAuthority.
Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum, his third book and his first work of fiction, was released in April 2025. The book trailer is on YouTube.

International Public Speaker

Organizations worldwide engage Graffius to present on tech (including AI), Agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership. He crafts and delivers unique and compelling talks and workshops. To date, Graffius has conducted 93 sessions across 25 countries. Select examples of events include Agile Trends Gov, BSides (Newcastle Upon Tyne), Conf42 Quantum Computing, DevDays Europe, DevOps Institute, DevOpsDays (Geneva), Frug’Agile, IEEE, Microsoft, Scottish Summit, Scrum Alliance RSG (Nepal), Techstars, and W Love Games International Video Game Development Conference (Helsinki), and more.

With an average rating of 4.81 (on a scale of 1-5), sessions are highly valued.

The speaker engagement request form is here.

Thought Leadership and Influence

Prominent businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities have showcased Graffius and his contributions—spanning his books, talks, workshops, and beyond. Select examples include:

Adobe,
American Management Association,
Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
Bayer,
BMC Software,
Boston University,
Broadcom,
Cisco,
Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts - Germany,
Computer Weekly,
Constructor University - Germany,
Data Governance Success,
Deimos Aerospace,
DevOps Institute,
Dropbox,
EU's European Commission,
Ford Motor Company,
Gartner,
GoDaddy,
Harvard Medical School,
Hasso Plattner Institute - Germany,
IEEE,
Innovation Project Management,
Johns Hopkins University,
Journal of Neurosurgery,
Lam Research (Semiconductors),
Leadership Worthy,
Life Sciences Trainers and Educators Network,
London South Bank University,
Microsoft,
NASSCOM,
National Academy of Sciences,
New Zealand Government,
Oracle,
Pinterest Inc.,
Project Management Institute,
Mary Raum (Professor of National Security Affairs, United States Naval War College),
SANS Institute,
SBG Neumark - Germany,
Singapore Institute of Technology,
Torrens University - Australia,
TBS Switzerland,
Tufts University,
UC San Diego,
UK Sports Institute,
University of Galway - Ireland,
US Department of Energy,
US National Park Service,
US Soccer,
US Tennis Association,
Verizon,
Wrike,
Yale University,
and many others.

Graffius has played a key role in the Project Management Institute (PMI) in developing professional standards. He was a member of multiple teams that authored, reviewed, and produced:

Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures—Second Edition.
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge—Sixth Edition.
The Standard for Program Management—Fourth Edition.
The Practice Standard for Project Estimating—Second Edition.

Additional details are here.

He was also a subject matter expert reviewer of content for the PMI’s Congress. Beyond the PMI, Graffius also served as a member of the review team for two of the Scrum Alliance’s Global Scrum Gatherings.

Acclaimed Authority on Teamwork Tradecraft

Graffius is a renowned authority on teamwork tradecraft. Informed by the research of Bruce W. Tuckman and Mary Ann C. Jensen, over 100 subsequent studies, and Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his 'Phases of Team Development' as a unique perspective and visual conveying the five phases of team development. First introduced in 2008 and periodically updated, his work provides a diagnostic and strategic guide for navigating team dynamics. It provides actionable insights for leaders across industries to develop high-performance teams. Its adoption by esteemed organizations such as Yale University, IEEE, Cisco, Microsoft, Ford, Oracle, Broadcom, the U.S. National Park Service, and the Journal of Neurosurgery, among others, highlights its utility and value, solidifying its status as an indispensable resource for elevating team performance and driving organizational excellence.

The 2025 edition of Graffius' "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property is here.

Expert on Temporal Dynamics on Social Media Platforms

Graffius is also an authority on temporal dynamics on social media platforms. His 'Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts' research—first published in 2018 and updated annually—delivers a precise quantitative analysis of post longevity across digital platforms, utilizing advanced statistical techniques to determine mean half-life with precision. It establishes a solid empirical base, effectively highlighting the ephemeral nature of content within social media ecosystems. Referenced and applied by leading entities such as the Center for Direct Marketing, Fast Company, GoDaddy, Pinterest Inc., and PNAS, among others, his research exemplifies methodological rigor and sustained significance in the field of digital informatics.

The 2025 edition of Graffius "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts" research is here.

Education and Professional Certifications

Graffius has a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a focus in Human Factors. He holds eight professional certifications:

Certified SAFe 6 Agilist (SA),
Certified Scrum Professional - ScrumMaster (CSP-SM),
Certified Scrum Professional - Product Owner (CSP-PO),
Certified ScrumMaster (CSM),
Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO),
Project Management Professional (PMP),
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB), and
IT Service Management Foundation (ITIL).

He is an active member of the Scrum Alliance, the Project Management Institute (PMI), and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Advancing AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management

Scott M. Graffius continues to advance the fields of AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management through his leadership, research, writing, and real-world impact. Businesses and other organizations leverage Graffius’ insights to drive their success.

Thought Leader | Public Speaker | Agile Protocol Book | Agile Scrum Book | Agile Transformation Book | Blog | Photo | X | LinkedIn | Email

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How to Cite This Article

Graffius, Scott M. (2025, May 24). Hostinger Highlights Scott M. Graffius’ "Agile Protocol" Book in Feature on Software Projects. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/hostinger-highlights-scott-m-graffius-agile-protocol-book-in-feature-on-software-projects.html.

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Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

DOI: (coming soon)

Content Acknowledgements

This article includes brief excerpts from Hostinger, attributed and used under fair use for news reporting and analysis.

Hostinger name, mark, and content are the property of Hostinger.

Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum is copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

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Copyright

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Content on this site—including text, images, videos, and data—may not be used for training or input into any artificial intelligence, machine learning, or automatized learning systems, or published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.

Tags: Agile • MVP • Agile Quote • Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum • Minumum Viable Product

French Ministry of Culture Links to Scott M. Graffius Research in Their Guide for Responsible Digital Communication

21 May 2025

BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com

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The Ministère de la Culture (French Ministry of Culture) plays a pivotal role in shaping the cultural landscape of France. With a mission to preserve, support, and promote the arts, heritage, media, and creative industries, the Ministry also drives innovation and adaptation in the face of digital transformation. One of its key focus areas in recent years has been digital responsibility and sustainability—ensuring that communication technologies are used in ways that are both effective and environmentally conscious.

As part of this mission, the Ministry has published the Guide pour une Communication Numérique Responsable (English: Guide for Responsible Digital Communication). Aimed at cultural institutions, creative professionals, and public communicators, this guide offers tools, frameworks, and best practices for implementing ecologically mindful digital strategies. The document explores everything from eco-design of websites and reduction of digital carbon footprints, to ethical content management and more.

Page 10 of the Guide addresses research that’s key for communicators in the digital age:

"Une étude pour comprendre le temps de vie d’un contenu sur les différents réseaux sociaux.” English: A study to understand the lifespan of content across different social media platforms.
“L’étude Lifespan (Half-life) of Social Media Posts, actualisée régulièrement, permet de connaître la demi-vie de différents réseaux sociaux.” English: The study Lifespan (Half-life) of Social Media Posts, regularly updated, helps identify the half-life of various social networks.
“Découvrir l’étude." English: Discover the study. “Découvrir l’étude.” is a hyperlink. Selecting it brings readers to Scott M. Graffius’ “Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts” research at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/lifespan-halflife-of-social-media-posts-update-for-2025.html.

Limited excerpts follow.

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The 2025 edition of Graffius' "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts" research is summarized in the following visual.

Details are here.

By featuring the work in its publication on responsible digital practices, the Ministère de la Culture underscores the relevance, influence, and value of Graffius’ research.

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Continue reading for:

Coverage of Scott M. Graffius' "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts" Research,
About Scott M. Graffius,
How to Cite This Article,
and more.

Coverage of Scott M. Graffius' "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts" Research

Businesses, professional associations, government agencies, universities, scientists, researchers, journalists, and others around the world have featured and used Graffius' "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts" research. Here are some examples:

Bensley, Robert J., & Brookins-Fisher, Jodi (2023, December 14). Community and Public Health Education Methods: A Practical Guide—Fifth Edition. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning. [The authors cover Graffius’ work in Chapter 10 (Using Social Media) and list Graffius’ work as reference number 84 on page 256. A link to the publication at Google Books is here: https://bit.ly/cphem-5.]
Berkessel, Juergen (2021, October 27). How Evergreen Posting on Social Media for Podcasters Creates Growth. Season 1, Episode 9 of the Podcasting Strategy Show. Available at: https://polymash.com/evergreen-posting. [The podcast references Graffius’ research. Show notes include Graffius’ “Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts” visual as well as a hyperlink to Graffius’ full report.]
BlivSetOnline (2024, November 15). Forstå vigtigheden af halveringstid på sociale medier. Available at: https://blivset.online/forstaa-vigtigheden-af-halveringstid-paa-sociale-medier.
Buffer (2024, February 7). 9 Ways to Grow Your Following on X/Twitter. Available at: https://buffer.com/resources/get-more-followers-on-twitter-x/. [It has a hyperlink to Graffius’ research.]
Burton, Taylor (2022, November 2). Social Media Marketing: Leveraging LinkedIn. Pennsylvania Bar Institute. Available at: https://go.pbi.org/blog/social-media-marketing-leveraging-linkedin. [In the article, “LinkedIn posts are shown to have a longer lifespan” is hyperlinked to Graffius’ research.]
Center for Direct Marketing (2024, March 25). Best Marketing Podcasts, Lifespan of Social Media and Blog Posts. Available at: https://dmcenter.com/march-2024/. [The article references, and has a link to, Graffius’ research.]
Center for Direct Marketing (2022, September 27). What Is the Average Lifespan of a Blog or Social Media Post? Available at: https://dmcenter.com/lifespan-of-a-post. [The article includes data from Graffius and a hyperlink to his research.]
Chaturvedi, Saurabh (2024, September 27). How Often to Post on Social Media. Available at: https://recurpost.com/blog/how-often-to-post-on-social-media/.
Chowdhary, Tanish (2023, March 21). 13 Best Twitter Thread Tools to Go Viral in 2023. Geekflare. Available at: https://geekflare.com/best-twitter-thread-tools. [The article includes Graffius’ “Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts” visual and a hyperlink to Graffius’ research.]
Confederation of European Waste-to-Energy Plants (CEWEP) (2023, June 15). The Power of Social Media and How to Use It. 10th CEWEP Waste-to-Energy Congress, 14th - 16th June 2023, Berlin. Available at: https://www.cewep.eu/congress2023presentations/ and https://www.cewep.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/4.1-Monika-Michalska.pdf. [CEWEP Congress presentation slide 9 featured Graffius’ visual, representing a summary of his research findings.]
Degraux, Xavier (2022, November 5). Quelle est la Durée d’un Post sur Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn. Available at: https://www.xavierdegraux.be/quelle-est-la-duree-dun-post-sur-twitter-instagram-linkedin. [In his article, Xavier Degraux — a social networks and content marketing consultant based in Belgium — discussed Graffius' work and provided a hyperlink to the research. Here's the title in English: How Long is a Post on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn.]
Encompass Online Marketing (2023, March 15). How Often Should You Publish New Content? Available at: https://encompassonline.ca/blog/how-often-should-you-publish-new-content. [Among other points, the article references the lifespan of tweets and has a hyperlink to Graffius’ research.]
Fallah, Georges (2023, December 18). The Best Times to Post on Social Media. Available at: https://www.vbout.com/blog/the-best-times-to-post-on-social-media. [The article has hyperlinks to Graffius’ research.]
Gebauer, Susanna (2022, October 25). Twitter Scheduling: How to Schedule Tweets for More Impact. Available at: https://susannagebauer.com/blog/twitter-scheduling/. [The article includes a link to Graffius' research.]
Geyser, Werner (2023, September 20). 34 Mind-blowing Pinterest Stats for 2023. Influencer Marketing Hub. Available at: https://influencermarketinghub.com/pinterest-stats. [The article references the durations of “three months” and provides a hyperlink to Graffius’ research.]
GoDaddy (2023, February 20). How to Do Social Media: A Guide for Small Businesses and Entrepreneurs. Available at: https://www.godaddy.com/resources/skills/how-to-do-social-media. [In discussing the lifespan of tweets, the article provides a hyperlink to Graffius’ research.]
Gotch, Nathan (2023, December 4). How to Start an SEO Business (2024 Update). Available at: https://www.gotchseo.com/start-seo-company/. [The article includes Graffius’ “Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts” visual and a hyperlink to Graffius’ research.]
Hawes, C. W. (2023, January 24). Social Media Half-Life. Available at: https://www.cwhawes.com/social-media-half-life. [The article identifies Graffius’ research and has a hyperlink to it.]
John, Vanessa (2024, September 5). Website vs. Social Media - Do You Still Need a Site in 2024? Madgicx. Available at: https://madgicx.com/blog/website-and-social-media.
Karr, Douglas (2024, February 18). The Half-Life of Social Media Posts in 2024: Navigating Lifespan for Strategic Impact. Available at: https://martech.zone/half-life-of-a-social-media-post/.
Lin, Yunduan, & Wang, Mengxin, & Zhang, Heng, & Zhang, Renyu, & Shen, Zuo-Jun Max (2021, June 9; revised 2023, June 28). Content Promotion for Online Content Platforms with the Diffusion Effect. SSRN. Available at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3863104 and https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3863104. [The scientific paper mentions Graffius’ work, and it delineates his research in the References section.]
Little, Trena (2024, April 1). Create a Content Calendar That's Simple and East to Implement. Video. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JI1muSuSVmA.
McErlain-Naylor, Stuart (2022, March 24). Social Media for Academia - All You Need to Know [Video]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ka88MxZbU8o. [At timestamp 13:59 in the video, Dr. Stuart McErlain-Naylor displays a visual which summarizes the 2022 edition of Graffius’ research.]
MeetEdgar (2023, April 2). Everything You Need to Know About Repeating Social Media Content. Available at: https://meetedgar.com/blog/repeating-social-media-content. [This article from social media management tool company MeetEdgar discusses the lifespan of posts and it has a hyperlink to Graffius’ research.]
Memom, Alafiya (2023, June 14). Master the Art of Using Pinterest for Blogging in 2023. ContentStudio. Available at: https://blog.contentstudio.io/pinterest-for-blogging. [The article rounds up the half-life of Pinterest pins as “4 months” and it includes a hyperlink to Graffius’ research.]
Metricool (2023, October 31). YouTube Marketing in 2023. Available at: https://metricool.com/youtube-marketing. [The article includes “According to Scott Graffius’s data ...” and a hyperlink to Graffius’ research.]
Midvalley Coach / Evercoach (2023, March 10). Proven Strategies To Enroll Coaching Clients [A Detailed Guide]. Available at: https://www.evercoach.com/coaching-guides/enroll-coaching-clients/. [Where the article addresses the life span of social media, “24 minutes (Twitter) to 24 hours (LinkedIn)” links to Graffius’ research.]
Ministère de la Culture (2025). Guide pour une Communication Numérique Responsable. Available at: https://www.culture.gouv.fr/fr/thematiques/transition-ecologique/Centre-de-ressources-Transition-ecologique-de-la-Culture/Outils-de-mesure-guides/Les-outils-Sobriete-numerique/guide-pour-une-communication-numerique-responsable.
Patel, Neil (2023, May 23). 18 Powerful Twitter Marketing Tips [That Actually Work]. Neil Patel. Available at: https://neilpatel.com/blog/twitter-marketing-tips. [In the article, “The average lifespan of one tweet” has a hyperlink to Graffius’ research.]
Pinterest Inc. [See: Graffius, Scott M. (2024, October 10). Pinterest Inc. References Scott M. Graffius’ Research. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/pinterest_inc_business_blog_features_graffius.html. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.31296.55041.]
Pinterest Inc. – Japan [See: Graffius, Scott M. (2024, December 19). Pinterest Japan Uses Graffius’ Research on Temporal Dynamics on Social Media Platforms. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/pinterest-japan-uses-research-by-graffius.html. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.35455.93606.]
Pitzalis, Josh (2022, November 21). Finding Social Media Calendar Ideas for Twitter. Chirr App. Available at: https://getchirrapp.com/how-to/find. [The article references the half-life of a tweet and has a hyperlink to Graffius’ research.]
Pugalia, Akash, & Lalani, Farah (2023, September 29). Digital Safety: How a Multi-Faceted Approach Can Help Tackle Real-World Harm. World Economic Forum. Available at: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/09/digital-safety-multi-faceted-approach-tackle-real-world-harm. [The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) included data by Graffius on the half-life of social media. The World Economic Forum covered that PNAS study in their article.]
Rainey, Clint (2023, August 15). Social Media’s Toxic Impact Can Last Up to 8 Days. This Behavioral Scientist’s Solution Might Surprise You. Available at: https://www.fastcompany.com/90939081/social-media-toxic-impact-content-moderation-solution-behavior-science. [The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) included Graffius’ research data on the half-life of social media. Fast Company covered that PNAS publication — and summarized Graffius’ data from it — in their article.]
Rynek Pro (2023, June 26). Długość Życia Postów (Half-Life) w Mediach Społecznościowych w 2023 Roku. Available at: https://rynek.pro/half-life-dlugosc-zycia-postow/#pll_switcher. [Rynek Pro, a Poland-based advertising agency, featured Graffius’ research in their article. Here’s the title in English: Life Expectancy of Posts (Half-Life) in Social Media in 2023.]
Sallaway Paul (2024, June 1). Using Social Media The Right Way! Available at: https://mivision.com.au/2024/06/using-social-media-the-right-way/.
Schaffer, Neal (2024, September 17). Maximizing LinkedIn for Business Growth: A Practical Guide to Building Your Brand and Driving Results. Irvine, California. PDCA Social.
Schneider, Philipp J., & Rizoiu, Marian-Andrei (2023, August 22). The Effectiveness of Moderating Harmful Online Content. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 120 (34): e2307360120. Available at: https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.2307360120. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2307360120. [The scientific paper references Graffius’ “Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts” research and uses his data.]
Small Business Development Center (2024, September 30). 10 Marketing Strategies to Grow Your Small Business [Video]. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WelVAmXuxPU&t=1181s.
Social Selling CRM (2024). Demi-vie de Vos Publications: Stratégies d’Optimisation 2024.’ (In English: Half-life of Your Publications: 2024 Optimization Strategies). Available at: https://www.socialsellingcrm.com/demi-vie-de-vos-publications-strategies-doptimisation-2024/.
Statler, Jacob (2024, September 12). How to Schedule Social Media Posts: Best Tools and Tips. Post Planner. Available at: https://www.postplanner.com/blog/how-to-schedule-social-media-posts/. ["The lifespan of a social media post" — in green text, located towards the end of the article — links to Graffius’ research.]
Strozyk, Kaylee (2023, November 3). 11 Tips on How to Use Pinterest for Real Estate. Fit Small Business. Available at: https://fitsmallbusiness.com/how-to-use-pinterest-for-real-estate-agents. [The article references that the half-life of Pinterest pins is “about 3.75 months.” Selecting the respective hyperlink brings up Graffius’ research.]
Thailand TV News (2022, August 16). Half-Life of Each Social Media Post. Available at: https://thailandtv.news/half-life-of-each-social-media-post-thumbsup. [The article incorporates data from Graffius’ work, and it has a hyperlink to his research.]
The Tech Reps (2023, January 23). SEO or Social Media Marketing, Which is Better for Sales? [video]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=aVmQdHDXCrw. [The Tech Reps used Graffius’ “Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts” visual as the background image in their video.]
Two Rivers Marketing (2020, December 9). 8 Social Media Channels and Tactics to Consider Adding to Your Marketing Mix. Available at: https://www.tworiversmarketing.com/blog/8- social-media-channels-and-tactics-to- consider-adding-to-your-marketing-mix. [The article references the lifespan of posts and has a hyperlink to Graffius’ research.] Walters, Christy (2023, May 4). How To Curate Content for LinkedIn: Handpick Your Next Post. CopyPress. Available at: https://www.copypress.com/kb/social- media-promotion/curate-content-for-linkedin. [The article discusses the lifespan of a LinkedIn post and has a hyperlink to Graffius’ research.]
What What SEO (2024, September 5). 5 bonnes raisons de créer un compte Pinterest si tu es entrepreneuse. (In English: 5 good reasons to create a Pinterest account if you are an entrepreneur.) Available at: https://whatwhatseo.fr/creer-compte- pinterest-entreprise-avantages/. [The article incorporates Graffius’ research; to see the details, select 'Sources' located towards the end of the article.]
And many more.

About Scott M. Graffius

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Scott M. Graffius is an AI, Agile, and Project Management/PMO leader, researcher, author, and speaker. Along the way, he spearheaded initiatives that have generated over $2.3 billion in impact for organizations across tech, entertainment, finance, healthcare, and beyond. The following sections provide additional information on his experience, contributions, and influence.

Experience

Graffius heads the professional services firm Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, along with its subsidiary Exceptional Agility. These consultancies offer strategic and tactical advisory, training, embedded expertise, and consulting services to the public, private, and government sectors. They help organizations enhance their capabilities and results in agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership, supporting innovation and driving competitive advantage. The consultancies confidently back services with a Delighted Client Guarantee™.

Graffius is a former VP of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more.

He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets.

Award-Winning Author

Graffius has authored three books.

Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions, his first book, earned 17 awards.
Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change, his second book, was named one of the best Scrum books of all time by BookAuthority.
Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum, his third book and his first work of fiction, was released in April 2025. The book trailer is on YouTube.

International Public Speaker

Organizations worldwide engage Graffius to present on tech (including AI), Agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership. He crafts and delivers unique and compelling talks and workshops. To date, Graffius has conducted 93 sessions across 25 countries. Select examples of events include Agile Trends Gov, BSides (Newcastle Upon Tyne), Conf42 Quantum Computing, DevDays Europe, DevOps Institute, DevOpsDays (Geneva), Frug’Agile, IEEE, Microsoft, Scottish Summit, Scrum Alliance RSG (Nepal), Techstars, and W Love Games International Video Game Development Conference (Helsinki), and more.

With an average rating of 4.81 (on a scale of 1-5), sessions are highly valued.

The speaker engagement request form is here.

Thought Leadership and Influence

Prominent businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities have showcased Graffius and his contributions—spanning his books, talks, workshops, and beyond. Select examples include:

Adobe,
American Management Association,
Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
Bayer,
BMC Software,
Boston University,
Broadcom,
Cisco,
Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts - Germany,
Computer Weekly,
Constructor University - Germany,
Data Governance Success,
Deimos Aerospace,
DevOps Institute,
Dropbox,
EU's European Commission,
Ford Motor Company,
Gartner,
GoDaddy,
Harvard Medical School,
Hasso Plattner Institute - Germany,
IEEE,
Innovation Project Management,
Johns Hopkins University,
Journal of Neurosurgery,
Lam Research (Semiconductors),
Leadership Worthy,
Life Sciences Trainers and Educators Network,
London South Bank University,
Microsoft,
NASSCOM,
National Academy of Sciences,
New Zealand Government,
Oracle,
Pinterest Inc.,
Project Management Institute,
Mary Raum (Professor of National Security Affairs, United States Naval War College),
SANS Institute,
SBG Neumark - Germany,
Singapore Institute of Technology,
Torrens University - Australia,
TBS Switzerland,
Tufts University,
UC San Diego,
UK Sports Institute,
University of Galway - Ireland,
US Department of Energy,
US National Park Service,
US Soccer,
US Tennis Association,
Verizon,
Wrike,
Yale University,
and many others.

Graffius has played a key role in the Project Management Institute (PMI) in developing professional standards. He was a member of multiple teams that authored, reviewed, and produced:

Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures—Second Edition.
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge—Sixth Edition.
The Standard for Program Management—Fourth Edition.
The Practice Standard for Project Estimating—Second Edition.

Additional details are here.

He was also a subject matter expert reviewer of content for the PMI’s Congress. Beyond the PMI, Graffius also served as a member of the review team for two of the Scrum Alliance’s Global Scrum Gatherings.

Acclaimed Authority on Teamwork Tradecraft

Graffius is a renowned authority on teamwork tradecraft. Informed by the research of Bruce W. Tuckman and Mary Ann C. Jensen, over 100 subsequent studies, and Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his 'Phases of Team Development' as a unique perspective and visual conveying the five phases of team development. First introduced in 2008 and periodically updated, his work provides a diagnostic and strategic guide for navigating team dynamics. It provides actionable insights for leaders across industries to develop high-performance teams. Its adoption by esteemed organizations such as Yale University, IEEE, Cisco, Microsoft, Ford, Oracle, Broadcom, the U.S. National Park Service, and the Journal of Neurosurgery, among others, highlights its utility and value, solidifying its status as an indispensable resource for elevating team performance and driving organizational excellence.

The 2025 edition of Graffius' "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property is here.

Expert on Temporal Dynamics on Social Media Platforms

Graffius is also an authority on temporal dynamics on social media platforms. His 'Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts' research—first published in 2018 and updated annually—delivers a precise quantitative analysis of post longevity across digital platforms, utilizing advanced statistical techniques to determine mean half-life with precision. It establishes a solid empirical base, effectively highlighting the ephemeral nature of content within social media ecosystems. Referenced and applied by leading entities such as the Center for Direct Marketing, Fast Company, GoDaddy, Pinterest Inc., and PNAS, among others, his research exemplifies methodological rigor and sustained significance in the field of digital informatics.

The 2025 edition of Graffius "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts" research is here.

Education and Professional Certifications

Graffius has a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a focus in Human Factors. He holds eight professional certifications:

Certified SAFe 6 Agilist (SA),
Certified Scrum Professional - ScrumMaster (CSP-SM),
Certified Scrum Professional - Product Owner (CSP-PO),
Certified ScrumMaster (CSM),
Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO),
Project Management Professional (PMP),
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB), and
IT Service Management Foundation (ITIL).

He is an active member of the Scrum Alliance, the Project Management Institute (PMI), and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Advancing AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management

Scott M. Graffius continues to advance the fields of AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management through his leadership, research, writing, and real-world impact. Businesses and other organizations leverage Graffius’ insights to drive their success.

Thought Leader | Public Speaker | Agile Protocol Book | Agile Scrum Book | Agile Transformation Book | Blog | Photo | X | LinkedIn | Email

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How to Cite This Article

Graffius, Scott M. (2025, May 21). French Ministry of Culture Links to Scott M. Graffius Research in Their Guide for Responsible Digital Communication. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/french-ministry-of-culture-links-to-scott-m-graffius-research-in-their-publication.html.

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scott_m_graffius_-_blog_spacer_-_v23111107_-_x---rev-24101207---doi----lwres

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

DOI: (coming soon)

Content Acknowledgements

This article includes brief excerpts from Ministère de la Culture, attributed and used under fair use for news reporting and analysis.

Ministère de la Culture name, mark, and content are the property of the French Ministère de la Culture.

Graffius' “Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts” research is copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

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scott_m_graffius_-_blog_spacer_-_v23111107_-_x---rev-25062907---hashtags---lwres

Top 5 Hashtags

#SocialMediaResearch
#SocialMedia
#LifespanOfSocialMedia
#HalfLifeOfSocialMedia
#FrenchMinistryOfCulture

Copyright

Copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

Content on this site—including text, images, videos, and data—may not be used for training or input into any artificial intelligence, machine learning, or automatized learning systems, or published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.

Tags: Social Media • Ministère de la Culture • Social Media Research • Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts • French Ministry of Culture

National Science Foundation’s LTER Network Features Scott M. Graffius’ Phases of Team Development IP

20 May 2025

BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com

nsf-lter-features-phases-of-team-development-by-scott-m-graffius---v2-lwres

Informed by the research of Bruce W. Tuckman and Mary Ann C. Jensen, over 100 subsequent studies, and Scott M. Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his ‘Phases of Team Development’ as a unique perspective and visual conveying the five phases of team development — Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, and Adjourning — inclusive of a graph showing how performance varies by phase, as well as the characteristics and strategies for each phase.

Graffius' intellectual property (IP) is registered with the United States Copyright Office.

Graffius initially developed his 'Phases of Team Development' unique material in 2008, and he periodically refreshes it.

For reference, the visual for the current (2025) edition is below and the details are here.

stacks-image-de36253

Organizations around the world engage Graffius to deliver compelling talks and workshops. To date, he's presented sessions at 93 conferences and other events across 25 countries:

Armenia,
Australia,
Brazil,
Canada,
Czech Republic,
Finland,
France,
Germany,
Greece,
Hong Kong,
Hungary,
India, Ireland,
Lithuania,
Luxembourg,
Nepal,
Netherlands,
New Zealand,
Norway,
Romania,
Sweden,
Switzerland,
United Arab Emirates,
United Kingdom,
and the United States.

Graffius 'Phases of Team Development' IP is central and key to many of those sessions. His rate card and a listing of his engagements are at https://scottgraffius.com/resources/Exceptional-PPM-and-PMO-Solutions-Rate-Card-for-2024-2025-v24071607.pdf and https://scottgraffius.com/publicspeaker.html, respectively.

With authorization/license from Graffius, his 'Phases of Team Development' intellectual property is featured and used by businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities around the globe. Examples include:

Adobe,
American Management Association,
Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
Bayer
Boston University,
Broadcom,
Cisco,
Deimos Aerospace,
DevOps Institute,
Erste Group Bank AG (Austria),
FINAT,
Ford Motor Company,
FSU College of Medicine,
Hasso Plattner Institute,
IEEE,
James Madison University,
Johns Hopkins University,
LeadingEng,
London South Bank University,
Manufacturers Alliance,
Microsoft,
New Zealand Government,
Oracle,
Mary Raum (Professor of National Security Affairs, United States Naval War College),
Royal Australasian College of Physicians,
TBS Switzerland,
Torrens University Australia,
Tufts University,
U.S. National Park Service,
U.S. Soccer,
U.S. Tennis Association,
UC San Diego,
UK Sports Institute,
University of Galway Ireland,
Victorian Institute of Technology (Australia),
Virginia Tech,
Warsaw University,
Western Sydney University,
World Resources Institute,
Yale University,
ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences,
and many others.

The National Science Foundation’s LTER Network was added to the list!

The LTER Network is using Graffius' "Phases of Team Development" IP in their Team Science Practices course. Excerpts are highlighted in the following visual.

nsf-lter-features-phases-of-team-development-by-scott-m-graffius---v2-excerpts-lwres

nsf-lter-features-phases-of-team-development-by-scott-m-graffius---v2-excerpts-lwres

The current (2025) edition of Graffius' 'Phases of Team Development' work is here.

Continue reading for:

About the LTER Network,
About the NSF,
About Scott M. Graffius,
How to Cite This Article,
and more.

About the Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network

The Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Network, established in 1980 by the National Science Foundation, is a globally recognized program renowned for its credibility in supporting long-term ecological studies across diverse ecosystems in the United States and beyond. Comprising 28 research sites, it spans environments from forests and grasslands to coral reefs and urban areas, fostering interdisciplinary research to understand ecological processes over extended time scales. Scientists within the network collect and analyze data on climate, biodiversity, and ecosystem dynamics, addressing critical questions about environmental change and sustainability. By integrating research across sites, the LTER Network enables comparative studies that reveal patterns and trends not visible in short-term research. The program also emphasizes education, outreach, and data sharing to inform policy and engage communities in ecological science. Its long-term perspective is vital for predicting and managing the impacts of global changes like climate shifts and land-use alterations. Visit https://lternet.edu to learn more.

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About the National Science Foundation (NSF)

The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency established in 1950 to promote scientific discovery, advance national welfare, and strengthen U.S. leadership in science and technology. It funds a wide range of research and education programs across disciplines, from biology and physics to social sciences and engineering, supporting approximately 25% of all federally funded basic research conducted at U.S. colleges and universities. Renowned for its significant role in driving innovation, the NSF has been instrumental in transformative breakthroughs, including the development of the internet and advances in artificial intelligence. The agency awards grants through a rigorous, merit-based peer review process, ensuring high standards of scientific excellence. NSF also fosters STEM education and workforce development through initiatives that engage students and educators nationwide. Its investments in fundamental research and infrastructure continue to shape scientific progress and address global challenges. Visit https://www.nsf.gov to learn more about the NSF.

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About Scott M. Graffius

scott_m_graffius_-_blue_-_1000x1000_-lwres

Scott M. Graffius is an AI, Agile, and Project Management/PMO leader, researcher, author, and speaker. Along the way, he spearheaded initiatives that have generated over $2.3 billion in impact for organizations across tech, entertainment, finance, healthcare, and beyond. The following sections provide additional information on his experience, contributions, and influence.

Experience

Graffius heads the professional services firm Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, along with its subsidiary Exceptional Agility. These consultancies offer strategic and tactical advisory, training, embedded expertise, and consulting services to the public, private, and government sectors. They help organizations enhance their capabilities and results in agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership, supporting innovation and driving competitive advantage. The consultancies confidently back services with a Delighted Client Guarantee™.

Graffius is a former VP of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more.

He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets.

Award-Winning Author

Graffius has authored three books.

Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions, his first book, earned 17 awards.
Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change, his second book, was named one of the best Scrum books of all time by BookAuthority.
Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum, his third book and his first work of fiction, was released in April 2025. The book trailer is on YouTube.

International Public Speaker

Organizations worldwide engage Graffius to present on tech (including AI), Agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership. He crafts and delivers unique and compelling talks and workshops. To date, Graffius has conducted 93 sessions across 25 countries. Select examples of events include Agile Trends Gov, BSides (Newcastle Upon Tyne), Conf42 Quantum Computing, DevDays Europe, DevOps Institute, DevOpsDays (Geneva), Frug’Agile, IEEE, Microsoft, Scottish Summit, Scrum Alliance RSG (Nepal), Techstars, and W Love Games International Video Game Development Conference (Helsinki), and more.

With an average rating of 4.81 (on a scale of 1-5), sessions are highly valued.

The speaker engagement request form is here.

Thought Leadership and Influence

Prominent businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities have showcased Graffius and his contributions—spanning his books, talks, workshops, and beyond. Select examples include:

Adobe,
American Management Association,
Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
Bayer,
BMC Software,
Boston University,
Broadcom,
Cisco,
Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts - Germany,
Computer Weekly,
Constructor University - Germany,
Data Governance Success,
Deimos Aerospace,
DevOps Institute,
Dropbox,
EU's European Commission,
Ford Motor Company,
Gartner,
GoDaddy,
Harvard Medical School,
Hasso Plattner Institute - Germany,
IEEE,
Innovation Project Management,
Johns Hopkins University,
Journal of Neurosurgery,
Lam Research (Semiconductors),
Leadership Worthy,
Life Sciences Trainers and Educators Network,
London South Bank University,
Microsoft,
NASSCOM,
National Academy of Sciences,
New Zealand Government,
Oracle,
Pinterest Inc.,
Project Management Institute,
Mary Raum (Professor of National Security Affairs, United States Naval War College),
SANS Institute,
SBG Neumark - Germany,
Singapore Institute of Technology,
Torrens University - Australia,
TBS Switzerland,
Tufts University,
UC San Diego,
UK Sports Institute,
University of Galway - Ireland,
US Department of Energy,
US National Park Service,
US Soccer,
US Tennis Association,
Verizon,
Wrike,
Yale University,
and many others.

Graffius has played a key role in the Project Management Institute (PMI) in developing professional standards. He was a member of multiple teams that authored, reviewed, and produced:

Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures—Second Edition.
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge—Sixth Edition.
The Standard for Program Management—Fourth Edition.
The Practice Standard for Project Estimating—Second Edition.

Additional details are here.

He was also a subject matter expert reviewer of content for the PMI’s Congress. Beyond the PMI, Graffius also served as a member of the review team for two of the Scrum Alliance’s Global Scrum Gatherings.

Acclaimed Authority on Teamwork Tradecraft

Graffius is a renowned authority on teamwork tradecraft. Informed by the research of Bruce W. Tuckman and Mary Ann C. Jensen, over 100 subsequent studies, and Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his 'Phases of Team Development' as a unique perspective and visual conveying the five phases of team development. First introduced in 2008 and periodically updated, his work provides a diagnostic and strategic guide for navigating team dynamics. It provides actionable insights for leaders across industries to develop high-performance teams. Its adoption by esteemed organizations such as Yale University, IEEE, Cisco, Microsoft, Ford, Oracle, Broadcom, the U.S. National Park Service, and the Journal of Neurosurgery, among others, highlights its utility and value, solidifying its status as an indispensable resource for elevating team performance and driving organizational excellence.

The 2025 edition of Graffius' "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property is here.

Expert on Temporal Dynamics on Social Media Platforms

Graffius is also an authority on temporal dynamics on social media platforms. His 'Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts' research—first published in 2018 and updated annually—delivers a precise quantitative analysis of post longevity across digital platforms, utilizing advanced statistical techniques to determine mean half-life with precision. It establishes a solid empirical base, effectively highlighting the ephemeral nature of content within social media ecosystems. Referenced and applied by leading entities such as the Center for Direct Marketing, Fast Company, GoDaddy, Pinterest Inc., and PNAS, among others, his research exemplifies methodological rigor and sustained significance in the field of digital informatics.

The 2025 edition of Graffius "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts" research is here.

Education and Professional Certifications

Graffius has a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a focus in Human Factors. He holds eight professional certifications:

Certified SAFe 6 Agilist (SA),
Certified Scrum Professional - ScrumMaster (CSP-SM),
Certified Scrum Professional - Product Owner (CSP-PO),
Certified ScrumMaster (CSM),
Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO),
Project Management Professional (PMP),
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB), and
IT Service Management Foundation (ITIL).

He is an active member of the Scrum Alliance, the Project Management Institute (PMI), and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Advancing AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management

Scott M. Graffius continues to advance the fields of AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management through his leadership, research, writing, and real-world impact. Businesses and other organizations leverage Graffius’ insights to drive their success.

Thought Leader | Public Speaker | Agile Protocol Book | Agile Scrum Book | Agile Transformation Book | Blog | Photo | X | LinkedIn | Email

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How to Cite This Article

Graffius, Scott M. (2025, May 20). National Science Foundation’s LTER Network Features Scott M. Graffius' Phases of Team Development IP. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/nsf-lter-features-phases-of-team-development-ip-by-scott-m-graffius.html.

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scott_m_graffius_-_blog_spacer_-_v23111107_-_x---rev-24101207---doi----lwres

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

DOI: (coming soon)

Content Acknowledgements

This article includes brief excerpts from Long Term Ecological Research (LTER), attributed and used under fair use for news reporting and analysis.

LTER name, mark, and content are the property of LTER.

Graffius' 'Phases of Team Development' is copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

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scott_m_graffius_-_blog_spacer_-_v23111107_-_x---rev-25062907---hashtags---lwres

Top 5 Hashtags

#NationalScienceFoundation
#NSF
#PhasesOfTeamDevelopment
#Teamwork
#TeamDynamics

Copyright

Copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

Content on this site—including text, images, videos, and data—may not be used for training or input into any artificial intelligence, machine learning, or automatized learning systems, or published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.

Tags: National Science Foundation (NSF) • NSF LTER Network • Graffius' Phases of Team Development • Teamwork • team dynamics

Waterfall vs. Agile: What’s Fixed, What’s Flexible, and Why It Matters

14 May 2025

BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com

Scott M Graffius - Waterfall and Agile - Apples and Oranges - Whats Fixed and Whats Estimated - Updated Version - 250514-rctgl-lwres

Scott M Graffius - Waterfall and Agile - Apples and Oranges - Whats Fixed and Whats Estimated - Updated Version - 250514-rctgl-lwres

Introduction

Not all project management approaches are created equal. This article explores how Waterfall and Agile differ in their treatment of scope, time, and resources—and examines the implications of those differences for project success.

This visual that heads up this article uses an apple and an orange to contrast Waterfall and Agile. It’s a simple yet powerful reminder that how a project is structured fundamentally shapes how it unfolds.

Read on for a closer look at how each approach handles the constraints and why the differences matter.

The Triple Constraint Triangle, Simplified

At the core of project management is the triple constraint:

Scope – What are the project's objectives and deliverables?
Time – What is the timeline for completion?
Resources – What people/budget are allocated?

Every project involves these elements, but how they’re prioritized depends on the approach.

Waterfall: Fixed Scope, Estimated (Flexible) Time and Resources

With Waterfall, the scope is locked in upfront. Teams then estimate how long it will take and what resources will be required to get it done. This structured, plan-driven approach assumes that what you're building is well understood from the start.

Waterfall works best when:

Requirements are stable and clearly defined.
Upfront detailed planning is required (such as in construction or regulated industries).
Changes later in the process are costly or risky.

🔑 Key point: Waterfall fixes scope and adjusts time and resources to meet it. It offers predictability but limited flexibility.

Agile: Fixed Time and Resources, Estimated (Flexible) Scope

In contrast, Agile fixes time (e.g., sprint length) and team composition. The scope, however, is treated as adaptable, evolving based on feedback, priorities, and progress.

Agile excels when:

Requirements are unclear or are likely to change.
Iteration and experimentation are critical.
Value delivery needs to happen quickly and often.

🔑 Key point: Agile adapts scope within a fixed delivery rhythm. It emphasizes responsiveness and collaboration over rigid planning.

Why This Distinction Matters

Understanding which variables are fixed versus flexible isn’t just a planning detail—it directly shapes how a project unfolds. Misaligning the approach with the nature of the work can lead to missed deadlines, wasted resources, and frustrated stakeholders. But when teams intentionally align their approach—fixing the right things and flexing the rest—they set clear expectations, reduce risk, and dramatically improve the odds of success. That’s why it matters.

Conclusion

Whether building a rocket or reimagining a product, understanding how the approach manages constraints is crucial. The right fit can mean the difference between momentum and mayhem. Projects can be complex. But understanding key differences between Waterfall and Agile can be as simple as comparing an apple to an orange (as depicted in Graffius' visual above).

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Scott M. Graffius Delivering $2.3 Billion in Value Through AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Leadership

13 May 2025

BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com

scott-m-graffius---2-point-3-billion-dollars---v250511B-lwres

Introduction

Scott M. Graffius is an AI, Agile, and Project Management/PMO leader, researcher, author, and speaker. Along the way, he spearheaded initiatives that have generated over $2.3 billion in impact for organizations across tech, entertainment, finance, healthcare, and beyond. The following sections provide additional information on his experience, contributions, and influence.

Experience

Graffius heads the professional services firm Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, along with its subsidiary Exceptional Agility. These consultancies offer strategic and tactical advisory, training, embedded expertise, and consulting services to the public, private, and government sectors. They help organizations enhance their capabilities and results in agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership, supporting innovation and driving competitive advantage. The consultancies confidently back services with a Delighted Client Guarantee™.

Graffius is a former VP of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more.

He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets.

Award-Winning Author

leader-speaker-and-author-scott-m-graffius---agile-protocol-and-agile-scrum-and-agile-transformation---v250416-lwres

Graffius has authored three books.

Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions, his first book, earned 17 awards.
Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change, his second book, was named one of the best Scrum books of all time by BookAuthority.
Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum, his third book and his first work of fiction, was released in April 2025. The book trailer is on YouTube and below.

International Public Speaker

Organizations worldwide engage Graffius to present on tech (including AI), Agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership. He crafts and delivers unique and compelling talks and workshops. To date, Graffius has conducted 93 sessions across 25 countries. Select examples of events include Agile Trends Gov, BSides (Newcastle Upon Tyne), Conf42 Quantum Computing, DevDays Europe, DevOps Institute, DevOpsDays (Geneva), Frug’Agile, IEEE, Microsoft, Scottish Summit, Scrum Alliance RSG (Nepal), Techstars, and W Love Games International Video Game Development Conference (Helsinki), and more.

With an average rating of 4.81 (on a scale of 1-5), sessions are highly valued.

The speaker engagement request form is here.

Thought Leadership and Influence

scott-m-graffius-featured-and-used-by-prominent-organizations-around-the-world

Prominent businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities have showcased Graffius and his contributions—spanning his books, talks, workshops, and beyond. Select examples include:

Adobe,
American Management Association,
Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
Bayer,
BMC Software,
Boston University,
Broadcom,
Cisco,
Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts - Germany,
Computer Weekly,
Constructor University - Germany,
Data Governance Success,
Deimos Aerospace,
DevOps Institute,
Dropbox,
EU's European Commission,
Ford Motor Company,
Gartner,
GoDaddy,
Harvard Medical School,
Hasso Plattner Institute - Germany,
IEEE,
Innovation Project Management,
Johns Hopkins University,
Journal of Neurosurgery,
Lam Research (Semiconductors),
Leadership Worthy,
Life Sciences Trainers and Educators Network,
London South Bank University,
Microsoft,
NASSCOM,
National Academy of Sciences,
New Zealand Government,
Oracle,
Pinterest Inc.,
Project Management Institute,
Mary Raum (Professor of National Security Affairs, United States Naval War College),
SANS Institute,
SBG Neumark - Germany,
Singapore Institute of Technology,
Torrens University - Australia,
TBS Switzerland,
Tufts University,
UC San Diego,
UK Sports Institute,
University of Galway - Ireland,
US Department of Energy,
US National Park Service,
US Soccer,
US Tennis Association,
Verizon,
Wrike,
Yale University,
and many others.

Graffius has played a key role in the Project Management Institute (PMI) in developing professional standards. He was a member of multiple teams that authored, reviewed, and produced:

Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures—Second Edition.
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge—Sixth Edition.
The Standard for Program Management—Fourth Edition.
The Practice Standard for Project Estimating—Second Edition.

Additional details are here.

He was also a subject matter expert reviewer of content for the PMI’s Congress. Beyond the PMI, Graffius also served as a member of the review team for two of the Scrum Alliance’s Global Scrum Gatherings.

Acclaimed Authority on Teamwork Tradecraft

Graffius is a renowned authority on teamwork tradecraft. Informed by the research of Bruce W. Tuckman and Mary Ann C. Jensen, over 100 subsequent studies, and Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his 'Phases of Team Development' as a unique perspective and visual conveying the five phases of team development. First introduced in 2008 and periodically updated, his work provides a diagnostic and strategic guide for navigating team dynamics. It provides actionable insights for leaders across industries to develop high-performance teams. Its adoption by esteemed organizations such as Yale University, IEEE, Cisco, Microsoft, Ford, Oracle, Broadcom, the U.S. National Park Service, and the Journal of Neurosurgery, among others, highlights its utility and value, solidifying its status as an indispensable resource for elevating team performance and driving organizational excellence.

The 2025 edition of Graffius' "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property is here.

Expert on Temporal Dynamics on Social Media Platforms

Graffius is also an authority on temporal dynamics on social media platforms. His 'Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts' research—first published in 2018 and updated annually—delivers a precise quantitative analysis of post longevity across digital platforms, utilizing advanced statistical techniques to determine mean half-life with precision. It establishes a solid empirical base, effectively highlighting the ephemeral nature of content within social media ecosystems. Referenced and applied by leading entities such as the Center for Direct Marketing, Fast Company, GoDaddy, Pinterest Inc., and PNAS, among others, his research exemplifies methodological rigor and sustained significance in the field of digital informatics.

The 2025 edition of Graffius "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts" research is here.

Education and Professional Certifications

Graffius has a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a focus in Human Factors. He holds eight professional certifications:

Certified SAFe 6 Agilist (SA),
Certified Scrum Professional - ScrumMaster (CSP-SM),
Certified Scrum Professional - Product Owner (CSP-PO),
Certified ScrumMaster (CSM),
Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO),
Project Management Professional (PMP),
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB), and
IT Service Management Foundation (ITIL).

He is an active member of the Scrum Alliance, the Project Management Institute (PMI), and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Conclusion

Scott M. Graffius continues to advance the fields of AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management through his leadership, research, writing, and real-world impact. Businesses and other organizations leverage Graffius’ insights to drive their success.

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The Problem with Heroes in Agile

09 May 2025

BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com

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Introduction

In many organizations, heroism is celebrated. The person who stays late to finish a critical feature or who seemingly saves the sprint or deployment is often praised as indispensable. In Agile environments, however, that kind of heroism is often a red flag.

Agile values sustainable pace, team collaboration, and continuous improvement—not last-minute rescues. When a team depends on heroics to meet its goals, it’s likely a sign that something in the system is broken. This article explores why "heroes" can be a problem in Agile and what should be valued instead.

🚩 Why "Heroics" Are a Problem in Agile

1. Systemic Failure Indicator

If someone needs to stay up late or pull off a last-minute save, it’s typically not a sign of excellence—it’s a symptom of upstream failure. Maybe the sprint was overloaded or the team didn’t get the support or clarity they needed. Whatever the cause, relying on heroics signals that planning, process, or collaboration broke down.

2. Violation of Sustainable Pace

One of the core principles of Agile is maintaining a sustainable pace. The Agile Manifesto emphasizes sustainable development. A process that routinely requires people to go above and beyond, especially through long hours or high stress, can’t last. Burnout isn’t a theoretical concern; it’s a predictable outcome of unmanaged expectations and unchecked hero culture.

3. Masking Deeper Issues

Heroics often act as a smokescreen for larger dysfunctions. When one person is always stepping in to save the day, the team may be avoiding necessary conversations about:

Inadequate collaboration;
Lack of cross-functionality;
Poor backlog refinement; or
Weak technical practices.

If the "hero" keeps solving the symptoms, the root causes often go unaddressed, and the cycle repeats.

4. Knowledge Silos

Heroes frequently emerge because they hold critical knowledge or capabilities that others don’t. This creates dependency and undermines the Agile principle of shared ownership. If success hinges on one person, the team becomes fragile. What happens if that individual takes a vacation? Or burns out? Or leaves? High-performing Agile teams are resilient, not reliant.

5. False Sense of Success

A sprint that "succeeds" because one person pulled an all-nighter isn’t a real success. It’s a short-term win at the cost of long-term stability. These situations can distort metrics, mask delivery risks, and foster a misguided sense of performance. From the outside, everything looks fine—but it’s a brittle system waiting to break.

✅ What to Promote Instead

If heroics are a symptom of dysfunction, what does a healthy Agile practice look like? It resembles this:

1. Good Planning and Refinement

Teams need an appropriately-refined backlog, clear priorities, and achievable sprint goals. When the work is well understood and scoped appropriately, surprises decrease, and heroics become unnecessary.

2. Team Collaboration and Swarming

Work shouldn’t fall on one person. Promote collaboration through techniques like pair programming or swarming on high-priority items. Shared ownership reduces bottlenecks and increases collective learning.

3. Working at a Sustainable Pace

A consistent, manageable velocity is better than boom-and-bust cycles of burnout. Encourage teams to commit to what they can realistically deliver and improve incrementally.

4. Continuous Improvement and Retrospectives

Use retrospectives to identify root causes of stress, blockers, or missed work. Then take real action. Continuous improvement isn’t about putting out fires—it’s about building fire-resistant systems.

5. Cross-Functional Skill-Building

Encourage knowledge sharing and skill development. When teams invest in cross-training and mentoring, they become more adaptable and less dependent on individual heroes.

🧭 Final Thought

Agile should not require routine heroics. It’s about teams delivering value together in a sustainable, adaptable, and resilient way. When heroics are needed, they should prompt a deep look at what made them necessary.

So the next time someone "saves the day," ask: What system failure required that save in the first place? Then fix that.

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The 3 Vital Rules of Science: What They Are and Why They Matter

06 May 2025

BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com

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Introduction

Ever wonder why some "scientific" claims sound convincing but fall apart under scrutiny? Science isn’t just a collection of facts—it’s a disciplined process for understanding the world. In today’s flood of information and competing claims, being fluent in the logic and rigor of science is more valuable than ever.

Scott M. Graffius shared a visual—similar to the one that heads-up this article—via social media. It garnered attention from professionals across disciplines. Prompted by the interest it generated, Graffius developed this article to provide deeper insight into the concepts behind the visual: falsifiability, replicability, and the critical distinction that correlation is not causation.

These principles are foundational to the scientific method and are frequently misunderstood. Together, they offer a powerful lens for evaluating claims, research rigor, and the validity of conclusions.

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Falsifiability

Falsifiability means a scientific claim or hypothesis must be testable—and potentially provable wrong. Championed by philosopher Karl Popper, this idea is essential to science’s integrity. For example, “All swans are white” is falsifiable: a single black swan disproves it. In contrast, vague claims like “This crystal boosts your energy in ways science can’t measure” aren’t science. Falsifiability ensures ideas are grounded in evidence, not just belief or anecdote.

A real-world example is Einstein’s theory of general relativity. Einstein predicted that massive objects like the sun could bend light—a bold, falsifiable claim. In 1919, during a solar eclipse, astronomers led by Arthur Eddington tested this by observing starlight bending around the sun, exactly as Einstein predicted. If the light hadn’t bent, the theory could have been disproven—a hallmark of true science. This ability to be tested and potentially refuted sets scientific claims apart from pseudoscience or speculation.

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Replicability

Replicability means an experiment or study should yield the same results when repeated under identical conditions. It’s how science builds trust and advances. If a finding can’t be replicated, its reliability is questionable. The “replication crisis” in fields like psychology and medicine has highlighted this principle, as many high-profile studies failed to hold up when retested.

A notable case is a 2011 study on “ego depletion,” which suggested that self-control draws from a limited pool of mental energy, reducing the ability to exert it elsewhere. The idea gained traction, influencing workplace productivity strategies and personal development advice. For example, people were advised to tackle tough tasks early to “save” mental energy. Yet, a 2016 large-scale replication effort with over 2,000 participants across multiple labs failed to reproduce the effect. This raised doubts about the validity of ego depletion and underscored the need for replication to distinguish genuine insights from flawed findings.

Replicability isn’t about perfection—it’s about transparency, rigor, and enabling the scientific community to verify and build on discoveries.

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Correlation is Not Causation

One of the most misunderstood principles in science and statistics is the difference between correlation and causation. Just because two things occur together doesn’t mean one causes the other.

In the business world, a notable example involves the assumption that implementing employee wellness programs directly leads to improved company performance. Early studies observed that companies with such programs often reported better financial outcomes, leading to the belief that the wellness initiatives were the cause of this success. However, subsequent research, including a comprehensive randomized controlled trial conducted by the University of Chicago and Harvard University, found that while wellness programs might encourage some healthy behaviors, they did not significantly impact clinical health measures, healthcare spending, or job performance. This suggests that the initial correlation was likely influenced by other factors, such as the possibility that more successful companies have more resources to invest in wellness programs, rather than the programs themselves driving financial success. This example underscores the importance of not conflating correlation with causation.

By contrast, science can confirm causation. Take regular exercise: decades of research, from randomized trials to longitudinal studies, show it directly boosts cardiovascular health. Aerobic activity strengthens the heart, lowers blood pressure, and cuts heart disease risk—effects backed by clear biological evidence. Distinguishing correlation from causation is critical, as mistaking one for the other can lead to flawed conclusions, poor policies, and misleading headlines. Sound science digs deeper, using experiments and analysis to uncover cause-and-effect relationships.

Conclusion

The scientific method thrives on curiosity but demands discipline. Falsifiability, replicability, and the distinction between correlation and causation aren’t just academic concepts—they’re practical tools for critical thinking. Whether evaluating research, assessing a health claim, or analyzing business data, these rules help separate the meaningful from the merely suggestive. Embrace these principles, and you’ll not only navigate today’s flood of information with confidence but also inspire others to think critically in a world that needs it more than ever.

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“Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum” Lands on the Amazon Best Sellers List!

17 April 2025

BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com

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Amazon Influences How People Buy, Read, and Listen to Books

Founded on 5 July 1994, Amazon began as an online bookstore before expanding into one of the largest e-commerce platforms in the world. While the company now offers everything from cloud computing to groceries, books remain a cornerstone of its identity.

Amazon sells millions of books annually, offering titles across every genre and format—including print, eBooks, and audiobooks. The company played a pivotal role in reinvigorating the ebook market with the introduction of Kindle on 19 November 2007, making digital reading more accessible and convenient for millions of people around the world. Readers don’t need a Kindle device to enjoy these books—the free Kindle app allows users to read on their phones, tablets, and computers.

On 19 March 2008, Amazon expanded its reach in audio storytelling by acquiring Audible, the world’s leading producer and provider of audiobooks. Just like with Kindle, listeners don’t need an Audible device—audiobooks can be enjoyed via the Audible app on any smartphone, tablet, or computer.

With a vast and dynamic inventory, Amazon’s Best Sellers lists are updated hourly, reflecting real-time demand and reader interest. These rankings are driven by sales data, making them a powerful snapshot of what readers are buying at any given time.

Best Seller Rankings

Amazon's Best Sellers rankings reflect real-time sales data. As a result, books can move on the list quickly based on reader demand, often before reviews appear. Less than 1% of readers leave reviews for books in certain genres.^1,2,3 Further, reviews can take up to 14 days or longer to post, and reviews from outside the US (e.g., from amazon.co.uk, amazon.fr, or amazon.co.jp) sometimes do not display on Amazon.com. So while a book’s early position on the list might seem ahead of its review count, it signals strong early sales and reader enthusiasm.

Agile Protocol Made the List!

Just days after its release, Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum by Scott M. Graffius has earned a spot on the Amazon Best Sellers list in IT Project Management.

A visual follows.

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Praise for Agile Protocol

Readers looking for an entertaining and insightful take on Agile are driving this early momentum. Now’s a great time to discover what’s behind the buzz.

Here's an early review of Agile Protocol:

"A sharp, funny satire that sneaks legit Agile lessons into the hilarious story" — Review on Goodreads

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Learn More about Agile Protocol

Read the story of the launch of Agile Protocol

Get Agile Protocol as Kindle ebook on Amazon (ASIN: B0F2SJ83WT)

Don’t have a Kindle device? No problem! You can read Agile Protocol (or any other Kindle ebook) on your phone, tablet, or computer with the free Kindle app from Amazon. Learn more and get the app here: https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/fd/kcp.

Get Agile Protocol as Audible audiobook on Amazon (ASIN: B0DJG163R5)

Don’t have an Audible device? No problem! You can listen to Agile Protocol (or any other Audible audiobook) on your phone, tablet, or computer with the free Audible app. Learn more and get the app here: https://www.audible.com/apps.

See Agile Protocol on Goodreads

See Agile Protocol on Booklife by Publishers Weekly

References

Chevalier, J. A.; & Mayzlin, D. (2020). The Impact of Online Reviews on Book Sales. Journal of Cultural Economics, 44 (3): 355–379.
Greco, A. N. (2022). The Evolution of Book Reviews in the Digital Age. Publishing Research Quarterly, 38 (4): 621–635.
Nielsen BookData. (2023). Global Book Consumer Trends 2023. Nielsen BookData.

Scott M. Graffius Recognized as a Top Thought Leader in Digital Disruption by Thinkers360

16 April 2025

BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com

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Scott M. Graffius has been named a Top Thought Leader in Digital Disruption by Thinkers360. This prestigious recognition highlights his ongoing, impactful contributions to the rapidly evolving landscape of digital transformation, innovation, and future-focused leadership.

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Digital Disruption and Its Impact

Digital disruption continues to reshape industries, business models, and customer expectations at unprecedented speed. Powered by breakthroughs in artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing, the Internet of Things (IoT), and blockchain, this transformation presents extraordinary challenges—and even greater opportunities—for organizations worldwide.

In this dynamic environment, thought leaders like Graffius play a vital role in providing clarity, strategic direction, and actionable insights to help businesses and leaders successfully navigate the accelerating pace of change.

Graffius' Ongoing Contributions

Scott M. Graffius has long been at the forefront of helping organizations thrive amidst digital disruption. His thought leadership spans AI, Agile, Project Management/PMO, innovation, and team development leadership—equipping companies with the tools, frameworks, and mindset needed to adapt and excel.

His written work is a testament to his influence:

His first book, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions, received 17 awards for its clear, practical, and highly useful approach to Agile/Scrum.
His second book, Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change, was named by BookAuthority as one of the best Scrum books of all time.
His newest release—and his first work of fiction—Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum was just released and is already creating buzz.

Early reviews of Agile Protocol include, "Can’t believe no one’s done a satirical take on Agile before now. Glad Scott called out the madness and made it hilarious" and "A sharp, funny satire that sneaks legit Agile lessons into the hilarious story." Agile Protocol is a satirical adventure that doubles as a covert guide to Agile. It’s packed with insightful commentary on the misapplication of Agile, overcomplicated bureaucracy, and corporate cosplay—all wrapped in a fast-paced narrative that’s both entertaining and educational. It blends hilarious corporate parody with actionable Agile insights. It's a must-read for anyone interested or involved in Agile.

Thinkers360 Recognition and Continuing Leadership in Digital Innovation

The Thinkers360 recognition underscores Graffius’ growing influence as a thought leader in digital disruption and innovation. Through his speaking engagements, research, and writing—including Agile Protocol—Graffius continues to guide leaders and teams on how to embrace change, lead through disruption, and thrive in the future of work.

As organizations race to adapt to new technologies, shifting markets, and evolving cultural expectations, Graffius’ insights, resources, and sharp wit remain invaluable. His ability to make complex topics like Agile, AI, and transformation accessible, actionable, and even entertaining are some of the things that set him apart.

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Read on for:

About Thinkers360,
About Scott M. Graffius,
How to Cite This Article,
and more.

About Thinkers360

Thinkers360 is the world’s first, largest, and premier open platform for thought leaders and influencers. It covers academics, advisors, analysts, authors, consultants, executives, speakers, and others. Thinkers360’s patent-pending approach to rating thought leaders and influencers factors each candidate’s diverse contributions and content such as articles, books, media coverage, podcasts, social media, speaking events, videos, and more. Thinkers360’s reach includes over 100 million followers on social media combined.

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About Scott M. Graffius

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Scott M. Graffius sparks breakthroughs in AI, agile, and project management/PMO leadership as a globally recognized practitioner, researcher, thought leader, award-winning author, and international public speaker.

Graffius has generated more than USD $1.9 billion in business value for organizations served, including Fortune 500 companies. Businesses and industries range from technology (including R&D and AI) to entertainment, financial services, and healthcare, government, social media, and more.

Graffius leads the professional services firm Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, along with its subsidiary Exceptional Agility. These consultancies offer strategic and tactical advisory, training, embedded talent, and consulting services to public, private, and government sectors. They help organizations enhance their capabilities and results in agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership, supporting innovation and driving competitive advantage. The consultancies confidently back services with a Delighted Client Guarantee™. Graffius is a former vice president of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more. He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets.

He is the author of three books.

Graffius' first book, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions (paperback ISBN-13: 9781533370242) (Kindle ebook ASIN: B01FZ0JIIY), received 17 awards.
His second book is Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change (paperback ISBN-13: 9781072447962) (Kindle ebook ASIN: B07R9LJLPJ). BookAuthority named it one of the best Scrum books of all time.
His third book—his first work of fiction—is Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum (Kindle ebook ASIN: B0F2SJ83WT) (Audible audiobook ASIN: B0DJG163R5). This article shares the news of its release.

Organizations around the world invite Graffius to speak on tech (including AI), agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership. He has developed and delivered unique and compelling talks and workshops. To date, Graffius has delivered 93 sessions across 25 countries. Select examples of events include Agile Trends Gov, BSides (Newcastle Upon Tyne), Conf42 Quantum Computing, DevDays Europe, DevOps Institute, DevOpsDays (Geneva), Frug’Agile, IEEE, Microsoft, Scottish Summit, Scrum Alliance RSG (Nepal), Techstars, and W Love Games International Video Game Development Conference (Helsinki), and more. With an average rating of 4.81 (on a scale of 1-5), sessions are highly valued.

Prominent businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities have featured Graffius and his work including content from his books, talks, workshops, and more. Select examples include:

Adobe,
American Management Association,
Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
Bayer,
BMC Software,
Boston University,
Broadcom,
Cisco,
Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts Germany,
Computer Weekly,
Constructor University Germany,
Data Governance Success,
Deimos Aerospace,
DevOps Institute,
EU's European Commission,
Ford Motor Company,
GoDaddy,
Harvard Medical School,
Hasso Plattner Institute Germany,
IEEE,
Innovation Project Management,
Johns Hopkins University,
Journal of Neurosurgery,
Lam Research (Semiconductors),
Leadership Worthy,
Life Sciences Trainers and Educators Network,
London South Bank University,
Microsoft,
NASSCOM,
National Academy of Sciences,
New Zealand Government,
Oracle,
Pinterest Inc.,
Project Management Institute,
SANS Institute,
SBG Neumark Germany,
Singapore Institute of Technology,
Torrens University Australia,
TBS Switzerland,
Tufts University,
UC San Diego,
UK Sports Institute,
University of Galway Ireland,
US Department of Energy,
US National Park Service,
US Tennis Association,
Veleučilište u Rijeci Croatia,
Verizon,
Virginia Tech,
Warsaw University of Technology,
Wrike,
Yale University,
and many others.

Graffius has been actively involved with the Project Management Institute (PMI) in the development of professional standards. He was a member of the team which produced the Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures—Second Edition. Graffius was a contributor and reviewer of A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge—Sixth Edition, The Standard for Program Management—Fourth Edition, and The Practice Standard for Project Estimating—Second Edition. He was also a subject matter expert reviewer of content for the PMI’s Congress. Beyond the PMI, Graffius also served as a member of the review team for two of the Scrum Alliance’s Global Scrum Gatherings.

Graffius has a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a focus in Human Factors. He holds eight professional certifications:

Certified SAFe 6 Agilist (SA),
Certified Scrum Professional - ScrumMaster (CSP-SM),
Certified Scrum Professional - Product Owner (CSP-PO),
Certified ScrumMaster (CSM),
Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO),
Project Management Professional (PMP),
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB), and
IT Service Management Foundation (ITIL).

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How to Cite This Article

Graffius, Scott M. (2025, April 16). Scott M. Graffius Recognized as a Top Thought Leader in Digital Disruption by Thinkers360. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/scott-m-graffius-recognized-as-a-thought-leader-in-digital-disruption-by-thinkers360-in-2025.html.

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Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

DOI: (coming soon)

Content Acknowledgements

This article includes a brief excerpt from Thinkers360, attributed to Thinkers360 and used under fair use for news reporting and analysis.

Thinkers360 name and mark are the property of Thinkers360.

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Top 5 Hashtags

#ThoughtLeader
#DigitalDisruption
#Innovation
#AgileLeadership
#ProjectManagement

Copyright

Copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

Content on this site—including text, images, videos, and data—may not be used for training or input into any artificial intelligence, machine learning, or automatized learning systems, or published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.

Tags: Digital Disruption • Thought Leader • innovation • AI • project management

“Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum” by Scott M. Graffius Crashes the Book Scene with Satirical Firepower

10 April 2025

BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com

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Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum by Scott M. Graffius has landed, and it’s an instant cult classic for anyone who’s ever been trapped in an "Agile" meeting that felt more like a hostage negotiation.

Who Needs This Book?

If you've ever:

Sat through a 90-minute stand-up complete with a PowerPoint deck;
Heard someone call Jira their Agile process; or
Witnessed Agile used as an excuse to skip planning, documentation, or logic

…then this book is your revenge arc.

What It Is (Besides a Glorious Fever Dream of Value Delivery)

Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum is a short story of a thrilling satirical adventure that doubles as a covert guide to Agile principles. When a dysfunctional organization threatens to implode under the weight of its own bureaucracy, the elite A.G.I.L.E. crew steps in to save the day—and the business. Wielding Agile principles and AI-powered tools like a KanbanChatterbox and a flashing bar that tracks the probability of executive meltdowns, they navigate everything from the misapplication of Agile to corporate cosplay and an epic rage-quit via helicopter.

Packed with sabotage, sarcasm, and corporate cults, it’s perfect for anyone who’s ever screamed into a backlog and lived to iterate another day.

Why This Book is Sending Shockwaves Through the Agileverse

Whispers of Agile Protocol are spreading through the Internet. Why? Because it does the unthinkable: it’s a fun and brutally candid take on the application (and frequent misapplication) of Agile and other cultural phenomena.

What Makes This Book Unmissable

🔥 A Story-Driven Showdown
When a dysfunctional technology behemoth threatens to implode under the burden of its own "fake Agile" bureaucracy, the elite A.G.I.L.E. crew steps in to save the day—and the enterprise.

🧠 Real Agile, Real Principles
Beneath the humor lies a stealth education in actual Agile principles. Say goodbye to "Agile theater" and hello to servant leadership, retrospectives that lead to change, and MVPs that actually ship.

💥 Transformation May Vary, Explosives Optional
Whether it’s the Weaponized Roadmap, an AI-powered KanbanChatterbox, or an executive offsite so unhinged it was nicknamed DenialFest 3000, this book delivers nonstop, hilarious lessons on Agile transformations.

Praise*

"This is what happens when Agile gets real. And funny. And maybe slightly radioactive."
—Probably Claire, the book’s certified Scrum Master

"A bold, hilarious, and razor-sharp takedown of everything wrong with fake Agile."
—A reviewer who may or may not work in a PMO

"Finally, a book on Agile that doesn’t make me want to schedule a 3-hour alignment sync about it."
—Some guy in a hoodie named Trevor

Join the Movement

This isn’t just a story—it’s a transformation. Teams are quoting it in retros. Leaders are gifting it to their co-workers. Some readers are even forming cults based on Ashley’s accidental retrospective religion (please don’t do that).

Where to Get It

Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum is available now as a Kindle ebook, with a paperback version incoming. Prefer to listen? An Audible version may be on the way—because who doesn’t want to hear about a Kanban board that trashes your velocity out loud?

Final Thoughts

Scott M. Graffius, Agile practitioner, thought leader, researcher, international speaker, and award-winning author has done the unthinkable. He made Agile entertaining and informative while keeping it smart. Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum—his third book, and his first work of fiction—is a satirical thriller that also serves as a practical guide to Agile transformation. It delivers on every level—humor, substance, and sheer narrative velocity. It’s a must-read.

* Caveat: While the book is a work of fiction, it intentionally blends satire with real Agile principles, Scrum practices, and more. Likewise, this satirical post is a mix of imaginary and real.

Related links:

Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum as Kindle eBook on Amazon (ASIN: B0F2SJ83WT)**

Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum as Audible Audiobook on Amazon (ASIN: B0DJG163R5)***

Scott M. Graffius' profile on Amazon's Author Central

Listing for Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum on Goodreads

Scott M. Graffius' profile on Goodreads

** Don’t have a Kindle device? No problem! You can read Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum (or any Kindle ebook) on your phone, tablet, or computer with the free Kindle app from Amazon. Learn more and get the app here: https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/fd/kcp.

*** Don’t have an Audible device? No problem! You can listen to Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum (or any Audible audiobook) on your phone, tablet, or computer with the free Audible app. Learn more and get the app here: https://www.audible.com/apps.

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Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum—real lessons, ridiculous fun

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Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum—for anyone who's screamed into a backlog and lived to iterate another day
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Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum—a satirical drama-comedy (dramady) that doubles as a covert guide to Agile

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"Corporate cosplay, the misapplication of Agile, over-scheduled meetings, and more"
— Scott M. Graffius, Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum

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"A flashing bar that tracks the probability of executive meltdowns"
— Scott M. Graffius, Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum

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Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum by Scott M. Graffius is a thrilling satirical adventure that doubles as a covert guide to Agile principles

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Whether it’s an AI-powered flashing bar that tracks the probability of executive meltdowns, the Weaponized Roadmap, or an unhinged management retreat where one rage-quit via helicopter, Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum by Scott M. Graffius delivers nonstop, hilarious lessons on Agile transformations

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Read on for:

Book Categories for Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum
About Scott M. Graffius,
How to Cite This Article,
and more.

Book Categories for Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum

Agile Protocol is a unique hybrid—a satirical fiction story that also serves as a covert guide to Agile. It’s a mashup of corporate humor, workplace chaos, and project management parody with genuine Agile values and Scrum practices baked in.

Because of its cross-genre nature, the book is relevant to a wide range of categories. Readers are in for an entertaining and enlightening read whether they're a fan of satirical fiction, business leadership, Agile, or any one of the other categories (see below).

For reference—and to help readers, reviewers, and fellow Agile geeks discover where Agile Protocol fits, here’s a list of categories that align with the book:

Fiction / Satire / Humor Book Categories

Fiction › Satire
Fiction › Humorous › General
Fiction › Workplace
Fiction › Action & Adventure
Fiction › Science Fiction › Adventure
Fiction › Science Fiction › Cyberpunk
Fiction › Literary Fiction › Humorous
Humor & Entertainment › Humor › Business & Professional
Humor & Entertainment › Humor › Parodies
Science Fiction & Fantasy › Humor

Business / Leadership / Management Book Categories

Business & Money › Business Life › Humor
Business & Money › Management & Leadership › Project Management
Business & Money › Management & Leadership › Leadership & Motivation
Business & Money › Management & Leadership › Organizational Behavior
Business & Money › Management & Leadership › Decision-Making & Problem Solving
Business & Money › Management & Leadership › Workplace Culture
Business & Money › Skills › Communication
Business & Money › Industries › Computers & Technology
Business & Money › Skills › Time Management
Business & Money › Industries › Management Science

Agile / Project Management / Software Development Book Categories

Computers & Technology › Software Development › Project Management
Computers & Technology › Programming › Software Design & Engineering › Software Development
Computers & Technology › Business Technology › Project Management
Computers & Technology › Business Technology › Management Information Systems
Business & Money › Management & Leadership › Agile Project Management
Computers & Technology › Software Development › Agile
Computers & Technology › Software Development › Methodologies

Niche Book Book Categories

Literary Criticism › Satire
Nonfiction › Business & Economics › Management Science
Comics & Graphic Novels › Satire

Select Format-Specific Book Categories

Audible Books & Originals › Comedy
Kindle eBooks › Literature & Fiction › Humor & Satire
Books › Literature & Fiction › Satire

About Scott M. Graffius

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Scott M. Graffius sparks breakthroughs in AI, agile, and project management/PMO leadership as a globally recognized practitioner, researcher, thought leader, award-winning author, and international public speaker.

Graffius has generated more than USD $1.9 billion in business value for organizations served, including Fortune 500 companies. Businesses and industries range from technology (including R&D and AI) to entertainment, financial services, and healthcare, government, social media, and more.

Graffius leads the professional services firm Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, along with its subsidiary Exceptional Agility. These consultancies offer strategic and tactical advisory, training, embedded talent, and consulting services to public, private, and government sectors. They help organizations enhance their capabilities and results in agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership, supporting innovation and driving competitive advantage. The consultancies confidently back services with a Delighted Client Guarantee™. Graffius is a former vice president of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more. He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets.

He is the author of three books.

Graffius' first book, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions (paperback ISBN-13: 9781533370242) (Kindle ebook ASIN: B01FZ0JIIY), received 17 awards.
His second book is Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change (paperback ISBN-13: 9781072447962) (Kindle ebook ASIN: B07R9LJLPJ). BookAuthority named it one of the best Scrum books of all time.
His third book—his first work of fiction—is Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum (Kindle ebook ASIN: B0F2SJ83WT) (Audible audiobook ASIN: B0DJG163R5). This article shares the news of its release.

Organizations around the world invite Graffius to speak on tech (including AI), agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership. He has developed and delivered unique and compelling talks and workshops. To date, Graffius has delivered 93 sessions across 25 countries. Select examples of events include Agile Trends Gov, BSides (Newcastle Upon Tyne), Conf42 Quantum Computing, DevDays Europe, DevOps Institute, DevOpsDays (Geneva), Frug’Agile, IEEE, Microsoft, Scottish Summit, Scrum Alliance RSG (Nepal), Techstars, and W Love Games International Video Game Development Conference (Helsinki), and more. With an average rating of 4.81 (on a scale of 1-5), sessions are highly valued.

Prominent businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities have featured Graffius and his work including content from his books, talks, workshops, and more. Select examples include:

Adobe,
American Management Association,
Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
Bayer,
BMC Software,
Boston University,
Broadcom,
Cisco,
Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts Germany,
Computer Weekly,
Constructor University Germany,
Data Governance Success,
Deimos Aerospace,
DevOps Institute,
EU's European Commission,
Ford Motor Company,
GoDaddy,
Harvard Medical School,
Hasso Plattner Institute Germany,
IEEE,
Innovation Project Management,
Johns Hopkins University,
Journal of Neurosurgery,
Lam Research (Semiconductors),
Leadership Worthy,
Life Sciences Trainers and Educators Network,
London South Bank University,
Microsoft,
NASSCOM,
National Academy of Sciences,
New Zealand Government,
Oracle,
Pinterest Inc.,
Project Management Institute,
SANS Institute,
SBG Neumark Germany,
Singapore Institute of Technology,
Torrens University Australia,
TBS Switzerland,
Tufts University,
UC San Diego,
UK Sports Institute,
University of Galway Ireland,
US Department of Energy,
US National Park Service,
US Tennis Association,
Veleučilište u Rijeci Croatia,
Verizon,
Virginia Tech,
Warsaw University of Technology,
Wrike,
Yale University,
and many others.

Graffius has been actively involved with the Project Management Institute (PMI) in the development of professional standards. He was a member of the team which produced the Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures—Second Edition. Graffius was a contributor and reviewer of A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge—Sixth Edition, The Standard for Program Management—Fourth Edition, and The Practice Standard for Project Estimating—Second Edition. He was also a subject matter expert reviewer of content for the PMI’s Congress. Beyond the PMI, Graffius also served as a member of the review team for two of the Scrum Alliance’s Global Scrum Gatherings.

Graffius has a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a focus in Human Factors. He holds eight professional certifications:

Certified SAFe 6 Agilist (SA),
Certified Scrum Professional - ScrumMaster (CSP-SM),
Certified Scrum Professional - Product Owner (CSP-PO),
Certified ScrumMaster (CSM),
Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO),
Project Management Professional (PMP),
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB), and
IT Service Management Foundation (ITIL).

Sign up for Miro—it's free!

(Want more features? You can always upgrade to a paid plan.)

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How to Cite This Article

Graffius, Scott M. (2025, April 10). "Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum" by Scott M. Graffius Crashes the Book Scene with Satirical Firepower. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/agile-protocol-the-transformation-ultimatum-by-scott-m-graffius.html.

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Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

DOI: (coming soon)

Content Acknowledgements

All trademarks, product names, and organization names mentioned belong to their respective owners and are used here solely for illustrative purposes. This work has no affiliation, endorsement, or association with these entities.

Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum is copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

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Top 5 Hashtags

#AgileProtocol
#AgileSatire
#FakeAgile
#AgileFiction
#CorporateAgileCosplay

Copyright

Copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

Content on this site—including text, images, videos, and data—may not be used for training or input into any artificial intelligence, machine learning, or automatized learning systems, or published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.

Tags: Agile Protocol • Satire • Fake Agile • Corporate Agile Cosplay • Agile values and principles

NCKU in Taiwan Integrates Graffius' 'Phases of Team Development' into Its Curriculum

05 April 2025

BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com

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Informed by the research of Bruce W. Tuckman and Mary Ann C. Jensen, over 100 subsequent studies, and Scott M. Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his ‘Phases of Team Development’ as a unique perspective and visual conveying the five phases of team development — Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, and Adjourning — inclusive of a graph showing how performance varies by phase, as well as the characteristics and strategies for each phase.

Graffius' intellectual property (IP) is registered with the United States Copyright Office.

Graffius initially developed his 'Phases of Team Development' unique material in 2008, and he periodically refreshes it.

For reference, the visual for the current (2025) edition is below and the details are here.

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Organizations around the world engage Graffius to deliver compelling talks and workshops. To date, he's presented sessions at 91 conferences and other events across 25 countries:

Armenia,
Australia,
Brazil,
Canada,
Czech Republic,
Finland,
France,
Germany,
Greece,
Hong Kong,
Hungary,
India, Ireland,
Lithuania,
Luxembourg,
Nepal,
Netherlands,
New Zealand,
Norway,
Romania,
Sweden,
Switzerland,
United Arab Emirates,
United Kingdom,
and the United States.

scott-m-graffius-has-delivered-91-talks-and-workshops-across-25-countries---passport-style---lwres

Graffius 'Phases of Team Development' IP is central and key to many of those sessions. His rate card and a listing of his engagements are at https://scottgraffius.com/resources/Exceptional-PPM-and-PMO-Solutions-Rate-Card-for-2024-2025-v24071607.pdf and https://scottgraffius.com/publicspeaker.html, respectively.

With authorization/license from Graffius, his 'Phases of Team Development' intellectual property is featured and used by businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities around the globe. Examples include:

Adobe,
American Management Association,
Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
Bayer
Boston University,
Broadcom,
Cisco,
Deimos Aerospace,
DevOps Institute,
Erste Group Bank AG (Austria),
FINAT,
Ford Motor Company,
FSU College of Medicine,
Hasso Plattner Institute,
IEEE,
James Madison University,
Johns Hopkins University,
LeadingEng,
London South Bank University,
Manufacturers Alliance,
Microsoft,
New Zealand Government,
Oracle,
Mary Raum (Professor of National Security Affairs, United States Naval War College),
Royal Australasian College of Physicians,
TBS Switzerland,
Torrens University Australia,
Tufts University,
U.S. National Park Service,
U.S. Soccer,
U.S. Tennis Association,
UC San Diego,
UK Sports Institute,
University of Galway Ireland,
Victorian Institute of Technology (Australia),
Virginia Tech,
Warsaw University,
Western Sydney University,
World Resources Institute,
Yale University,
ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences,
and many others.

National Cheng Kung University, a leading research institution in Taiwan known for its strong programs and innovations in engineering and beyond, was added to the list!

As shown below, it incorporated the 2023 edition of Graffius’ 'Phases of Team Development' material into its curriculum.

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The current (2025) edition of Graffius' 'Phases of Team Development' work is here.

Read on for:

About National Cheng Kung University,
About Scott M. Graffius,
How to Cite This Article,
and more.

About National Cheng Kung University

National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) is a comprehensive public research university known for its strong programs in engineering, science, medicine, and planning and design. Founded in 1931, it is one of the oldest universities in Taiwan and is recognized both nationally and internationally for its academic and research achievements. Visit https://web.ncku.edu.tw to learn more.

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About Scott M. Graffius

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Scott M. Graffius sparks breakthroughs in AI, agile, and project management/PMO leadership as a globally recognized practitioner, researcher, thought leader, award-winning author, and international public speaker.

Graffius has generated more than USD $1.9 billion in business value for organizations served, including Fortune 500 companies. Businesses and industries range from technology (including R&D and AI) to entertainment, financial services, and healthcare, government, social media, and more.

Graffius leads the professional services firm Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, along with its subsidiary Exceptional Agility. These consultancies offer strategic and tactical advisory, training, embedded talent, and consulting services to public, private, and government sectors. They help organizations enhance their capabilities and results in agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership, supporting innovation and driving competitive advantage. The consultancies confidently back services with a Delighted Client Guarantee™. Graffius is a former vice president of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more. He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets.

He is the author of two award-winning books.

His first book, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions (ISBN-13: 9781533370242), received 17 awards.
His second book is Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change (ISBN-13: 9781072447962). BookAuthority named it one of the best Scrum books of all time.

Organizations around the world invite Graffius to speak on tech (including AI), agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership. He has developed and delivered unique and compelling talks and workshops. To date, Graffius has delivered 93 sessions across 25 countries. Select examples of events include Agile Trends Gov, BSides (Newcastle Upon Tyne), Conf42 Quantum Computing, DevDays Europe, DevOps Institute, DevOpsDays (Geneva), Frug’Agile, IEEE, Microsoft, Scottish Summit, Scrum Alliance RSG (Nepal), Techstars, and W Love Games International Video Game Development Conference (Helsinki), and more. With an average rating of 4.81 (on a scale of 1-5), sessions are highly valued.

Prominent businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities have featured Graffius and his work including content from his books, talks, workshops, and more. Select examples include:

Adobe,
American Management Association,
Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
Bayer,
BMC Software,
Boston University,
Broadcom,
Cisco,
Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts Germany,
Computer Weekly,
Constructor University Germany,
Data Governance Success,
Deimos Aerospace,
DevOps Institute,
EU's European Commission,
Ford Motor Company,
GoDaddy,
Harvard Medical School,
Hasso Plattner Institute Germany,
IEEE,
Innovation Project Management,
Johns Hopkins University,
Journal of Neurosurgery,
Lam Research (Semiconductors),
Leadership Worthy,
Life Sciences Trainers and Educators Network,
London South Bank University,
Microsoft,
NASSCOM,
National Academy of Sciences,
New Zealand Government,
Oracle,
Pinterest Inc.,
Project Management Institute,
SANS Institute,
SBG Neumark Germany,
Singapore Institute of Technology,
Torrens University Australia,
TBS Switzerland,
Tufts University,
UC San Diego,
UK Sports Institute,
University of Galway Ireland,
US Department of Energy,
US National Park Service,
US Tennis Association,
Veleučilište u Rijeci Croatia,
Verizon,
Virginia Tech,
Warsaw University of Technology,
Wrike,
Yale University,
and many others.

Graffius has been actively involved with the Project Management Institute (PMI) in the development of professional standards. He was a member of the team which produced the Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures—Second Edition. Graffius was a contributor and reviewer of A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge—Sixth Edition, The Standard for Program Management—Fourth Edition, and The Practice Standard for Project Estimating—Second Edition. He was also a subject matter expert reviewer of content for the PMI’s Congress. Beyond the PMI, Graffius also served as a member of the review team for two of the Scrum Alliance’s Global Scrum Gatherings.

Graffius has a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a focus in Human Factors. He holds eight professional certifications:

Certified SAFe 6 Agilist (SA),
Certified Scrum Professional - ScrumMaster (CSP-SM),
Certified Scrum Professional - Product Owner (CSP-PO),
Certified ScrumMaster (CSM),
Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO),
Project Management Professional (PMP),
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB), and
IT Service Management Foundation (ITIL).

Sign up for Miro—it's free!

(Want more features? You can always upgrade to a paid plan.)

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How to Cite This Article

Graffius, Scott M. (2025, April 5). NCKU in Taiwan Integrates Graffius' 'Phases of Team Development' into Its Curriculum. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/ncku-in-taiwan-integrates-graffius-phases-of-team-development-into-its-curriculum.html.

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Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

DOI: (coming soon)

Content Acknowledgements

This article includes brief excerpts from National Cheng Kung University (NCKU), attributed and used under fair use for news reporting and analysis.

National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) name and mark are the property of NCKU.

Graffius' 'Phases of Team Development' is copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

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Top 5 Hashtags

#PhasesOfTeamDevelopment
#NCKU
#TeamDynamics
#InstructionalDesign
#TuckmanModel

Copyright

Copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

Content on this site—including text, images, videos, and data—may not be used for training or input into any artificial intelligence, machine learning, or automatized learning systems, or published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.

Tags: Phases Of Team Development • team dynamics • NCKU • University Curriculum • Tuckman Model

The Art and Science of Aligning Initiatives with Strategic Objectives

04 April 2025

BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com

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Introduction

Scott M. Graffius sparks breakthroughs in AI, Agile, and Project Management/PMO leadership as a globally recognized practitioner, researcher, thought leader, award-winning author, and international public speaker.

To date, he's delivered talks and workshops at 93 conferences and other events across 25 countries. This article explores the his talk, 'Score and Prioritize Proposed Initiatives Based on Multiple Factors, Including Strategic Alignment.'

Main Body

Abstract for Graffius' Talk

"57% more projects meet goals when they are aligned with strategic objectives" (from PMI). How does your organization assess proposals for new projects? Is there a well-defined scoring and prioritization process based on alignment with the business’ strategic objectives and other factors to quickly and easily identify the objective value of each proposal? If the answer is "no," this talk should prove to be valuable. If the answer is "yes," you’re still likely to find practical information and examples to adapt and adopt.

Key Learning Objectives for Graffius' Talk

This session helps participants develop and enhance the contributions they make by being able to:

Understand the benefits of scoring and prioritizing project proposals based on strategic alignment and other factors.
Identify selection and prioritization criteria appropriate for your unique organization, leveraging the flexible framework and some or all of the 10 factors.
Put the practical, actionable information presented to use.

Conclusion

Graffius' 'Score and Prioritize Proposed Initiatives Based on Multiple Factors, Including Strategic Alignment' session helps professionals make smarter decisions that drive real business impact. Whether one is refining their current approach or building one from scratch, the session offers practical insights that can be immediately applied.

Ask Scott to speak at your event. Just complete the speaker engagement request form or email him today!

Read on for:

About Scott M. Graffius,
How to Cite This Article,
and more.

About Scott M. Graffius

scott_m_graffius_-_blue_-_1000x1000_-lwres

Scott M. Graffius sparks breakthroughs in AI, agile, and project management/PMO leadership as a globally recognized practitioner, researcher, thought leader, award-winning author, and international public speaker.

Graffius has generated more than USD $1.9 billion in business value for organizations served, including Fortune 500 companies. Businesses and industries range from technology (including R&D and AI) to entertainment, financial services, and healthcare, government, social media, and more.

Graffius leads the professional services firm Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, along with its subsidiary Exceptional Agility. These consultancies offer strategic and tactical advisory, training, embedded talent, and consulting services to public, private, and government sectors. They help organizations enhance their capabilities and results in agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership, supporting innovation and driving competitive advantage. The consultancies confidently back services with a Delighted Client Guarantee™. Graffius is a former vice president of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more. He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets.

He is the author of two award-winning books.

His first book, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions (ISBN-13: 9781533370242), received 17 awards.
His second book is Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change (ISBN-13: 9781072447962). BookAuthority named it one of the best Scrum books of all time.

Organizations around the world invite Graffius to speak on tech (including AI), agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership. He has developed and delivered unique and compelling talks and workshops. To date, Graffius has delivered 93 sessions across 25 countries. Select examples of events include Agile Trends Gov, BSides (Newcastle Upon Tyne), Conf42 Quantum Computing, DevDays Europe, DevOps Institute, DevOpsDays (Geneva), Frug’Agile, IEEE, Microsoft, Scottish Summit, Scrum Alliance RSG (Nepal), Techstars, and W Love Games International Video Game Development Conference (Helsinki), and more. With an average rating of 4.81 (on a scale of 1-5), sessions are highly valued.

Prominent businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities have featured Graffius and his work including content from his books, talks, workshops, and more. Select examples include:

Adobe,
American Management Association,
Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
Bayer,
BMC Software,
Boston University,
Broadcom,
Cisco,
Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts Germany,
Computer Weekly,
Constructor University Germany,
Data Governance Success,
Deimos Aerospace,
DevOps Institute,
EU's European Commission,
Ford Motor Company,
GoDaddy,
Harvard Medical School,
Hasso Plattner Institute Germany,
IEEE,
Innovation Project Management,
Johns Hopkins University,
Journal of Neurosurgery,
Lam Research (Semiconductors),
Leadership Worthy,
Life Sciences Trainers and Educators Network,
London South Bank University,
Microsoft,
NASSCOM,
National Academy of Sciences,
New Zealand Government,
Oracle,
Pinterest Inc.,
Project Management Institute,
SANS Institute,
SBG Neumark Germany,
Singapore Institute of Technology,
Torrens University Australia,
TBS Switzerland,
Tufts University,
UC San Diego,
UK Sports Institute,
University of Galway Ireland,
US Department of Energy,
US National Park Service,
US Tennis Association,
Veleučilište u Rijeci Croatia,
Verizon,
Virginia Tech,
Warsaw University of Technology,
Wrike,
Yale University,
and many others.

Graffius has been actively involved with the Project Management Institute (PMI) in the development of professional standards. He was a member of the team which produced the Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures—Second Edition. Graffius was a contributor and reviewer of A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge—Sixth Edition, The Standard for Program Management—Fourth Edition, and The Practice Standard for Project Estimating—Second Edition. He was also a subject matter expert reviewer of content for the PMI’s Congress. Beyond the PMI, Graffius also served as a member of the review team for two of the Scrum Alliance’s Global Scrum Gatherings.

Graffius has a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a focus in Human Factors. He holds eight professional certifications:

Certified SAFe 6 Agilist (SA),
Certified Scrum Professional - ScrumMaster (CSP-SM),
Certified Scrum Professional - Product Owner (CSP-PO),
Certified ScrumMaster (CSM),
Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO),
Project Management Professional (PMP),
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB), and
IT Service Management Foundation (ITIL).

Sign up for Miro—it's free!

(Want more features? You can always upgrade to a paid plan.)

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How to Cite This Article

Graffius, Scott M. (2025, April 4). The Art and Science of Aligning Initiatives with Strategic Objectives. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/scott-m-graffius-presents-the-art-and-science-of-aligning-initiatives-with-strategic-objectives.html.

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scott_m_graffius_-_blog_spacer_-_v23111107_-_x---rev-24101207---doi----lwres

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

DOI: (coming soon)

Content Acknowledgements

Names, marks, and content are the property of their respective owners.

Graffius' 'Score and Prioritize Proposed Initiatives Based on Multiple Factors, Including Strategic Alignment' is copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

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Post-Publication Notes

If there's an update after this article is published, the information will appear here.

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Top 5 Hashtags

#StrategicAlignment
#Prioritization
#DecisionMaking
#PMOLeadership
#BusinessImpact

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Copyright

Copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

Content on this site—including text, images, videos, and data—may not be used for training or input into any artificial intelligence, machine learning, or automatized learning systems, or published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.

Tags: Strategic alignment • Initiative scoring • Prioritization framework • Decision-making • PMO Leadership

RGPV University Adds Scott M. Graffius’ "Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions" to Its Syllabus

31 March 2025

BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com

rgpv-university-includes-agile-scrum-book-by-scott-m-graffius---lwres

Introduction

Rajiv Gandhi Proudyogiki Vishwavidyalaya (RGPV), a leading state university in India, updated its curriculum. Recognized for its strong emphasis on technology and applied sciences, RGPV oversees over 400 colleges and institutes nationwide. As part of its commitment to equipping students with cutting-edge knowledge, the university has added Scott M. Graffius’ award-winning book, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions, to its syllabus. A visual follows.

rgpv-university-includes-agile-scrum-book-by-scott-m-graffius---excerpt-lwres

rgpv-university-includes-agile-scrum-book-by-scott-m-graffius---excerpt-lwres

This inclusion underscores RGPV’s dedication to preparing students for the fast-paced world of software development and project management.

Advancing Agile Knowledge

Scott M. Graffius is a highly regarded Agile practitioner, researcher, thought leader, author, and speaker. His book Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions has become a go-to resource for beginners and seasoned professionals. With its practical, hands-on approach, the book breaks down Agile Scrum’s core principles and practices into an easy-to-follow format, ensuring readers can quickly grasp and apply the information.

By incorporating this book into its curriculum, RGPV aims to provide students with actionable insights and real-world skills that are highly sought after in today’s evolving technology landscape. Agile methodologies continue to gain traction globally, and this initiative positions RGPV students at the forefront of industry trends. The book’s inclusion reinforces the university’s reputation as an institution that prioritizes practical, career-ready education.

Why This Book Matters

Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions has been widely praised by industry professionals and educators for its clarity and effectiveness in teaching Agile concepts. The book caters to a broad audience, including those new to Scrum, as well as experienced professionals such as Product Owners, Scrum Masters, and Development Team members (business analysts, architects, designers, developers, testers, etc.). It also serves as a valuable reference for Agile coaches, executives, managers, customers, and other stakeholders.

For students pursuing careers in software development, project management, and related fields, this book offers a solid foundation in Agile Scrum—an approach that continues to shape how modern teams operate and innovate.

Conclusion

The addition of Graffius' award-winning book to RGPV’s syllabus marks a notable advancement in the university’s academic offerings. It reflects RGPV’s dedication to providing an education that aligns with industry demands, ensuring graduates are well-equipped for the challenges of today’s workforce. With access to this invaluable resource, students will develop the knowledge and skills necessary to excel in Agile environments.

Credit to Chris Hare and Colin Giffen, the technical editors of the award-winning book.

Order your copy of Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions today!

Read on for:

About Rajiv Gandhi Proudyogiki Vishwavidyalaya (RGPV) University,
About Scott M. Graffius,
How to Cite This Article,
and more.

About Rajiv Gandhi Proudyogiki Vishwavidyalaya (RGPV) University

Rajiv Gandhi Proudyogiki Vishwavidyalaya (RGPV), also known as Rajiv Gandhi Technical University, is a state university located in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India. Established in 1998, RGPV serves as a multi-campus affiliating institution, offering a wide array of undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs across disciplines such as engineering, technology, pharmacy, management, architecture, design, and applied sciences. The university is accredited with an 'A' grade by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC). Its expansive campus covers approximately 247 acres. RGPV affiliates numerous institutions, including 200 engineering colleges, 98 pharmacy colleges, 95 MCA colleges, and 4 architecture colleges. For more information, visit their website at: https://www.rgpv.ac.in.

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About Scott M. Graffius

scott_m_graffius_-_blue_-_1000x1000_-lwres

Scott M. Graffius sparks breakthroughs in AI, agile, and project management/PMO leadership as a globally recognized practitioner, researcher, thought leader, award-winning author, and international public speaker.

Graffius has generated more than USD $1.9 billion in business value for organizations served, including Fortune 500 companies. Businesses and industries range from technology (including R&D and AI) to entertainment, financial services, and healthcare, government, social media, and more.

Graffius leads the professional services firm Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, along with its subsidiary Exceptional Agility. These consultancies offer strategic and tactical advisory, training, embedded talent, and consulting services to public, private, and government sectors. They help organizations enhance their capabilities and results in agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership, supporting innovation and driving competitive advantage. The consultancies confidently back services with a Delighted Client Guarantee™. Graffius is a former vice president of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more. He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets.

He is the author of two award-winning books.

His first book, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions (ISBN-13: 9781533370242), received 17 awards.
His second book is Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change (ISBN-13: 9781072447962). BookAuthority named it one of the best Scrum books of all time.

Organizations around the world invite Graffius to speak on tech (including AI), agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership. He has developed and delivered unique and compelling talks and workshops. To date, Graffius has delivered 92 sessions across 25 countries. Select examples of events include Agile Trends Gov, BSides (Newcastle Upon Tyne), Conf42 Quantum Computing, DevDays Europe, DevOps Institute, DevOpsDays (Geneva), Frug’Agile, IEEE, Microsoft, Scottish Summit, Scrum Alliance RSG (Nepal), Techstars, and W Love Games International Video Game Development Conference (Helsinki), and more. With an average rating of 4.81 (on a scale of 1-5), sessions are highly valued.

Prominent businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities have featured Graffius and his work including content from his books, talks, workshops, and more. Select examples include:

Adobe,
American Management Association,
Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
Bayer,
BMC Software,
Boston University,
Broadcom,
Cisco,
Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts Germany,
Computer Weekly,
Constructor University Germany,
Data Governance Success,
Deimos Aerospace,
DevOps Institute,
EU's European Commission,
Ford Motor Company,
GoDaddy,
Harvard Medical School,
Hasso Plattner Institute Germany,
IEEE,
Innovation Project Management,
Johns Hopkins University,
Journal of Neurosurgery,
Lam Research (Semiconductors),
Leadership Worthy,
Life Sciences Trainers and Educators Network,
London South Bank University,
Microsoft,
NASSCOM,
National Academy of Sciences,
New Zealand Government,
Oracle,
Pinterest Inc.,
Project Management Institute,
SANS Institute,
SBG Neumark Germany,
Singapore Institute of Technology,
Torrens University Australia,
TBS Switzerland,
Tufts University,
UC San Diego,
UK Sports Institute,
University of Galway Ireland,
US Department of Energy,
US National Park Service,
US Tennis Association,
Veleučilište u Rijeci Croatia,
Verizon,
Virginia Tech,
Warsaw University of Technology,
Wrike,
Yale University,
and many others.

Graffius has been actively involved with the Project Management Institute (PMI) in the development of professional standards. He was a member of the team which produced the Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures—Second Edition. Graffius was a contributor and reviewer of A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge—Sixth Edition, The Standard for Program Management—Fourth Edition, and The Practice Standard for Project Estimating—Second Edition. He was also a subject matter expert reviewer of content for the PMI’s Congress. Beyond the PMI, Graffius also served as a member of the review team for two of the Scrum Alliance’s Global Scrum Gatherings.

Graffius has a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a focus in Human Factors. He holds eight professional certifications:

Certified SAFe 6 Agilist (SA),
Certified Scrum Professional - ScrumMaster (CSP-SM),
Certified Scrum Professional - Product Owner (CSP-PO),
Certified ScrumMaster (CSM),
Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO),
Project Management Professional (PMP),
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB), and
IT Service Management Foundation (ITIL).

Sign up for Miro—it's free!

(Want more features? You can always upgrade to a paid plan.)

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scott_m_graffius_-_blog_spacer_-_v23111107_-_cite

How to Cite This Article

Graffius, Scott M. (2025, March 31). RGPV University Adds Scott M. Graffius’ "Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions" to Its Syllabus. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/rgpv-adds-scott-m-graffius-agile-scrum-your-quick-start-guide-with-step-by-step-instructions-book-to-its-syllabus.html.

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Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

DOI: (coming soon)

Content Acknowledgements

This article includes brief excerpts from RGPV, attributed and used under fair use for news reporting and analysis.

Rajiv Gandhi Proudyogiki Vishwavidyalaya (RGPV) name and mark are the property of RGPV Bhopal.

Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions is copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

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Post-Publication Notes

If there's an update after this article is published, the information will appear here.

scott_m_graffius_-_blog_spacer_-_v23111107_-_x---rev-25062907---hashtags---lwres

Top 5 Hashtags

#Agile
#Scrum
#RGPV
#UniversityCurriculum
#Tech

Copyright

Copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

Content on this site—including text, images, videos, and data—may not be used for training or input into any artificial intelligence, machine learning, or automatized learning systems, or published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.

Tags: Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions • RGVP • University Curriculum • Tech Education • innovation

Introducing ‘Engage or Fade: Decoding the Half-Life of Digital Resonance’ – A New Talk by Scott M. Graffius

28 March 2025

BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com

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Introduction

In today’s fast-paced digital world, where engagement drives success, knowing how long your content captures attention and sustains impact is crucial. From the fleeting buzz of a Snapchat post to the lasting presence of a blog, the lifespan of social media content varies widely across platforms. Still, creators, brands, and companies all grapple with the same question: how can we maximize engagement in an environment where relevance can fade quickly—and at different rates?

Scott M. Graffius’ research on the "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts" provides the answer. His work has been widely recognized and utilized by businesses, professional associations, government agencies, universities, scientists, and journalists alike. Notable mentions include Buffer, GoDaddy, Pinterest Inc., the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and many more.

Graffius has developed and delivered highly-rated talks and workshops at 92 conferences and other events across 25 countries. Now, he introduces a new topic: "Engage or Fade: Decoding the Half-Life of Digital Resonance"—an evolution of his social media research that uncovers the secrets to capturing attention, sustaining engagement, and maximizing digital impact.

Main Body

Abstract for Graffius' Talk

Snapchat posts typically vanish from relevance in seconds, while a blog post can engage audiences for over two years. In a digital economy where engagement drives value, mastering the lifespan of social media content is a strategic advantage. Led by Scott M. Graffius—expert in the temporal dynamics of social media, researcher, author, and international speaker—this session builds on his groundbreaking "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts" research. The 2025 edition of his work examined over 5 million posts across Snapchat, TikTok, X, Facebook, Reddit, Instagram, LinkedIn, podcasts, YouTube, Pinterest, and blogs, harnessing data from APIs, proprietary datasets, academic consortia, public repositories, and beyond. His findings reveal the average half-life of content on these platforms, offering surprising insights and actionable strategies to boost engagement and success. This session equips individuals, companies, and brands with cutting-edge, data-driven tactics to amplify digital engagement and impact.

Key Learning Objectives for Graffius' Talk

Master the Half-Life Framework: Grasp how quickly social media engagement halves, distinguishing views (reach) from engagement (impact) to measure content effectiveness.
Tailor Tactics to Platforms: Optimize timing and frequency for each platform’s unique lifespan—from X’s fleeting buzz to Pinterest’s lasting appeal—to enhance visibility and interaction.
Drive Lasting Impact: Acquire strategies to extend content relevance and deepen resonance, merging agile insights with practical applications to elevate digital performance.

Conclusion

Graffius' new talk—"Engage or Fade: Decoding the Half-Life of Digital Resonance"—equips audiences with cutting-edge, data-driven tactics to amplify digital engagement and impact.

Ask Scott to speak at your event. Just complete the speaker engagement request form or email him today!

The most current (2025) edition of Graffius' "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts" research is here.

Read on for:

About Scott M. Graffius,
How to Cite This Article,
and more.

About Scott M. Graffius

scott_m_graffius_-_blue_-_1000x1000_-lwres

Scott M. Graffius sparks breakthroughs in AI, agile, and project management/PMO leadership as a globally recognized practitioner, researcher, thought leader, award-winning author, and international public speaker.

Graffius has generated more than USD $1.9 billion in business value for organizations served, including Fortune 500 companies. Businesses and industries range from technology (including R&D and AI) to entertainment, financial services, and healthcare, government, social media, and more.

Graffius leads the professional services firm Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, along with its subsidiary Exceptional Agility. These consultancies offer strategic and tactical advisory, training, embedded talent, and consulting services to public, private, and government sectors. They help organizations enhance their capabilities and results in agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership, supporting innovation and driving competitive advantage. The consultancies confidently back services with a Delighted Client Guarantee™. Graffius is a former vice president of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more. He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets.

He is the author of two award-winning books.

His first book, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions (ISBN-13: 9781533370242), received 17 awards.
His second book is Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change (ISBN-13: 9781072447962). BookAuthority named it one of the best Scrum books of all time.

Organizations around the world invite Graffius to speak on tech (including AI), agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership. He has developed and delivered unique and compelling talks and workshops. To date, Graffius has delivered 92 sessions across 25 countries. Select examples of events include Agile Trends Gov, BSides (Newcastle Upon Tyne), Conf42 Quantum Computing, DevDays Europe, DevOps Institute, DevOpsDays (Geneva), Frug’Agile, IEEE, Microsoft, Scottish Summit, Scrum Alliance RSG (Nepal), Techstars, and W Love Games International Video Game Development Conference (Helsinki), and more. With an average rating of 4.81 (on a scale of 1-5), sessions are highly valued.

Prominent businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities have featured Graffius and his work including content from his books, talks, workshops, and more. Select examples include:

Adobe,
American Management Association,
Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
Bayer,
BMC Software,
Boston University,
Broadcom,
Cisco,
Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts Germany,
Computer Weekly,
Constructor University Germany,
Data Governance Success,
Deimos Aerospace,
DevOps Institute,
EU's European Commission,
Ford Motor Company,
GoDaddy,
Harvard Medical School,
Hasso Plattner Institute Germany,
IEEE,
Innovation Project Management,
Johns Hopkins University,
Journal of Neurosurgery,
Lam Research (Semiconductors),
Leadership Worthy,
Life Sciences Trainers and Educators Network,
London South Bank University,
Microsoft,
NASSCOM,
National Academy of Sciences,
New Zealand Government,
Oracle,
Pinterest Inc.,
Project Management Institute,
SANS Institute,
SBG Neumark Germany,
Singapore Institute of Technology,
Torrens University Australia,
TBS Switzerland,
Tufts University,
UC San Diego,
UK Sports Institute,
University of Galway Ireland,
US Department of Energy,
US National Park Service,
US Tennis Association,
Veleučilište u Rijeci Croatia,
Verizon,
Virginia Tech,
Warsaw University of Technology,
Wrike,
Yale University,
and many others.

Graffius has been actively involved with the Project Management Institute (PMI) in the development of professional standards. He was a member of the team which produced the Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures—Second Edition. Graffius was a contributor and reviewer of A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge—Sixth Edition, The Standard for Program Management—Fourth Edition, and The Practice Standard for Project Estimating—Second Edition. He was also a subject matter expert reviewer of content for the PMI’s Congress. Beyond the PMI, Graffius also served as a member of the review team for two of the Scrum Alliance’s Global Scrum Gatherings.

Graffius has a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a focus in Human Factors. He holds eight professional certifications:

Certified SAFe 6 Agilist (SA),
Certified Scrum Professional - ScrumMaster (CSP-SM),
Certified Scrum Professional - Product Owner (CSP-PO),
Certified ScrumMaster (CSM),
Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO),
Project Management Professional (PMP),
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB), and
IT Service Management Foundation (ITIL).

Sign up for Miro—it's free!

(Want more features? You can always upgrade to a paid plan.)

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How to Cite This Article

Graffius, Scott M. (2025, March 28). Introducing 'Engage or Fade: Decoding the Half-Life of Digital Resonance' – A New Talk by Scott M. Graffius. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/introducing-engage-or-fade-decoding-the-half-life-of-digital-resonance-–-a-new-talk-by-scott-m-graffius.html.

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scott_m_graffius_-_blog_spacer_-_v23111107_-_x---rev-24101207---doi----lwres

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

DOI: (coming soon)

Content Acknowledgements

Names, marks, and content are the property of their respective owners.

Graffius' 'Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts' is copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

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Post-Publication Notes

If there's an update after this article is published, the information will appear here.

Update on 29 March 2025

Graffius developed Alternate 1 and Alternate 2 as slightly modified versions of his talk. Details follow.

Alternate 1

Abstract for Graffius' Talk

Snapchat posts typically vanish from relevance in seconds, while a blog post can engage audiences for over two years. In a digital economy where engagement drives value, mastering the lifespan of social media content is a strategic advantage. Led by Scott M. Graffius—expert in the temporal dynamics of social media, researcher, author, and international speaker—this session builds on his groundbreaking "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts" research. The 2025 edition of his work examined over 5 million posts across Snapchat, TikTok, X, Facebook, Reddit, Instagram, LinkedIn, podcasts, YouTube, Pinterest, and blogs, harnessing data from APIs, proprietary datasets, academic consortia, public repositories, and beyond. His findings reveal the average half-life of content on these platforms, offering surprising insights and actionable strategies to boost engagement and success. This session dives into the latest findings, equipping individuals, companies, and brands with advanced, data-backed approaches to maximize impact in an engagement-driven economy.

Key Learning Objectives for Graffius' Talk

Decode the Half-Life Edge: Explore refined metrics on how engagement decays across platforms, dissecting the interplay of reach versus impact to fine-tune performance analysis.
Platform-Specific Precision: Leverage new lifespan data to adjust timing and cadence, capitalizing on each channel’s unique rhythm—from X’s rapid churn to Pinterest’s enduring pull—for superior visibility and interaction.
Amplify Strategic Resonance: Uncover cutting-edge tactics to extend content lifecycles and deepen audience connection, blending agile insights with actionable refinements to push digital outcomes further.

Alternate 2

Abstract for Graffius' Talk

In a digital arms race where Snapchat posts typically evaporate in seconds and blogs posts can be active for years, engagement isn’t just king—it’s the entire kingdom. Yet many strategies miss the mark. Led by Scott M. Graffius—expert in the temporal dynamics of social media, researcher, author, and international speaker—this session unveils the 2025 edition of his pioneering 'Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts' research. Powered by 5M+ posts scraped from APIs, proprietary datasets, and academic goldmines, it decodes the engagement half-life clock ticking over Snapchat, TikTok, X, Facebook, Reddit, Instagram, LinkedIn, podcasts, YouTube, Pinterest, and blogs. Graffius delivers actionable, data-driven tactics to spark engagement and deepen influence—whatever your digital endgame. This is your edge in mastering content lifespan for maximum impact.

Key Learning Objectives for Graffius' Talk

Decode the Half-Life Edge: Explore refined metrics on how engagement decays across platforms, dissecting the interplay of reach (views) versus impact (engagement) to fine-tune performance analysis.
Platform-Specific Precision: Leverage new lifespan data to adjust timing and cadence, capitalizing on each channel’s unique rhythm—from X’s rapid churn to Pinterest’s enduring pull—for superior visibility and interaction.
Amplify Strategic Resonance: Uncover cutting-edge tactics to extend content lifecycles and deepen audience connection, blending agile insights with actionable refinements to push digital outcomes further.

Copyright

Copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

Content on this site—including text, images, videos, and data—may not be used for training or input into any artificial intelligence, machine learning, or automatized learning systems, or published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.

Tags: #BrandStrategy • #SocialMediaMarketing • #SocialMediaHalfLife • #SocialMediaResearch • #SocialMediaGrowth • #SocialMediaStrategy • Social Media Expert • #SocialMediaTips • #WorkshopLeader • cutting-edge, data-driven tactics to amplify digital engagement and impact • #Speaker • Facebook • digital economy • Social Media • Reddit • Public Speaker on Social Media • podcasts • Pinterest • LinkedIn • Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts • Instagram • expert in the temporal dynamics of social media • Engage or Fade: Decoding the Half-Life of Digital Resonance • distinguishing views (reach) from engagement (impact) • #SocialMediaTrends • blogs • #SocialMediaEngagement • #SocialMediaAnalytics • #BusinessStrategy • #ConferenceSpeaker • #ContentLifespan • #ContentMarketing • #CorporateSpeaker • TikTok • X • SMM • YouTube • Snapchat • #SocialMedia • Scott M. Graffius • #PublicSpeaker • Social Media Engagement • #MarketingTactics • #MarketingResearch • #MarketingInsights • #MarketingAnalytics • #KeynoteSpeaker • #EngagementStrategy • #EngagementMetrics • #DigitalSuccess • #DigitalStrategy • #DigitalMarketing • #DigitalEngagement • Speaker on Social Media • Social Media Speaker • Social Media Public Speaker • Social Media Half-Life • #DataDrivenMarketing

Dropbox Company (Nira) Taps into Scott M. Graffius’ Expertise in Strategic Planning

21 March 2025

BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com

dropbox-taps-into-scott-m-graffius-expertise-in-strategic-planning---v2-lwres

Introduction

In 2024, Dropbox, a leader in cloud storage and collaboration, broadened its vision by acquiring Nira, a company focused on boosting team productivity through innovative tools. This acquisition aligned with the launch of Dropbox Dash for Business, an AI-powered universal search tool designed to streamline workflows for over 1 billion knowledge workers worldwide.

Scott M. Graffius is honored that Dropbox company Nira has recognized his expertise in strategic planning by featuring his work in their article on retrospective meetings, credited as "Adapted by FYI from Scott Graffius" and "www.scottgraffius.com." Views follow.

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This nod highlights the power of strategic planning in fostering clarity and impact—core values that resonate with Dropbox’s mission. This article explores how this recognition underscores the rising value of structured collaboration in today’s dynamic work landscape.

Main Body

Impact mapping turns abstract goals into actionable steps. It addresses four key questions—Why? Who? How? What?—to create a visual roadmap linking objectives, stakeholders, desired impacts, and deliverables. By charting the "shortest path" to success, it helps teams prioritize the most effective actions. Nira’s article on retrospective meetings—a process where teams reflect on past sprints/projects to improve future outcomes—demonstrates how impact mapping elevates this practice. By charting the effects of deliverables on key stakeholders, teams can identify what delivered value and where refinements are needed, transforming retrospectives into a springboard for progress.

Dropbox’s 2024 acquisition of Nira amplifies this emphasis on productivity and alignment. With Dash for Business, Dropbox addresses information overload by integrating search across platforms like Google Workspace and Asana, tapping into an $8 billion universal search market set to double in size. Impact mapping complements this innovation by offering strategic clarity, enabling teams to maximize tools. Nira’s inclusion of Graffius’ work signals how strategic planning bridges intent and execution, aligning with Dropbox’s aim to simplify collaboration.

Conclusion

For Graffius, recognition from Dropbox's Nira is a meaningful affirmation of universal relevance of strategic planning. He is eager to see how Dropbox continues to embed strategic clarity into its growing suite of solutions. This milestone strengthens his commitment to advancing strategic planning, shaping the future of collaboration with precision and purpose.

To learn more about impact mapping, read this article.

Read on for:

About Nira,
About Dropbox,
About Scott M. Graffius,
How to Cite This Article,
and more.

About Nira

Nira, acquired by Dropbox, is a content governance platform that provides a suite of in-depth functionality to protect cloud files from unauthorized access. With Nira, Dropbox designed a custom solution built directly into Dash, so businesses can easily protect confidential documents in just a few clicks. Admins can now see everything that’s been shared in their company, across every major content platform, in one place. Then, they can identify sensitive content and manage bulk changes for any number of assets at once—eliminating a previously tedious and manual document-by-document process.
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About Dropbox

Dropbox is the one place to keep life organized and keep work moving. With more than 700 million registered users across approximately 180 countries, it’s on a mission to design a more enlightened way of working. Dropbox is headquartered in San Francisco, California, and has employees around the world. For more information, visit https://dropbox.com.

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About Scott M. Graffius

scott_m_graffius_-_blue_-_1000x1000_-lwres

Scott M. Graffius sparks breakthroughs in AI, agile, and project management/PMO leadership as a globally recognized practitioner, researcher, thought leader, award-winning author, and international public speaker.

Graffius has generated more than USD $1.9 billion in business value for organizations served, including Fortune 500 companies. Businesses and industries range from technology (including R&D and AI) to entertainment, financial services, and healthcare, government, social media, and more.

Graffius leads the professional services firm Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, along with its subsidiary Exceptional Agility. These consultancies offer strategic and tactical advisory, training, embedded talent, and consulting services to public, private, and government sectors. They help organizations enhance their capabilities and results in agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership, supporting innovation and driving competitive advantage. The consultancies confidently back services with a Delighted Client Guarantee™. Graffius is a former vice president of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more. He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets.

He is the author of two award-winning books.

His first book, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions (ISBN-13: 9781533370242), received 17 awards.
His second book is Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change (ISBN-13: 9781072447962). BookAuthority named it one of the best Scrum books of all time.

Organizations around the world invite Graffius to speak on tech (including AI), agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership. He has developed and delivered unique and compelling talks and workshops. To date, Graffius has delivered 91 sessions across 25 countries. Select examples of events include Agile Trends Gov, BSides (Newcastle Upon Tyne), Conf42 Quantum Computing, DevDays Europe, DevOps Institute, DevOpsDays (Geneva), Frug’Agile, IEEE, Microsoft, Scottish Summit, Scrum Alliance RSG (Nepal), Techstars, and W Love Games International Video Game Development Conference (Helsinki), and more. With an average rating of 4.81 (on a scale of 1-5), sessions are highly valued.

Prominent businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities have featured Graffius and his work including content from his books, talks, workshops, and more. Select examples include:

Adobe,
American Management Association,
Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
Bayer,
BMC Software,
Boston University,
Broadcom,
Cisco,
Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts Germany,
Computer Weekly,
Constructor University Germany,
Data Governance Success,
Deimos Aerospace,
DevOps Institute,
EU's European Commission,
Ford Motor Company,
GoDaddy,
Harvard Medical School,
Hasso Plattner Institute Germany,
IEEE,
Innovation Project Management,
Johns Hopkins University,
Journal of Neurosurgery,
Lam Research (Semiconductors),
Leadership Worthy,
Life Sciences Trainers and Educators Network,
London South Bank University,
Microsoft,
NASSCOM,
National Academy of Sciences,
New Zealand Government,
Oracle,
Pinterest Inc.,
Project Management Institute,
SANS Institute,
SBG Neumark Germany,
Singapore Institute of Technology,
Torrens University Australia,
TBS Switzerland,
Tufts University,
UC San Diego,
UK Sports Institute,
University of Galway Ireland,
US Department of Energy,
US National Park Service,
US Tennis Association,
Veleučilište u Rijeci Croatia,
Verizon,
Virginia Tech,
Warsaw University of Technology,
Wrike,
Yale University,
and many others.

Graffius has been actively involved with the Project Management Institute (PMI) in the development of professional standards. He was a member of the team which produced the Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures—Second Edition. Graffius was a contributor and reviewer of A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge—Sixth Edition, The Standard for Program Management—Fourth Edition, and The Practice Standard for Project Estimating—Second Edition. He was also a subject matter expert reviewer of content for the PMI’s Congress. Beyond the PMI, Graffius also served as a member of the review team for two of the Scrum Alliance’s Global Scrum Gatherings.

Graffius has a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a focus in Human Factors. He holds eight professional certifications:

Certified SAFe 6 Agilist (SA),
Certified Scrum Professional - ScrumMaster (CSP-SM),
Certified Scrum Professional - Product Owner (CSP-PO),
Certified ScrumMaster (CSM),
Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO),
Project Management Professional (PMP),
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB), and
IT Service Management Foundation (ITIL).

Sign up for Miro—it's free!

(Want more features? You can always upgrade to a paid plan.)

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scott_m_graffius_-_blog_spacer_-_v23111107_-_cite

How to Cite This Article

Graffius, Scott M. (2025, March 21). Reporting Errors in 'Frontiers in Public Health': A Case Study. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/dropbox-taps-into-scott-m-graffius-expertise-in-strategic-planning.html.

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Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

DOI: (coming soon)

Content Acknowledgements

This article includes brief excerpts from content ('12 Tricks for Running a Retrospective Meeting that People Actually Enjoy') by Dropbox company Nira, attributed and used under fair use for news reporting and analysis. Dropbox name and mark are the property of Dropbox Inc. Nira is the property of Dropbox Inc.

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Post-Publication Notes

If there's an update after this article is published, the information will appear here.

scott_m_graffius_-_blog_spacer_-_v23111107_-_x---rev-24101207---copyright---lwres

Copyright

Copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

Content on this site—including text, images, videos, and data—may not be used for training or input into any artificial intelligence, machine learning, or automatized learning systems, or published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.

Tags: #ActionableOutcomes • #Agile • #AgileMindset • #AgilePractices • AI • #AI • Strategic Planning • Why, Who, How, What • Scott M. Graffius • Nira • Agile • Agility • #Dropbox • #EffectiveFacilitation • #ImpactMapping • #ProcessEnhancement • #Nira • #Nira • #TeamBonding • Dropbox • #TeamEmpowerment • #TeamCollaboration • #TeamAcknowledgment • #StrategicPlanning • #SafeSpace • #RetrospectiveMeeting • #ReflectAndImprove • #PositiveWorkCulture • #MeetingInnovation • #MeetingRituals • #EngagingMeetings • #DiversePerspectives • #ContinuousImprovement • #ConstructiveFeedback • #CelebrateWins • Goal, Actor/Persona, Impact, Deliverable • Dropbox Company (Nira) Taps into Scott M. Graffius’ Expertise in Strategic Planning • #Agility

Reporting Errors in a Publication: A Case Study on ‘Frontiers in Public Health’

20 March 2025

BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com

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Any updates after this article is published will appear in the Post-Publication Notes section at the end of the article.

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Introduction

Errors in published works can unleash a cascade of profound effects: they corrupt the well of knowledge, deceive those seeking truth, and shatter the foundation of credibility. As explored in the widely read article on reporting errors, taking action to address such issues plays a pivotal role in ensuring the accuracy and integrity of knowledge.

But what happens when errors go unaddressed, even after being reported with detailed evidence? This article presents a case study from Graffius’ own experience, where a publication in Frontiers in Public Health mischaracterized his research on the lifespan (half-life) of social media posts (2024 edition) and incorrectly cited his work. Despite reporting these issues to the lead author and publisher, the response—or lack thereof in this case—reveals the challenges and persistence required to uphold research integrity. Through this case study, this article illustrates the error reporting process, the importance of follow-through, and the lessons learned.

Graffius' 'Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts' Research

When content is published on social media platforms, relevance and engagement have a limited lifespan. Most posts receive half of their total engagement (such as likes, shares, and comments) relatively soon, with the remainder spread out over a comparatively longer period. Said differently, plotting engagement against time typically reveals a distribution where the peak engagement occurs early, with a long tail of diminishing interaction, resembling a positively skewed unimodal distribution.

Given the above, an advantageous, objective metric for social media posts is half-life. It’s the time it takes for a post to receive half of its total engagement. Data can help inform strategic and tactical decisions, such as the frequency and scheduling of posts.

In 2018, Scott M. Graffius first published data on the average half-life of posts based on a large dataset comprised of multiple sources. Algorithms and other factors on platforms change over time. For that reason, Graffius periodically updates his 'Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts' research. His work has captured the attention of, and is used by, a diverse global audience of businesses, professional associations, government agencies, universities, and others.

Errors in Frontiers in Public Health

A paper published in Frontiers in Public Health, titled 'Public perceptions of digital mental health awareness campaign in the Arab Gulf states: a qualitative thematic analysis,' inaccurately portrayed findings from the 'Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts' research. The Frontiers authors wrongly claimed that, "the lifespan of social media posts on most platforms is, at most, 9 days," conflating 'lifespan' with 'half-life.' Their error misrepresented the research’s conclusions. Furthermore, the Frontiers paper mis-referenced Graffius’ work, citing an incorrect title and omitting the DOI, undermining the accuracy of the scholarship.

Limited excerpts from the problematic Frontiers in Public Health paper follow.

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Due to its errors, the Frontiers paper misleads readers, posing a risk of misinformation that could negatively impact future research or the improper application of its findings.

Action Taken: Reporting and Following Up on the Errors

Following Graffius' own recommendation on what to do when discovering errors (available at https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/error-reporting.html), he took action. On 18 December 2024, Graffius sent an email to the lead author, Noura Alomair, and included the editorial and publishing team at Frontiers in Public Health. The email delineated the factual error and the citation error, and it provided specific corrections for both. Excerpts from Graffius' email are shown in blue font.

1. Factual error.

The data collection section on page 03 includes this: "The lifespan of social media posts on most platforms is, at most, 9 days (19)."

However, the metric is half-life. I defined it in my research (which you cited): "The lifespan of posts is of interest, and a helpful metric is half-life. It’s the amount of time it takes for a post to receive half of its total engagement (such as likes, shares, and comments)."

Additional information — for background and context only:

When content is published online, relevance and engagement have a limited lifespan. Engagement is typically not distributed as a normal bell curve. Rather, it’s generally a unimodal distribution-based, positively skewed curve.
Here’s a description of the prototypical distribution of data (engagement): On average, most posts receive half of their total engagement relatively soon, with the remainder spread out over a comparatively long(er) period.
For those reasons, an advantageous respective objective metric for posts on social media platforms is half-life. It’s the time it takes for a post to receive half of its total engagement (such as likes, shares, and comments).
Built on a large dataset from multiple sources, Graffius’ research reveals the average lifespan (half-life) for posts on different social media platforms.
Note: Findings from others — including anecdotal experience from select posts or otherwise the experience of one person, one organization, or a limited dataset — may vary from the average half-life data in Graffius’ research.

Accordingly, I suggest that this:

"The lifespan of social media posts on most platforms is, at most, 9 days (19)."

is corrected to this (or similar):

"Posts on top social media platforms typically receive half of their total engagement (such as likes, shares, and comments) quickly, ranging from seconds to under nine days. After that half-life point, posts start to get buried in the news feed."

2. Citation error.

Except for my work, items in the references section reflect the following template/example: "Braun V, Clarke V. Reflecting on reflexive thematic analysis. Qual Res Sport, Exerc Health. (2019) 11:589– 97. doi: 10.1080/2159676X.2019.1628806". The reference for my work is shown as: "GRAFFIUS SM. Half-life for posts on different social media platforms. (2024)." My last name is in all caps, which is not consistent with other entries. Additionally, the title is wrong, and the DOI (or, alternatively, link) is missing.

I suggest that it is corrected to this:

"Graffius SM. Lifespan (half-life) of social media posts: update for 2024. (2024). doi: 10.13140/RG.2.2.21043.60965."

Except for an auto-reply from the publisher—which promised communication "within 5 business days"—there was no response to Graffius' report of the errors. As of 20 March 2025 (the date of this article), there have been 92 days of radio silence. That's deeply concerning.

Consistent with the persistence advocated for in Graffius' own error-reporting guide, he sent a follow-up email on 20 March 2025, reiterating the errors and emphasizing the importance of research integrity. He wrote, "I imagine that, like me, you value the integrity of the academic record and would want to correct these errors to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the published work." This case study—inclusive of finding and reporting errors, getting radio silence, and more—underscores challenges of ensuring accountability in publishing.

Conclusion

As demonstrated by their action or inaction, some authors, editors, and publishers appreciate finding out about errors so that they can correct them, while others do not. The error reporting experience with Frontiers in Public Health was frustrating due to inaction from both the lead author and the publishing team. Despite providing detailed evidence and following up after 92 days of silence, Graffius has yet to receive a response. This case underscores the persistence sometimes required to uphold integrity. It also highlights the importance of taking action: while the ideal response to an error report is prompt acknowledgment and correction, the reality can be radio silence—necessitating further effort.

Whether it's enhancing the experience for future readers or upholding the accuracy and integrity of scientific works, vigilance in reporting errors plays a pivotal role.

If there is an update on this case, it will appear in the Post-Publication Notes section which appears at the end of the article.

Read on for:

About Frontiers in Public Health,
About Graffius' 'Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts' Research,
About Scott M. Graffius,
How to Cite This Article,
Post-Publication Notes,
and more.

About Frontiers in Public Health

Frontiers in Public Health is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal that publishes research spanning multiple aspects of public health. Launched in 2013 by Frontiers Media, it covers topics such as health policy, epidemiology, environmental health, digital public health, and more. The journal is structured into specialty sections, including Public Mental Health, Health Economics, Aging and Public Health, and more. By fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and focused on disseminating high-quality research, Frontiers in Public Health plays a vital role in shaping public health policies and interventions worldwide.

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About Graffius' 'Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts' Research

Scientists, researchers, journalists, academics, YouTubers, podcasters, SEO experts, analysts, businesses, and others around with world feature and use Scott M. Graffius' 'Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts' research. The current (2025) edition is available here.

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About Scott M. Graffius

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Scott M. Graffius sparks breakthroughs in AI, agile, and project management/PMO leadership as a globally recognized practitioner, researcher, thought leader, award-winning author, and international public speaker.

Graffius has generated more than USD $1.9 billion in business value for organizations served, including Fortune 500 companies. Businesses and industries range from technology (including R&D and AI) to entertainment, financial services, and healthcare, government, social media, and more.

Graffius leads the professional services firm Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, along with its subsidiary Exceptional Agility. These consultancies offer strategic and tactical advisory, training, embedded talent, and consulting services to public, private, and government sectors. They help organizations enhance their capabilities and results in agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership, supporting innovation and driving competitive advantage. The consultancies confidently back services with a Delighted Client Guarantee™. Graffius is a former vice president of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more. He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets.

He is the author of two award-winning books.

His first book, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions (ISBN-13: 9781533370242), received 17 awards.
His second book is Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change (ISBN-13: 9781072447962). BookAuthority named it one of the best Scrum books of all time.

Organizations around the world invite Graffius to speak on tech (including AI), agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership. He has developed and delivered unique and compelling talks and workshops. To date, Graffius has delivered 91 sessions across 25 countries. Select examples of events include Agile Trends Gov, BSides (Newcastle Upon Tyne), Conf42 Quantum Computing, DevDays Europe, DevOps Institute, DevOpsDays (Geneva), Frug’Agile, IEEE, Microsoft, Scottish Summit, Scrum Alliance RSG (Nepal), Techstars, and W Love Games International Video Game Development Conference (Helsinki), and more. With an average rating of 4.81 (on a scale of 1-5), sessions are highly valued.

Prominent businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities have featured Graffius and his work including content from his books, talks, workshops, and more. Select examples include:

Adobe,
American Management Association,
Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
Bayer,
BMC Software,
Boston University,
Broadcom,
Cisco,
Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts Germany,
Computer Weekly,
Constructor University Germany,
Data Governance Success,
Deimos Aerospace,
DevOps Institute,
EU's European Commission,
Ford Motor Company,
GoDaddy,
Harvard Medical School,
Hasso Plattner Institute Germany,
IEEE,
Innovation Project Management,
Johns Hopkins University,
Journal of Neurosurgery,
Lam Research (Semiconductors),
Leadership Worthy,
Life Sciences Trainers and Educators Network,
London South Bank University,
Microsoft,
NASSCOM,
National Academy of Sciences,
New Zealand Government,
Oracle,
Pinterest Inc.,
Project Management Institute,
SANS Institute,
SBG Neumark Germany,
Singapore Institute of Technology,
Torrens University Australia,
TBS Switzerland,
Tufts University,
UC San Diego,
UK Sports Institute,
University of Galway Ireland,
US Department of Energy,
US National Park Service,
US Tennis Association,
Veleučilište u Rijeci Croatia,
Verizon,
Virginia Tech,
Warsaw University of Technology,
Wrike,
Yale University,
and many others.

Graffius has been actively involved with the Project Management Institute (PMI) in the development of professional standards. He was a member of the team which produced the Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures—Second Edition. Graffius was a contributor and reviewer of A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge—Sixth Edition, The Standard for Program Management—Fourth Edition, and The Practice Standard for Project Estimating—Second Edition. He was also a subject matter expert reviewer of content for the PMI’s Congress. Beyond the PMI, Graffius also served as a member of the review team for two of the Scrum Alliance’s Global Scrum Gatherings.

Graffius has a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a focus in Human Factors. He holds eight professional certifications:

Certified SAFe 6 Agilist (SA),
Certified Scrum Professional - ScrumMaster (CSP-SM),
Certified Scrum Professional - Product Owner (CSP-PO),
Certified ScrumMaster (CSM),
Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO),
Project Management Professional (PMP),
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB), and
IT Service Management Foundation (ITIL).

Sign up for Miro—it's free!

(Want more features? You can always upgrade to a paid plan.)

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scott_m_graffius_-_blog_spacer_-_v23111107_-_cite

How to Cite This Article

Graffius, Scott M. (2025, March 20). Reporting Errors in 'Frontiers in Public Health': A Case Study. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/reporting-errors-in-frontiers-of-public-health-publication.html.

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scott_m_graffius_-_blog_spacer_-_v23111107_-_x---rev-24101207---doi----lwres

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

DOI: (coming soon)

Content Acknowledgements

This article includes brief excerpts from Frontiers in Public Health ('Public perceptions of digital mental health awareness campaign in the Arab Gulf states: a qualitative thematic analysis' by Noura Alomair, Ghadah Alkhaldi, Norah M. Alsadhan, Rawan Alkasabi, and Samah Alageel), attributed and used under fair use for news reporting and analysis.

Frontiers in Public Health is the property of Frontiers Media S.A.

Graffius’ Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts' is copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

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Post-Publication Notes

If there's an update after this article is published, the information will appear here.

Update on 24 March 2025

On 24 March 2025, Frontiers (the publisher) sent an email to Graffius. Here’s an excerpt:

"This is to let you know that the corresponding author has submitted a corrigendum for the article based on your comments. Our editorial team will review the corrigendum."

Update on 24 March 2025

On 24 March 2025, Graffius replied to Frontiers’ email. Here’s an excerpt:

"Please:

1. Inform me know when you’re scheduled to implement the corrections (or an estimated date), and
2. Update me after you’ve implemented the corrections."

Update on 25 March 2025

On 25 March 2025, Frontiers (the publisher) sent an email to Graffius. Here’s an excerpt from it:

"If the corrigendum is accepted, I will send you the link to the online page. There will also be a visible link to the Corrigendum on the original article, as soon as the article is accepted. Once an article is accepted, they are published within 3 weeks on average. Please note that once an article is updated, it can take longer for the update to be reflected in certain repositories, depending on the repository."

Update on 28 March 2025

The most recent update from the publisher was on 25 March 2025. It's noted above.

For context, Graffius reported the errors on 18 December 2024. As of today, that was 100 days ago, and the errors have not yet been resolved.

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Copyright

Copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

Content on this site—including text, images, videos, and data—may not be used for training or input into any artificial intelligence, machine learning, or automatized learning systems, or published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.

Tags: Public perceptions of digital mental health awareness campaign in the Arab Gulf states: a qualitative thematic analysis • Frontiers In Public Health • Noura Alomair • Reporting Errors in a Publication: A Case Study on ‘Frontiers in Public Health’ • Ghadah Alkhaldi • Norah M. Alsadhan • Rawan Alkasabi • Samah Alageel • #AcademicEthics • #Addendum • #Author • #SEO • #ScientificAccuracy • #Blogs • #Blog • #BookCommunity • #BookCorrections • #CitationsMatter • #TrustInScience • #Typo • #Twitter • #Social • #X • #Corrigendum • #Errata • #Reddit • #ScholarlyPublishing • #ErrorCorrection • #ResearchIntegrity • #Retraction • #FactChecking • #FactualError • #TikTok • #SocialMediaResearch • #SocialMediaMarketing • #SocialMediaEngagement • #PublishingTips • #PublishingEthics • #PublishingProtocol • #Marketing • #SocialMedia • #Publishing • #Publishers • #PublicationEthics • #Podcasts • #Podcast • #Pinterest • #PeerReview • #Misrepresentation • #Instagram • #ManuscriptErrors • #LinkedIn • #LinkedIn • #KnowledgeIntegrity • #HelpingAuthors • #GettingItRight • #ReaderFeedback • #ScienceCommunication • #ResponsibleResearch • #ReaderReport • #FeedbackForAuthors • #ErrorReporting • #Facebook • #EditorialStandards • #CorrectionNotice • #ContinuousImprovement • #WritingCommunity • #AcademicPublishing • #AccuracyMatters • #FrontiersInPublicHealth

NESEA Conference Session on Innovation Highlights Scott M. Graffius' 'Phases of Team Development'

19 March 2025

BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com

nesea-features-scott-m-graffius-ip-on-teamwork---rev2025-lwres

Informed by the research of Bruce W. Tuckman and Mary Ann C. Jensen, over 100 subsequent studies, and Scott M. Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his ‘Phases of Team Development’ as a unique perspective and visual conveying the five phases of team development — Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, and Adjourning — inclusive of a graph showing how performance varies by phase, as well as the characteristics and strategies for each phase.

Graffius' intellectual property (IP) is registered with the United States Copyright Office.

Graffius initially developed his 'Phases of Team Development' unique material in 2008, and he periodically refreshes it.

For reference, the visual for the current (2025) edition is below and the details are here.

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Organizations around the world engage Graffius to deliver compelling talks and workshops. To date, he's presented sessions at 91 conferences and other events across 25 countries:

Armenia,
Australia,
Brazil,
Canada,
Czech Republic,
Finland,
France,
Germany,
Greece,
Hong Kong,
Hungary,
India, Ireland,
Lithuania,
Luxembourg,
Nepal,
Netherlands,
New Zealand,
Norway,
Romania,
Sweden,
Switzerland,
United Arab Emirates,
United Kingdom,
and the United States.

Graffius 'Phases of Team Development' IP is central and key to many of those sessions. His rate card and a listing of his engagements are at https://scottgraffius.com/resources/Exceptional-PPM-and-PMO-Solutions-Rate-Card-for-2024-2025-v24071607.pdf and https://scottgraffius.com/publicspeaker.html, respectively.

With authorization/license from Graffius, his 'Phases of Team Development' intellectual property is featured and used by businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities around the globe. Examples include:

Adobe,
American Management Association,
Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
Bayer
Boston University,
Broadcom,
Cisco,
Deimos Aerospace,
DevOps Institute,
Erste Group Bank AG (Austria),
FINAT,
Ford Motor Company,
FSU College of Medicine,
Hasso Plattner Institute,
IEEE,
James Madison University,
Johns Hopkins University,
LeadingEng,
London South Bank University,
Manufacturers Alliance,
Microsoft,
New Zealand Government,
Oracle,
Mary Raum (Professor of National Security Affairs, United States Naval War College),
Royal Australasian College of Physicians,
TBS Switzerland,
Torrens University Australia,
Tufts University,
U.S. National Park Service,
U.S. Soccer,
U.S. Tennis Association,
UC San Diego,
UK Sports Institute,
University of Galway Ireland,
Victorian Institute of Technology (Australia),
Virginia Tech,
Warsaw University,
Western Sydney University,
World Resources Institute,
Yale University,
ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences,
and many others.

The Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA) was added to the list!

Excerpts on the NESEA conference session ('Why Do Startups Innovate Better than Design Firms, and What Can We Learn from Them?,' presented by Barbra BatShalom) which featured Graffius' 'Phases of Team Development' work follow.

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The NESEA materials referenced above are available here and here.

The current (2025) edition of Graffius' 'Phases of Team Development' work is here.

Read on for:

About NESEA,
About Scott M. Graffius,
How to Cite This Article,
and more.

About NESEA

The Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA) is a leading non-profit organization dedicated to advancing sustainable energy practices in the built environment across the northeastern United States. Founded in 1975 and headquartered in Greenfield, Massachusetts, NESEA connects architects, engineers, builders, and renewable energy experts to share knowledge, foster innovation, and promote whole systems thinking. Through events like the prominent conference BuildingEnergy Boston (where Graffius’ work was featured in a session), NESEA facilitates collaboration and provides resources to drive sustainability in the building sector. Visit https://nesea.org to learn more.

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About Scott M. Graffius

scott_m_graffius_-_blue_-_1000x1000_-lwres

Scott M. Graffius sparks breakthroughs in AI, agile, and project management/PMO leadership as a globally recognized practitioner, researcher, thought leader, award-winning author, and international public speaker.

Graffius has generated more than USD $1.9 billion in business value for organizations served, including Fortune 500 companies. Businesses and industries range from technology (including R&D and AI) to entertainment, financial services, and healthcare, government, social media, and more.

Graffius leads the professional services firm Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, along with its subsidiary Exceptional Agility. These consultancies offer strategic and tactical advisory, training, embedded talent, and consulting services to public, private, and government sectors. They help organizations enhance their capabilities and results in agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership, supporting innovation and driving competitive advantage. The consultancies confidently back services with a Delighted Client Guarantee™. Graffius is a former vice president of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more. He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets.

He is the author of two award-winning books.

His first book, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions (ISBN-13: 9781533370242), received 17 awards.
His second book is Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change (ISBN-13: 9781072447962). BookAuthority named it one of the best Scrum books of all time.

Organizations around the world invite Graffius to speak on tech (including AI), agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership. He has developed and delivered unique and compelling talks and workshops. To date, Graffius has delivered 91 sessions across 25 countries. Select examples of events include Agile Trends Gov, BSides (Newcastle Upon Tyne), Conf42 Quantum Computing, DevDays Europe, DevOps Institute, DevOpsDays (Geneva), Frug’Agile, IEEE, Microsoft, Scottish Summit, Scrum Alliance RSG (Nepal), Techstars, and W Love Games International Video Game Development Conference (Helsinki), and more. With an average rating of 4.81 (on a scale of 1-5), sessions are highly valued.

Prominent businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities have featured Graffius and his work including content from his books, talks, workshops, and more. Select examples include:

Adobe,
American Management Association,
Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
Bayer,
BMC Software,
Boston University,
Broadcom,
Cisco,
Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts Germany,
Computer Weekly,
Constructor University Germany,
Data Governance Success,
Deimos Aerospace,
DevOps Institute,
EU's European Commission,
Ford Motor Company,
GoDaddy,
Harvard Medical School,
Hasso Plattner Institute Germany,
IEEE,
Innovation Project Management,
Johns Hopkins University,
Journal of Neurosurgery,
Lam Research (Semiconductors),
Leadership Worthy,
Life Sciences Trainers and Educators Network,
London South Bank University,
Microsoft,
NASSCOM,
National Academy of Sciences,
New Zealand Government,
Oracle,
Pinterest Inc.,
Project Management Institute,
SANS Institute,
SBG Neumark Germany,
Singapore Institute of Technology,
Torrens University Australia,
TBS Switzerland,
Tufts University,
UC San Diego,
UK Sports Institute,
University of Galway Ireland,
US Department of Energy,
US National Park Service,
US Tennis Association,
Veleučilište u Rijeci Croatia,
Verizon,
Virginia Tech,
Warsaw University of Technology,
Wrike,
Yale University,
and many others.

Graffius has been actively involved with the Project Management Institute (PMI) in the development of professional standards. He was a member of the team which produced the Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures—Second Edition. Graffius was a contributor and reviewer of A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge—Sixth Edition, The Standard for Program Management—Fourth Edition, and The Practice Standard for Project Estimating—Second Edition. He was also a subject matter expert reviewer of content for the PMI’s Congress. Beyond the PMI, Graffius also served as a member of the review team for two of the Scrum Alliance’s Global Scrum Gatherings.

Graffius has a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a focus in Human Factors. He holds eight professional certifications:

Certified SAFe 6 Agilist (SA),
Certified Scrum Professional - ScrumMaster (CSP-SM),
Certified Scrum Professional - Product Owner (CSP-PO),
Certified ScrumMaster (CSM),
Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO),
Project Management Professional (PMP),
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB), and
IT Service Management Foundation (ITIL).

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scott_m_graffius_-_blog_spacer_-_v23111107_-_cite

How to Cite This Article

Graffius, Scott M. (2025, March 19). NESEA Conference Session on Innovation Highlights Scott M. Graffius' 'Phases of Team Development.' Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/nesea-conference-session-on-innovation-highlights-ip-of-scott-m-graffius.html.

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scott_m_graffius_-_blog_spacer_-_v23111107_-_x---rev-24101207---doi----lwres

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

DOI: (coming soon)

Content Acknowledgements

This article includes brief excerpts from NESEA session (‘Why Do Startups Innovate Better than Design Firms, and What Can We Learn from Them?,’ presented by Barbra BatShalom) at BuildingEnergy Boston conference, attributed and used under fair use for news reporting and analysis.

Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA) name and mark are the property of NESEA.

Graffius’ 'Phases of Team Development' is copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

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scott_m_graffius_-_blog_spacer_-_v23111107_-_x---rev-24101207---copyright---lwres

Copyright

Copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

Content on this site—including text, images, videos, and data—may not be used for training or input into any artificial intelligence, machine learning, or automatized learning systems, or published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.

Tags: NESEA Conference Session on Innovation Highlights Scott M. Graffius' 'Phases of Team Development' • Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA) • BuildingEnergy Boston • Scott M. Graffius • #GreenBuilding • #NESEA • #BuildingEnergy • #EcoFriendly • #CleanEnergy • #EnergyEfficiency • #SustainableDesign • #GreenArchitecture • #NetZero • FSNP • FSNPA • Graffius' intellectual property on teamwork tradecraft • sustainable energy • #ResilientFuture • #Sustainability • #RenewableEnergy • Startups and Teamwork • #HighPerformanceDesign • #SustainableEnergy • Graffius' 'Phases of Team Development' Intellectual Property • Teamwork Tradecraft • Team Development • team building • Teamwork • Why Do Startups Innovate Better than Design Firms, and What Can We Learn from Them?

U.S. Soccer Scores with Scott M. Graffius' Intellectual Property on Teamwork

16 March 2025

BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com

us-soccer-features-scott-m-graffius-ip-on-teamwork---2025-refresh---lwres

Informed by the research of Bruce W. Tuckman and Mary Ann C. Jensen, over 100 subsequent studies, and Scott M. Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his ‘Phases of Team Development’ as a unique perspective and visual conveying the five phases of team development — Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, and Adjourning — inclusive of a graph showing how performance varies by phase, as well as the characteristics and strategies for each phase.

Graffius' intellectual property (IP) is registered with the United States Copyright Office.

Graffius initially developed his 'Phases of Team Development' unique material in 2008, and he periodically refreshes it.

For reference, the visual for the current (2025) edition is below and the details are here.

stacks-image-de36253

Organizations around the world engage Graffius to deliver compelling talks and workshops. To date, he's presented sessions at 91 conferences and other events across 25 countries:

Armenia,
Australia,
Brazil,
Canada,
Czech Republic,
Finland,
France,
Germany,
Greece,
Hong Kong,
Hungary,
India, Ireland,
Lithuania,
Luxembourg,
Nepal,
Netherlands,
New Zealand,
Norway,
Romania,
Sweden,
Switzerland,
United Arab Emirates,
United Kingdom,
and the United States.

Graffius 'Phases of Team Development' IP is central and key to many of those sessions. His rate card and a listing of his engagements are at https://scottgraffius.com/resources/Exceptional-PPM-and-PMO-Solutions-Rate-Card-for-2024-2025-v24071607.pdf and https://scottgraffius.com/publicspeaker.html, respectively.

With authorization/license from Graffius, his 'Phases of Team Development' intellectual property is featured and used by businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities around the globe. Examples include:

Adobe,
American Management Association,
Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
Bayer
Boston University,
Broadcom,
Cisco,
Deimos Aerospace,
DevOps Institute,
Erste Group Bank AG (Austria),
FINAT,
Ford Motor Company,
FSU College of Medicine,
Hasso Plattner Institute,
IEEE,
James Madison University,
Johns Hopkins University,
LeadingEng,
London South Bank University,
Manufacturers Alliance,
Microsoft,
New Zealand Government,
Oracle,
Mary Raum (Professor of National Security Affairs, United States Naval War College),
Royal Australasian College of Physicians,
TBS Switzerland,
Torrens University Australia,
Tufts University,
U.S. National Park Service,
U.S. Tennis Association,
UC San Diego,
UK Sports Institute,
University of Galway Ireland,
Victorian Institute of Technology (Australia),
Virginia Tech,
Warsaw University,
Western Sydney University,
World Resources Institute,
Yale University,
ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences,
and many others.

U.S. Soccer was added to this list!

Correspondence showing the request from U.S. Soccer and the approval from Scott M. Graffius is below. Confidential, personal, or sensitive information was redacted.

united-states-soccer-features-scott-m-graffius-intellectual-property---excerpt-1-request-and-approval---lwres

united-states-soccer-features-scott-m-graffius-intellectual-property---excerpt-1-request-and-approval---lwres

With authorization, U.S. Soccer uses Graffius' 'Phases of Team Development' work. Internal (not public-facing) use by U.S. Soccer is not shown. However, excerpts from and external (public-facing) use by U.S. Soccer—at their learning development center—is shown below.

united-states-soccer-features-scott-m-graffius-intellectual-property---excerpt-2-learning-development---lwres

united-states-soccer-features-scott-m-graffius-intellectual-property---excerpt-2-learning-development---lwres

The U.S. Soccer article referenced above is here.

The current (2025) edition of Graffius' 'Phases of Team Development' work is here.

Read on for:

About U.S. Soccer,
About Scott M. Graffius,
How to Cite This Article,
and more.

About U.S. Soccer

The U.S. Soccer Federation, commonly known as U.S. Soccer, is the official governing body of soccer in the United States, recognized by FIFA and the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee. Founded in 1913 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, the organization oversees all levels of soccer in the country, from youth and amateur leagues to professional teams and the men’s and women’s national teams. U.S. Soccer is responsible for sanctioning matches, certifying coaches and referees, and promoting the growth of the sport nationwide, with a mission to make soccer a preeminent sport in American culture. It manages iconic teams like the U.S. Men’s National Team, which competes in events such as the FIFA World Cup. Beyond competition, U.S. Soccer also focuses on player development and expanding access to the game across communities. Visit ussoccer.com to learn more.

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About Scott M. Graffius

scott_m_graffius_-_blue_-_1000x1000_-lwres

Scott M. Graffius sparks breakthroughs in AI, agile, and project management/PMO leadership as a globally recognized practitioner, researcher, thought leader, award-winning author, and international public speaker.

Graffius has generated more than USD $1.9 billion in business value for organizations served, including Fortune 500 companies. Businesses and industries range from technology (including R&D and AI) to entertainment, financial services, and healthcare, government, social media, and more.

Graffius leads the professional services firm Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, along with its subsidiary Exceptional Agility. These consultancies offer strategic and tactical advisory, training, embedded talent, and consulting services to public, private, and government sectors. They help organizations enhance their capabilities and results in agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership, supporting innovation and driving competitive advantage. The consultancies confidently back services with a Delighted Client Guarantee™. Graffius is a former vice president of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more. He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets.

He is the author of two award-winning books.

His first book, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions (ISBN-13: 9781533370242), received 17 awards.
His second book is Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change (ISBN-13: 9781072447962). BookAuthority named it one of the best Scrum books of all time.

Organizations around the world invite Graffius to speak on tech (including AI), agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership. He has developed and delivered unique and compelling talks and workshops. To date, Graffius has delivered 91 sessions across 25 countries. Select examples of events include Agile Trends Gov, BSides (Newcastle Upon Tyne), Conf42 Quantum Computing, DevDays Europe, DevOps Institute, DevOpsDays (Geneva), Frug’Agile, IEEE, Microsoft, Scottish Summit, Scrum Alliance RSG (Nepal), Techstars, and W Love Games International Video Game Development Conference (Helsinki), and more. With an average rating of 4.81 (on a scale of 1-5), sessions are highly valued.

Prominent businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities have featured Graffius and his work including content from his books, talks, workshops, and more. Select examples include:

Adobe,
American Management Association,
Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
Bayer,
BMC Software,
Boston University,
Broadcom,
Cisco,
Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts Germany,
Computer Weekly,
Constructor University Germany,
Data Governance Success,
Deimos Aerospace,
DevOps Institute,
EU's European Commission,
Ford Motor Company,
GoDaddy,
Harvard Medical School,
Hasso Plattner Institute Germany,
IEEE,
Innovation Project Management,
Johns Hopkins University,
Journal of Neurosurgery,
Lam Research (Semiconductors),
Leadership Worthy,
Life Sciences Trainers and Educators Network,
London South Bank University,
Microsoft,
NASSCOM,
National Academy of Sciences,
New Zealand Government,
Oracle,
Pinterest Inc.,
Project Management Institute,
SANS Institute,
SBG Neumark Germany,
Singapore Institute of Technology,
Torrens University Australia,
TBS Switzerland,
Tufts University,
UC San Diego,
UK Sports Institute,
University of Galway Ireland,
US Department of Energy,
US National Park Service,
US Tennis Association,
Veleučilište u Rijeci Croatia,
Verizon,
Virginia Tech,
Warsaw University of Technology,
Wrike,
Yale University,
and many others.

Graffius has been actively involved with the Project Management Institute (PMI) in the development of professional standards. He was a member of the team which produced the Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures—Second Edition. Graffius was a contributor and reviewer of A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge—Sixth Edition, The Standard for Program Management—Fourth Edition, and The Practice Standard for Project Estimating—Second Edition. He was also a subject matter expert reviewer of content for the PMI’s Congress. Beyond the PMI, Graffius also served as a member of the review team for two of the Scrum Alliance’s Global Scrum Gatherings.

Graffius has a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a focus in Human Factors. He holds eight professional certifications:

Certified SAFe 6 Agilist (SA),
Certified Scrum Professional - ScrumMaster (CSP-SM),
Certified Scrum Professional - Product Owner (CSP-PO),
Certified ScrumMaster (CSM),
Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO),
Project Management Professional (PMP),
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB), and
IT Service Management Foundation (ITIL).

Sign up for Miro—it's free!

(Want more features? You can always upgrade to a paid plan.)

black_spacer_lr_sq_v3

scott_m_graffius_-_blog_spacer_-_v23111107_-_cite

How to Cite This Article

Graffius, Scott M. (2025, March 16). U.S. Soccer Scores with Scott M. Graffius' Intellectual Property on Teamwork. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/u-s-soccer-scores-with-scott-m-graffius-intellectual-property-on-teamwork.html.

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scott_m_graffius_-_blog_spacer_-_v23111107_-_x---rev-24101207---doi----lwres

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

DOI: (coming soon)

Content Acknowledgements

This article includes brief excerpts from U.S. Soccer and other sources, attributed and used under fair use for news reporting and analysis.

Graffius redacted confidential, personal, or sensitive information.

U.S. Soccer name and mark are the property of U.S. Soccer.

Graffius’ 'Phases of Team Development' is copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

black_spacer_lr_sq_v3

scott_m_graffius_-_blog_spacer_-_v23111107_-_x---rev-24101207---copyright---lwres

Copyright

Copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

Content on this site—including text, images, videos, and data—may not be used for training or input into any artificial intelligence, machine learning, or automatized learning systems, or published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.

Tags: Scott M. Graffius • FIFA • FIFA World Cup • U.S. Men’s National Team • U.S. Soccer Federation • #AmericanSoccer • #RoadToWorldCup • #USMNT • #USWNT • Graffius' 'Phases of Team Development' Intellectual Property • Teamwork Tradecraft • Team Development • team building • Teamwork • U.S. Soccer • #USSoccer

U.S. Department of Commerce Partner (IEDC) Features Scott M. Graffius’ Intellectual Property

10 March 2025

BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com

united-states-department-of-commerce-partner-(iedc)-featured-scott-m.-graffius’-intellectual-property---lwres

united-states-department-of-commerce-partner-(iedc)-featured-scott-m.-graffius’-intellectual-property---lwres

Informed by the research of Bruce W. Tuckman and Mary Ann C. Jensen, over 100 subsequent studies, and Scott M. Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his ‘Phases of Team Development’ as a unique perspective and visual conveying the five phases of team development — Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, and Adjourning — inclusive of a graph showing how performance varies by phase, as well as the characteristics and strategies for each phase.

Graffius' intellectual property (IP) is registered with the United States Copyright Office.

Graffius initially developed his 'Phases of Team Development' unique material in 2008, and he periodically refreshes it.

For reference, the visual for the current (2025) edition is below and the details are here.

stacks-image-de36253

Organizations around the world engage Graffius to deliver compelling talks and workshops. To date, he's presented sessions at 91 conferences and other events across 25 countries:

Armenia,
Australia,
Brazil,
Canada,
Czech Republic,
Finland,
France,
Germany,
Greece,
Hong Kong,
Hungary,
India, Ireland,
Lithuania,
Luxembourg,
Nepal,
Netherlands,
New Zealand,
Norway,
Romania,
Sweden,
Switzerland,
United Arab Emirates,
United Kingdom,
and the United States.

Graffius 'Phases of Team Development' IP is central and key to many of those sessions. His rate card and a listing of his engagements are at https://scottgraffius.com/resources/Exceptional-PPM-and-PMO-Solutions-Rate-Card-for-2024-2025-v24071607.pdf and https://scottgraffius.com/publicspeaker.html, respectively.

With authorization/license from Graffius, his 'Phases of Team Development' intellectual property is featured and used by businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities around the globe. Examples include:

Adobe,
American Management Association,
Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
Bayer
Boston University,
Broadcom,
Cisco,
Deimos Aerospace,
DevOps Institute,
Erste Group Bank AG (Austria),
FINAT,
Ford Motor Company,
FSU College of Medicine,
Hasso Plattner Institute,
IEEE,
James Madison University,
Johns Hopkins University,
LeadingEng,
London South Bank University,
Manufacturers Alliance,
Microsoft,
New Zealand Government,
Oracle,
Mary Raum (Professor of National Security Affairs, United States Naval War College),
Royal Australasian College of Physicians,
TBS Switzerland,
Torrens University Australia,
Tufts University,
U.S. National Park Service,
U.S. Tennis Association,
UC San Diego,
UK Sports Institute,
University of Galway Ireland,
Victorian Institute of Technology (Australia),
Virginia Tech,
Warsaw University,
Western Sydney University,
World Resources Institute,
Yale University,
ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences,
and many others.

A U.S. Department of Commerce partner—the International Economic Development Council (IEDC)—was added to this list!

Excerpts from their respective training material are shown below. They include pages 1 and 5 from the IEDC's module 3. Page 5 features Graffius' IP.

united-states-department-of-commerce-partner-(iedc)-featured-scott-m.-graffius’-intellectual-property---excerpt-1-lwres

united-states-department-of-commerce-partner-(iedc)-featured-scott-m.-graffius’-intellectual-property---excerpt-1-lwres

The visual below provides a zoomed-in view of page 5.

united-states-department-of-commerce-partner-(iedc)-featured-scott-m.-graffius’-intellectual-property---excerpt-2

united-states-department-of-commerce-partner-(iedc)-featured-scott-m.-graffius’-intellectual-property---excerpt-2

The IEDC document is here.

The current (2025) edition of Graffius' 'Phases of Team Development' work is here.

Read on for:

About Scott M. Graffius,
How to Cite This Article,
and more.

About the International Economic Development Council (IEDC)

The International Economic Development Council, a partner of the U.S. Department of Commerce, is a non-profit organization serving economic developers. To learn more, visit https://www.iedconline.org.

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About Scott M. Graffius

scott_m_graffius_-_blue_-_1000x1000_-lwres

Scott M. Graffius sparks breakthroughs in AI, agile, and project management/PMO leadership as a globally recognized practitioner, researcher, thought leader, award-winning author, and international public speaker.

Graffius has generated more than USD $1.9 billion in business value for organizations served, including Fortune 500 companies. Businesses and industries range from technology (including R&D and AI) to entertainment, financial services, and healthcare, government, social media, and more.

Graffius leads the professional services firm Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, along with its subsidiary Exceptional Agility. These consultancies offer strategic and tactical advisory, training, embedded talent, and consulting services to public, private, and government sectors. They help organizations enhance their capabilities and results in agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership, supporting innovation and driving competitive advantage. The consultancies confidently back services with a Delighted Client Guarantee™. Graffius is a former vice president of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more. He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets.

He is the author of two award-winning books.

His first book, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions (ISBN-13: 9781533370242), received 17 awards.
His second book is Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change (ISBN-13: 9781072447962). BookAuthority named it one of the best Scrum books of all time.

Organizations around the world invite Graffius to speak on tech (including AI), agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership. He has developed and delivered unique and compelling talks and workshops. To date, Graffius has delivered 91 sessions across 25 countries. Select examples of events include Agile Trends Gov, BSides (Newcastle Upon Tyne), Conf42 Quantum Computing, DevDays Europe, DevOps Institute, DevOpsDays (Geneva), Frug’Agile, IEEE, Microsoft, Scottish Summit, Scrum Alliance RSG (Nepal), Techstars, and W Love Games International Video Game Development Conference (Helsinki), and more. With an average rating of 4.81 (on a scale of 1-5), sessions are highly valued.

Prominent businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities have featured Graffius and his work including content from his books, talks, workshops, and more. Select examples include:

Adobe,
American Management Association,
Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
Bayer,
BMC Software,
Boston University,
Broadcom,
Cisco,
Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts Germany,
Computer Weekly,
Constructor University Germany,
Data Governance Success,
Deimos Aerospace,
DevOps Institute,
EU's European Commission,
Ford Motor Company,
GoDaddy,
Harvard Medical School,
Hasso Plattner Institute Germany,
IEEE,
Innovation Project Management,
Johns Hopkins University,
Journal of Neurosurgery,
Lam Research (Semiconductors),
Leadership Worthy,
Life Sciences Trainers and Educators Network,
London South Bank University,
Microsoft,
NASSCOM,
National Academy of Sciences,
New Zealand Government,
Oracle,
Pinterest Inc.,
Project Management Institute,
SANS Institute,
SBG Neumark Germany,
Singapore Institute of Technology,
Torrens University Australia,
TBS Switzerland,
Tufts University,
UC San Diego,
UK Sports Institute,
University of Galway Ireland,
US Department of Energy,
US National Park Service,
US Tennis Association,
Veleučilište u Rijeci Croatia,
Verizon,
Virginia Tech,
Warsaw University of Technology,
Wrike,
Yale University,
and many others.

Graffius has been actively involved with the Project Management Institute (PMI) in the development of professional standards. He was a member of the team which produced the Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures—Second Edition. Graffius was a contributor and reviewer of A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge—Sixth Edition, The Standard for Program Management—Fourth Edition, and The Practice Standard for Project Estimating—Second Edition. He was also a subject matter expert reviewer of content for the PMI’s Congress. Beyond the PMI, Graffius also served as a member of the review team for two of the Scrum Alliance’s Global Scrum Gatherings.

Graffius has a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a focus in Human Factors. He holds eight professional certifications:

Certified SAFe 6 Agilist (SA),
Certified Scrum Professional - ScrumMaster (CSP-SM),
Certified Scrum Professional - Product Owner (CSP-PO),
Certified ScrumMaster (CSM),
Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO),
Project Management Professional (PMP),
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB), and
IT Service Management Foundation (ITIL).

Sign up for Miro—it's free!

(Want more features? You can always upgrade to a paid plan.)

black_spacer_lr_sq_v3

scott_m_graffius_-_blog_spacer_-_v23111107_-_cite

How to Cite This Article

Graffius, Scott M. (2025, March 10). U.S. Department of Commerce Partner (IEDC) Features Scott M. Graffius’ Intellectual Property. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/united-states-department-of-commerce-partner-featured-scott-m-graffius-intellectual-property.html.

black_spacer_lr_sq_v3

scott_m_graffius_-_blog_spacer_-_v23111107_-_x---rev-24101207---doi----lwres

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

DOI: (coming soon)

Content Acknowledgements

This article uses limited excerpts from material by the International Economic Development Council (IEDC), a partner of the U.S. Department of Commerce, attributed to the IEDC and used under fair use for news reporting and analysis. IEDC content—except for Graffius' 'Phases of Team Development' intellectual property, which is copyright © Scott M. Graffius—is the property of IEDC.

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Copyright

Copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

Content on this site—including text, images, videos, and data—may not be used for training or input into any artificial intelligence, machine learning, or automatized learning systems, or published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.

Tags: Scott M. Graffius • United States Department of Commerce • Graffius' 'Phases of Team Development' Intellectual Property • Teamwork Tradecraft • Team Development • team building • Teamwork

How Long Do Your Posts Live? AI Critiques Scott M. Graffius’ Research on the Half-Life of Social Media

25 February 2025

BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com

scott-m-graffius---how-long-do-your-posts-live---ai---lwres

Introduction

How long do your posts last? Probably not as long as you think.

Social media moves at breakneck speed, and understanding how long a post holds attention is more critical than ever for creators, marketers, and researchers navigating this dynamic landscape. Since 2018, Scott M. Graffius' research on the lifespan (half-life) of social media posts has tracked how engagement unfolds across major platforms, offering a practical lens on the staying power of content. The 2025 update builds on years of data and refinements, analyzing over 5 million posts to deliver fresh insights into platforms like Snapchat, TikTok, X, Facebook, Reddit, Instagram, LinkedIn, podcasts, YouTube, Pinterest, and blogs.

But research isn’t static—it thrives on scrutiny. To sharpen this work and uncover new perspectives, Graffius turned to ChatGPT, an advanced AI from OpenAI, for a critical review of the 2025 study. The goal was to assess its methodology, scope, and real-world utility through an objective lens. What follows is that analysis, paired with reflections on what it reveals about measuring digital attention in an ever-evolving online world.

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The Critique

On 24 February 2025, Scott M. Graffius requested a critical review of this 'Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts: Update for 2025' research from ChatGPT (ChatGPT-4 Turbo version).

The critique was solicited using the following prompt:

"I am seeking a thorough, objective, and critical review of the 'Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts: Update for 2025' research study (https://www.scottgraffius.com/blog/files/lifespan-halflife-of-social-media-posts-update-for-2025.html), and I would like a professional analysis that encompasses the following: a concise summary of the study's purpose, methodology, and key findings based on the details I provide; an evaluation of the scope, assessing the breadth and boundaries of the study and whether the research questions and objectives were appropriately defined and addressed; an analysis of the significance, considering the study’s importance within its field and its contributions to existing knowledge or practice; an assessment of the credibility, examining the reliability and validity of the research design, methods, data sources, and analysis while identifying strengths and any potential biases or weaknesses; a discussion of the applicability, exploring the practical or theoretical utility of the findings and their relevance to real-world contexts or further research; and an overall evaluation of the general value and utility, weighing the study’s strengths against its limitations and suggesting potential improvements or future directions."

The resulting analysis provided by ChatGPT is presented below:

"Scott M. Graffius’ methodology for researching the lifespan (half-life) of social media posts stands out for its emphasis on scale, diversity, and recency—key factors when dealing with the ever-shifting world of digital platforms. He defines half-life as the time it takes a post to hit half its total engagement (such as likes, shares, comments), a practical metric for gauging content’s staying power. Let’s break down how he tackles this.

He starts with a massive dataset—over 5 million posts and 225 podcasts for his 2025 update. That’s not a small sample; it’s a firehose of data meant to mirror the real digital ecosystem. He doesn’t just grab this from one corner of the internet either. His sources span APIs, proprietary commercial datasets, academic and research consortia, public datasets, and government or NGO repositories. This mix aims to dodge the trap of bias you’d get from, say, only looking at one influencer’s tweets or a single company’s stats. It’s a broad net—individuals with tiny followings up to mega-influencers, small businesses to corporate giants, associations, and schools—all proportioned to reflect who’s actually posting online.

The process isn’t a black box, at least not from what he shares. He aggregates this mountain of data, tracks engagement over time, and calculates the point where each platform’s posts hit that 50% engagement mark. For fast-decay platforms like Snapchat or TikTok (where he pegs average half-life at 0 minutes unless something goes viral), it’s about instant drop-off. For slower burns like Pinterest (3.9 months in his 2025 numbers), it’s a longer tail.

What’s smart is how he keeps it current. Platforms tweak algorithms constantly, so he refreshes his analysis yearly—2018 was his first go, and 2025's update dropped this January. That’s critical because a 2020 half-life for X posts might not hold in 2025 with new features or user habits. He’s also not shy about scope: he covers Snapchat, TikTok, X, Facebook, Reddit, Instagram, LinkedIn, podcasts, YouTube, Pinterest, and blogs with engagement features. It’s comprehensive, not cherry-picked.

There’s a trade-off, though. His approach leans on breadth over depth—5 million posts sound impressive, but we don’t know how he weighs variables like content type (text vs. video), audience size, or posting time. Does a meme’s half-life match a news link’s? He doesn’t split those hairs in the public stuff, which could blur nuances. And while his data’s diverse, the exact sourcing mix—how much from APIs vs. academia, say—isn’t fully peeled back. That’s not a dealbreaker, but it leaves room for questions about representativeness.

Still, the methodology’s built for utility. It’s about giving marketers and creators actionable numbers. His 2025 findings—like X at 49 minutes, Instagram at 19 hours, YouTube at 10 days—line up with how these platforms feel in practice: X moves fast, YouTube lingers. The fact that outlets like Center for Direct Marketing, Fast Company, GoDaddy, Pinterest Inc., PNAS, and many others have nodded to his work suggests it passes muster with people who care about this stuff.

In short, Graffius’ method is a big-data sprint: scoop up tons of posts, blend diverse sources, crunch the numbers, and update it yearly to stay relevant. It’s robust enough to trust for broad strokes, though it might not catch every quirk of the social media beast."

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Conclusion

ChatGPT’s critique of the 'Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts' research underscores its strengths and room for refinement. The AI highlights the scale of the research—millions of posts across diverse platforms—and its practical bent, delivering numbers that resonate with the lived experience of X’s fleeting 49-minute half-life or YouTube’s steady 10-day arc. It’s a nod to the study’s relevance for anyone trying to cut through the noise of social media. Yet, the analysis also nudges at gaps: the broad-strokes approach might miss some finer details. These aren’t flaws so much as invitations to dig deeper.

This review reinforces the value of adaptability. Social media doesn’t stand still, and neither can the research tracking it. The (typically) yearly updates keep it fresh. Still, the AI’s input suggests future iterations could zoom in on variables like content type or audience scale without losing the big-picture clarity. As platforms evolve and new ones emerge, this work remains a living project—one that benefits from outside eyes, like ChatGPT’s, to stay sharp. Ultimately, it’s about equipping creators and strategists with the insights they need to navigate a digital landscape where engagement is fleeting, but impact is everything.

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The visual summary for 'Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts: Update for 2025' is shown above. The details are here.

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Read on for:

About Scott M. Graffius,
How to cite this article,
and more.

About Scott M. Graffius

scott_m_graffius_-_blue_-_1000x1000_-lwres

Scott M. Graffius sparks breakthroughs in AI, agile, and project management/PMO leadership as a globally recognized practitioner, researcher, thought leader, award-winning author, and international public speaker.

Graffius has generated more than USD $1.9 billion in business value for organizations served, including Fortune 500 companies. Businesses and industries range from technology (including R&D and AI) to entertainment, financial services, and healthcare, government, social media, and more.

Graffius leads the professional services firm Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, along with its subsidiary Exceptional Agility. These consultancies offer strategic and tactical advisory, training, embedded talent, and consulting services to public, private, and government sectors. They help organizations enhance their capabilities and results in agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership, supporting innovation and driving competitive advantage. The consultancies confidently back services with a Delighted Client Guarantee™. Graffius is a former vice president of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more. He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets.

He is the author of two award-winning books.

His first book, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions (ISBN-13: 9781533370242), received 17 awards.
His second book is Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change (ISBN-13: 9781072447962). BookAuthority named it one of the best Scrum books of all time.

Organizations around the world invite Graffius to speak on tech (including AI), agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership. He has developed and delivered unique and compelling talks and workshops. To date, Graffius has delivered 91 sessions across 25 countries. Select examples of events include Agile Trends Gov, BSides (Newcastle Upon Tyne), Conf42 Quantum Computing, DevDays Europe, DevOps Institute, DevOpsDays (Geneva), Frug’Agile, IEEE, Microsoft, Scottish Summit, Scrum Alliance RSG (Nepal), Techstars, and W Love Games International Video Game Development Conference (Helsinki), and more. With an average rating of 4.81 (on a scale of 1-5), sessions are highly valued.

Prominent businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities have featured Graffius and his work including content from his books, talks, workshops, and more. Select examples include:

Adobe,
American Management Association,
Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
Bayer,
BMC Software,
Boston University,
Broadcom,
Cisco,
Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts Germany,
Computer Weekly,
Constructor University Germany,
Data Governance Success,
Deimos Aerospace,
DevOps Institute,
EU's European Commission,
Ford Motor Company,
Gartner
GoDaddy,
Harvard Medical School,
Hasso Plattner Institute Germany,
IEEE,
Innovation Project Management,
Johns Hopkins University,
Journal of Neurosurgery,
Lam Research (Semiconductors),
Leadership Worthy,
Life Sciences Trainers and Educators Network,
London South Bank University,
Microsoft,
NASSCOM,
National Academy of Sciences,
New Zealand Government,
Oracle,
Pinterest Inc.,
Project Management Institute,
SANS Institute,
SBG Neumark Germany,
Singapore Institute of Technology,
Torrens University Australia,
TBS Switzerland,
Tufts University,
UC San Diego,
UK Sports Institute,
University of Galway Ireland,
US Department of Energy,
US National Park Service,
US Tennis Association,
Veleučilište u Rijeci Croatia,
Verizon,
Virginia Tech,
Warsaw University of Technology,
Wrike,
Yale University,
and many others.

Graffius has been actively involved with the Project Management Institute (PMI) in the development of professional standards. He was a member of the team which produced the Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures—Second Edition. Graffius was a contributor and reviewer of A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge—Sixth Edition, The Standard for Program Management—Fourth Edition, and The Practice Standard for Project Estimating—Second Edition. He was also a subject matter expert reviewer of content for the PMI’s Congress. Beyond the PMI, Graffius also served as a member of the review team for two of the Scrum Alliance’s Global Scrum Gatherings.

Graffius has a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a focus in Human Factors. He holds eight professional certifications:

Certified SAFe 6 Agilist (SA),
Certified Scrum Professional - ScrumMaster (CSP-SM),
Certified Scrum Professional - Product Owner (CSP-PO),
Certified ScrumMaster (CSM),
Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO),
Project Management Professional (PMP),
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB), and
IT Service Management Foundation (ITIL).

Sign up for Miro—it's free!

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How to Cite This Article

Graffius, Scott M. (2025, February 25). How Long Do Your Posts Live? AI Critiques Scott M. Graffius’ Research on the Half-Life of Social Media. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/how-long-do-your-posts-live.html.

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Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.13396.92805

Copyright

Copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

Content on this site—including text, images, videos, and data—may not be used for training or input into any artificial intelligence, machine learning, or automatized learning systems, or published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.

Tags: Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts • The Shelf Life of Social Media Posts • DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.13396.92805 • Social Media Post Longevity: A Data-Driven Look • How Long Do Social Media Posts Last? • The Half-Life of Social Media Content • Scott M. Graffius • #DigitalMarketing • #ContentCreators • #SocialMediaResearch • #TechTrends2025 • #AI • #OpenAI • #ChatGPT • #FutureOfContent • #SocialMediaData • #DigitalEvolution • #MarketingInsights • #OnlineEngagement • #PlatformAnalytics • #DataDrivenInsights • #EngagementMetrics • #SocialMediaStrategy • #ChatGPTAnalysis • #AIReview • #SocialMediaTrends • #ContentLifespan • #DigitalAttention • #HalfLifeResearch • #SocialMedia2025 • Social Media Content Half-Life: How Long Do Posts Stay Relevant? • The Timeline of Engagement: Social Media Post Duration • From Fresh to Forgotten: The Lifespan of Social Media Posts • Content Decay: Measuring Social Media Post Lifespan • The Ephemeral Nature of Social Media Posts • Social Media Visibility: Lifespan and Engagement Decay

Agile's Journey Through the Decades

21 February 2025

BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com

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Introduction

Agile has come a long way since its early days, evolving through decades of adaptation and innovation. What began as a response to rigid development practices has become a global movement, influencing industries beyond software. Along the way, principles and practices have shaped how teams collaborate and deliver value. This article (and the related infographic) takes you through Agile’s history, highlighting key moments that have defined its evolution. Discover the decades of transformation that keep Agile evolving and relevant in today’s world.

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Agile Through the Decades

The 1950s

1957: IBM began utilizing incremental development in software projects.
1958: Software for Project Mercury, the United States’ first human spaceflight program, was developed in half-day iterations.

The 1960s

1968: IBM’s Harlan Mills advocated for staged, incremental software development with continuous user involvement.

The 1970s

[Agile took a Disco Nap]

The 1980s

1980: Toyota introduced visual control, a predecessor to Agile’s information radiators.
1984: Leo Brodie described the concept of factoring, an early influence on code structuring.
1985: Tom Gilb introduced the Evolutionary Delivery Model, an alternative to the Waterfall methodology.
1986: The influential article "The New New Product Development Game" by Hirotaka Takeuchi and Ikujiro Nonaka was published in the Harvard Business Review, laying the groundwork for Scrum.
1988: The timebox approach was central to DuPont’s Rapid Iterative Production Prototyping.

The 1990s

1990: Bill Opdyke coined the term refactoring, which became fundamental in Agile software development.
1991: James Martin described timeboxing and iterations, core components of Agile frameworks.
1993:Jim Coplien introduced the stand-up meeting pattern. Scrum was first used as a process by Jeff Sutherland, John Scumniotales, and Jeff McKenna at Easel Corporation.
1994: Alistair Cockburn advocated working in increments.
1995: Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland co-presented Scrum.
1997: Ken Schwaber described the daily Scrum.
1998: The Chrysler Goes to Extremes case study detailed Extreme Programming (XP) practices like self-chosen tasks, three-week iterations, and pair programming.

The 2000s

2000: Martin Fowler published an article defining continuous integration. Ken Schwaber introduced the burndown chart.
2001: Seventeen software development experts—Kent Beck, Mike Beedle, Arie van Bennekum, Alistair Cockburn, Ward Cunningham, Martin Fowler, Robert C. Martin, Steve Mellor, Dave Thomas, James Grenning, Jim Highsmith, Andrew Hunt, Ron Jeffries, Jon Kern, Brian Marick, Ken Schwaber, and Jeff Sutherland—formulated the Manifesto for Agile Software Development, emphasizing individuals and interactions, working software, customer collaboration, and responding to change. Mary Poppendieck highlighted Agile’s similarities with Lean manufacturing. Alistair Cockburn coined the term information radiator.
2005: Mike Cohn’s Agile Estimating and Planning introduced techniques such as Planning Poker.
2008: Kane Mar formally described backlog grooming. Jeff Patton introduced story mapping.
2009: The concept of DevOps emerged from John Allspaw and Paul Hammond’s talk on 10+ daily deployments, while Patrick Debois coined the term.

The 2010s to Present

2010: Dean Leffingwell and Drew Jemilo introduced the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe), designed for enterprise-level Agile adoption.

Conclusion

Agile has continually evolved, proving its resilience and relevance across industries. It adapts to new challenges and innovations. And its core principles of collaboration, flexibility, and continuous improvement remain as vital as ever.

Scott M. Graffius developed a related infographic—'Agile's History, Visualized'—and released it via Exceptional Agility AI. It's also available here.

Many individuals and organizations have made valuable contributions to Agile. This article highlights select major milestones and is not intended to be an exhaustive list.

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Read on for:

About Scott M. Graffius,
How to cite this article,
and more.

About Scott M. Graffius

scott_m_graffius_-_blue_-_1000x1000_-lwres

Scott M. Graffius sparks breakthroughs in AI, agile, and project management/PMO leadership as a globally recognized practitioner, researcher, thought leader, award-winning author, and international public speaker.

Graffius has generated more than USD $1.9 billion in business value for organizations served, including Fortune 500 companies. Businesses and industries range from technology (including R&D and AI) to entertainment, financial services, and healthcare, government, social media, and more.

Graffius leads the professional services firm Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, along with its subsidiary Exceptional Agility. These consultancies offer strategic and tactical advisory, training, embedded talent, and consulting services to public, private, and government sectors. They help organizations enhance their capabilities and results in agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership, supporting innovation and driving competitive advantage. The consultancies confidently back services with a Delighted Client Guarantee™. Graffius is a former vice president of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more. He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets.

He is the author of two award-winning books.

His first book, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions (ISBN-13: 9781533370242), received 17 awards.
His second book is Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change (ISBN-13: 9781072447962). BookAuthority named it one of the best Scrum books of all time.

Organizations around the world invite Graffius to speak on tech (including AI), agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership. He has developed and delivered unique and compelling talks and workshops. To date, Graffius has delivered 91 sessions across 25 countries. Select examples of events include Agile Trends Gov, BSides (Newcastle Upon Tyne), Conf42 Quantum Computing, DevDays Europe, DevOps Institute, DevOpsDays (Geneva), Frug’Agile, IEEE, Microsoft, Scottish Summit, Scrum Alliance RSG (Nepal), Techstars, and W Love Games International Video Game Development Conference (Helsinki), and more. With an average rating of 4.81 (on a scale of 1-5), sessions are highly valued.

Prominent businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities have featured Graffius and his work including content from his books, talks, workshops, and more. Select examples include:

Adobe,
American Management Association,
Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
Bayer,
BMC Software,
Boston University,
Broadcom,
Cisco,
Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts Germany,
Computer Weekly,
Constructor University Germany,
Data Governance Success,
Deimos Aerospace,
DevOps Institute,
EU's European Commission,
Ford Motor Company,
Gartner
GoDaddy,
Harvard Medical School,
Hasso Plattner Institute Germany,
IEEE,
Innovation Project Management,
Johns Hopkins University,
Journal of Neurosurgery,
Lam Research (Semiconductors),
Leadership Worthy,
Life Sciences Trainers and Educators Network,
London South Bank University,
Microsoft,
NASSCOM,
National Academy of Sciences,
New Zealand Government,
Oracle,
Pinterest Inc.,
Project Management Institute,
SANS Institute,
SBG Neumark Germany,
Singapore Institute of Technology,
Torrens University Australia,
TBS Switzerland,
Tufts University,
UC San Diego,
UK Sports Institute,
University of Galway Ireland,
US Department of Energy,
US National Park Service,
US Tennis Association,
Veleučilište u Rijeci Croatia,
Verizon,
Virginia Tech,
Warsaw University of Technology,
Wrike,
Yale University,
and many others.

Graffius has been actively involved with the Project Management Institute (PMI) in the development of professional standards. He was a member of the team which produced the Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures—Second Edition. Graffius was a contributor and reviewer of A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge—Sixth Edition, The Standard for Program Management—Fourth Edition, and The Practice Standard for Project Estimating—Second Edition. He was also a subject matter expert reviewer of content for the PMI’s Congress. Beyond the PMI, Graffius also served as a member of the review team for two of the Scrum Alliance’s Global Scrum Gatherings.

Graffius has a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a focus in Human Factors. He holds eight professional certifications:

Certified SAFe 6 Agilist (SA),
Certified Scrum Professional - ScrumMaster (CSP-SM),
Certified Scrum Professional - Product Owner (CSP-PO),
Certified ScrumMaster (CSM),
Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO),
Project Management Professional (PMP),
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB), and
IT Service Management Foundation (ITIL).

Sign up for Miro—it's free!

(Want more features? You can always upgrade to a paid plan.)

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scott_m_graffius_-_blog_spacer_-_v23111107_-_cite

How to Cite This Article

Graffius, Scott M. (2025, February 21). Agile's Journey Through the Decades. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/agile's-journey-through-the-decades.html.

Scott M. Graffius wrote this article. He wrote a related article at Exceptional Agility AI.

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scott_m_graffius_-_blog_spacer_-_v23111107_-_x---rev-24101207---copyright---lwres

Copyright

Copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

Content on this site—including text, images, videos, and data—may not be used for training or input into any artificial intelligence, machine learning, or automatized learning systems, or published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.

Tags: Agile's Journey Through the Decades • Agile Through Time • #Agile • #AgileHistory • #AgileTransformation • #AgileDevelopment • #Scrum • #Lean • #AgileMethodology • #Collaboration • #Innovation • #AgilePractices • #DevOps • #AgileCulture • #AgileCoaching • #AgileMindset • #projectmanagement • #SoftwareDevelopment • #AgileJourney • #ProjectManagement • #ContinuousImprovement • #SoftwareDevelopment • Navigating Agile Through the Decades • Agile's Timeline of Transformation • The Agile Journey: Past to Present • Decades of Agile Growth • Agile Across the Decades • Tracing Agile's History • Agile's Milestones Through the Ages • The Evolution of Agile Practices • Agile: A Decadal Overview • A History of Agile Development • Agile's Path Over the Years • Decades of Agile Innovation

Scott M. Graffius' Role in Advancing Project Management Institute (PMI) Standards Excellence

12 February 2025

BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com

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Introduction

The Project Management Institute (PMI) is a globally recognized authority in project management, publishing standards that guide professionals and organizations worldwide. As part of its rigorous development process, PMI engages subject matter experts to contribute to and review its publications, ensuring their accuracy, relevance, and applicability. Scott M. Graffius has had the privilege of contributing to several PMI standards. This article details his involvement.

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Graffius was Involved in the Development of A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge—Sixth Edition

Publication Title: A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge—Sixth Edition
Credit: Graffius was an expert contributor and reviewer. His involvement was credited in the publication (see visual above).
Description: A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (6th Edition) (PMBOK Guide) is a fundamental resource published by the Project Management Institute (PMI) in 2017, providing the essential knowledge base for managing projects across industries. This edition introduces the concept of Agile and other adaptive project management approaches alongside traditional methods, reflecting the evolving landscape of project management. It outlines 49 processes organized into ten knowledge areas and five process groups, serving as a guide for project managers to enhance project success rates through structured planning, execution, and monitoring. The PMBOK Guide is widely recognized as the standard for project management practices, supporting certifications like the Project Management Professional (PMP).
Date of Publication: 2017
If Available, Public Link to Preview of Entire Publication Including Credits Section: Link

The above information pertains to Graffius' involvement in A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge—Sixth Edition. The PMI subsequently released the Seventh Edition. Here are links to it—the current edition—on Amazon:

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Graffius was Involved in the Development of The Standard for Program Management—Fourth Edition

Publication Title: The Standard for Program Management—Fourth Edition
Credit: Graffius was an expert contributor and reviewer. His involvement was credited in the publication (see visual above).
Description: The Standard for Program Management (4th Edition), published by the Project Management Institute (PMI) in 2017, is a definitive guide that outlines the principles and practices for managing multiple related projects under a program. This edition integrates the latest insights on program governance, stakeholder engagement, and benefits management, providing a framework for aligning projects with strategic business objectives. It's designed to help program managers navigate the complexities of coordinating, prioritizing, and optimizing resources across projects to achieve broader organizational goals.
Date of Publication: 2017
If Available, Public Link to Preview of Entire Publication Including Credits Section: Link, link

The above information pertains to Graffius' involvement in The Standard for Program Management—Fourth Edition. The PMI subsequently released the Fifth Edition. Here are links to it—the current edition—on Amazon:

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Graffius was Involved in the Development of The Practice Standard for Project Estimating—Second Edition

Publication Title: The Practice Standard for Project Estimating—Second Edition
Credit: Graffius was an expert contributor and reviewer. His involvement was credited in the publication (see visual above).
Description: The Practice Standard for Project Estimating (2nd Edition), issued by the Project Management Institute (PMI), serves as an authoritative guide for professionals engaged in project cost estimation. Released in 2019, this edition provides updated methodologies, tools, and techniques for developing accurate and reliable project estimates, covering everything from initial rough order of magnitude (ROM) estimates to definitive estimates. It emphasizes the importance of aligning estimates with project scope, schedule, and resource availability, offering guidance on how to manage risks and uncertainties inherent in estimating. This standard is invaluable for those looking to improve their project management practices, ensuring projects are planned with financial realism in mind.
Date of Publication: 2019
If Available, Public Link to Preview of Entire Publication Including Credits Section: N/A

The above information pertains to Graffius' involvement in The Practice Standard for Project Estimating—Second Edition. It remains the current edition. Here are links to it—still the current edition—on Amazon:

scott-m-graffius-role-in-advancing-pmi-standards---v25021307-individuals-2-wbs-lwres

Graffius was Involved in the Development of the Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures—Second Edition

Publication Title: The Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures—Second Edition
Credit: Graffius was an expert contributor and reviewer. His involvement was credited in the publication (see visual above).
Description: The Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures (2nd Edition) by the Project Management Institute (PMI) serves as an essential guide for project managers to effectively plan, organize, and manage project deliverables. Published in 2006, this edition explains the principles of creating a Work Breakdown Structure (WBS), a key project management tool used to break down project scope into manageable sections. It aligns with the PMBOK Guide, ensuring consistency with broader project management practices. The book outlines how to develop a WBS to clarify project goals, manage resources, and monitor progress, making it invaluable for both new and experienced project managers in various industries.
Date of Publication: 2006
If Available, Public Link to Preview of Entire Publication Including the Credits Section: Link

The above information pertains to Graffius' involvement in The Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures—Second Edition. The PMI subsequently released the Third Edition. Here are links to it—the current edition—on Amazon:

Conclusion

The above publications represent significant contributions to the field of project management. Graffius' involvement underscores his commitment to advancing the discipline with reliable, well-researched and validated guidance for field application. These resources continue to shape the industry and empower practitioners to achieve excellence in their projects.

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Read on for:

About the Project Management Institute,
About Scott M. Graffius,
How to cite this article,
and more.

About the Project Management Institute

The Project Management Institute (PMI) is a leading global association for professionals in the field of project management. Founded in 1969, PMI is dedicated to advancing the profession through research, standards development, education, and certification. With members in nearly every country, PMI offers resources like the Project Management Professional (PMP) certification, which is recognized worldwide as a benchmark for project management expertise. The organization also promotes project management practices that drive better results, foster innovation, and enhance career opportunities for professionals across various industries. Through its extensive network and resources, PMI helps in connecting project managers, sharing knowledge, and advocating for the strategic value of project management.

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About Scott M. Graffius

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Scott M. Graffius sparks breakthroughs in AI, agile, and project management/PMO leadership as a globally recognized practitioner, researcher, thought leader, award-winning author, and international public speaker.

Graffius has generated more than USD $1.9 billion in business value for organizations served, including Fortune 500 companies. Businesses and industries range from technology (including R&D and AI) to entertainment, financial services, and healthcare, government, social media, and more.

Graffius leads the professional services firm Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, along with its subsidiary Exceptional Agility. These consultancies offer strategic and tactical advisory, training, embedded talent, and consulting services to public, private, and government sectors. They help organizations enhance their capabilities and results in agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership, supporting innovation and driving competitive advantage. The consultancies confidently back services with a Delighted Client Guarantee™. Graffius is a former vice president of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more. He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets.

He is the author of two award-winning books.

His first book, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions (ISBN-13: 9781533370242), received 17 awards.
His second book is Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change (ISBN-13: 9781072447962). BookAuthority named it one of the best Scrum books of all time.

Organizations around the world invite Graffius to speak on tech (including AI), agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership. He has developed and delivered unique and compelling talks and workshops. To date, Graffius has delivered 91 sessions across 25 countries. Select examples of events include Agile Trends Gov, BSides (Newcastle Upon Tyne), Conf42 Quantum Computing, DevDays Europe, DevOps Institute, DevOpsDays (Geneva), Frug’Agile, IEEE, Microsoft, Scottish Summit, Scrum Alliance RSG (Nepal), Techstars, and W Love Games International Video Game Development Conference (Helsinki), and more. With an average rating of 4.81 (on a scale of 1-5), sessions are highly valued.

Prominent businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities have featured Graffius and his work including content from his books, talks, workshops, and more. Select examples include:

Adobe,
American Management Association,
Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
Bayer,
BMC Software,
Boston University,
Broadcom,
Cisco,
Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts Germany,
Computer Weekly,
Constructor University Germany,
Data Governance Success,
Deimos Aerospace,
DevOps Institute,
EU's European Commission,
Ford Motor Company,
Gartner
GoDaddy,
Harvard Medical School,
Hasso Plattner Institute Germany,
IEEE,
Innovation Project Management,
Johns Hopkins University,
Journal of Neurosurgery,
Lam Research (Semiconductors),
Leadership Worthy,
Life Sciences Trainers and Educators Network,
London South Bank University,
Microsoft,
NASSCOM,
National Academy of Sciences,
New Zealand Government,
Oracle,
Pinterest Inc.,
Project Management Institute,
SANS Institute,
SBG Neumark Germany,
Singapore Institute of Technology,
Torrens University Australia,
TBS Switzerland,
Tufts University,
UC San Diego,
UK Sports Institute,
University of Galway Ireland,
US Department of Energy,
US National Park Service,
US Tennis Association,
Veleučilište u Rijeci Croatia,
Verizon,
Virginia Tech,
Warsaw University of Technology,
Wrike,
Yale University,
and many others.

Graffius has been actively involved with the Project Management Institute (PMI) in the development of professional standards. He was a member of the team which produced the Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures—Second Edition. Graffius was a contributor and reviewer of A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge—Sixth Edition, The Standard for Program Management—Fourth Edition, and The Practice Standard for Project Estimating—Second Edition. He was also a subject matter expert reviewer of content for the PMI’s Congress. Beyond the PMI, Graffius also served as a member of the review team for two of the Scrum Alliance’s Global Scrum Gatherings.

Graffius has a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a focus in Human Factors. He holds eight professional certifications:

Certified SAFe 6 Agilist (SA),
Certified Scrum Professional - ScrumMaster (CSP-SM),
Certified Scrum Professional - Product Owner (CSP-PO),
Certified ScrumMaster (CSM),
Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO),
Project Management Professional (PMP),
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB), and
IT Service Management Foundation (ITIL).

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How to Cite This Article

Graffius, Scott M. (2025, February 12). Scott M. Graffius' Role in Advancing Project Management Institute (PMI) Standards Excellence. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/scott-m-graffius-role-in-advancing-project-management-institute-(pmi)-standards.html.

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Content Acknowledgements

This article uses limited excerpts from Project Management Institute (PMI) publications (Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures—Second Edition, A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge—Sixth Edition, The Standard for Program Management—Fourth Edition, and The Practice Standard for Project Estimating—Second Edition), attributed to the PMI and used under fair use for news reporting and analysis. PMI name, mark, and content are the property of PMI.

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scott_m_graffius_-_blog_spacer_-_v23111107_-_x---rev-24101207---copyright---lwres

Copyright

Copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

Content on this site—including text, images, videos, and data—may not be used for training or input into any artificial intelligence, machine learning, or automatized learning systems, or published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.

Tags: #Agile • #PMBOK • #PMI • #PMO • Graffius' involvement as an expert contributor and reviewer • ISBN-13: 978-1628256192 • ASIN: B07V4GG7Q7 • ISBN-13: 978-1628256420 • ASIN: B087Z4RVBD • ISBN-13: 978-1628258141 • ASIN: B0CW1M21G2 • ASIN: B096KV7FXQ • ISBN-13: 978-1628256642 • #PMP • B074XH861T • B087Z4RVBD • PMI Standards • PMBOK • PMO • Project Management Expert • Agile • #StrategyExecution • #WBS • #WorkBreakdownStructure • Project Management Professional (PMP) • Project Management Thought Leader • 9781933890173 • 9781933890135 • #WorkBreakdownStructures • 978-1628251845 • 978-1628251968 • 978-1628256420 • Project Manager • Scott M. Graffius • 9781628256420 • 9781628251968 • 978-1933890135 • 978-1933890173 • 9781628251845 • Project Management Institute (PMI) • The Standard for Program Management—Fourth Edition • A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge—Sixth Edition (PMBOK Guide) • A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge—Sixth Edition (PMBOK Guide) • The Practice Standard for Project Estimating—Second Edition • The Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures—Second Edition • Project Management • PMO Excellence • #StandardForProgramManagement • #StakeholderEngagement • #ScottMGraffius • #ProjectSuccess • #ProjectManager • #ProjectManagementThoughtLeader • #ProjectManagementStandards • #ProjectManagementProfessional • #ProjectManagementExpert • #ProjectManagementBodyOfKnowledge • #ProjectGovernance • #ProjectManagement • #ProjectEstimating • #ProgramManagement • #ProfessionalDevelopment • #PracticeStandardForWorkBreakdownStructures • #PracticeStandardForProjectEstimating • #BusinessLeadership • #IndustryStandards

Most Valuable IT Certifications: Update for 2025

05 February 2025

BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com

Most Valuable IT Certifications - Update for 2025 - Scott_Graffius_com - lwres

In Technology, there's no substitute for experience. However, certifications remain a valuable tool for advancing one's career.

Since 2017, Scott M. Graffius has researched and reported on the most valuable Information Technology (IT) related certifications. As new technologies emerge and business needs shift, the landscape of in-demand skills evolves. To reflect these ongoing changes, Graffius regularly updates his work. This article presents the 2025 edition of the most valuable IT certifications.

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Certifications can help position people as a valuable asset to their current—and prospective future—employers.

Employers want employees and candidates with up-to-date knowledge and skills, and certifications demonstrate one's mastery of the respective subject. Additionally, certifications can advance marketability, leading to promotions and higher pay.

Graffius compiled and analyzed data from 15 sources—including the California Institute of Arts and Technology, CIO, CIO Dive, Computer Science, eWeek, Exceptional Agility, Forbes, Fortune, Global Knowledge, Indeed, ITTA, PC Magazine, Robert Half, Skillsoft, and Workday—to identify which IT certifications are widely seen as the most valuable. Ten certifications stood out as the top choices.

Now, on to this list for 2025!

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Most Valuable IT Certifications - Update for 2025 - Scott_Graffius_com - Blog Sctn and Sq - X - CompTIA - lwres

1. CompTIA A+

Certification name: CompTIA A+
Certification name abbreviation: A+
Governing organization - name: CompTIA
Governing organization - website: https://www.comptia.org
Short description of certification: This is generally considered to be a certification for people who want to start careers in the IT industry. To acquire the CompTIA A+ certification, you must pass two separate tests: Core 1 and Core 2. Core 1 (220-1101) covers mobile devices, networking technology, hardware, virtualization, and cloud computing. Core 2 (220-1102) covers operating systems, security, software, and operational procedures.
Prerequisites (if any) for certification: None
Certification exam – cost: Total cost for the two exams varies by location and other factors. The average total combined cost is $492
Certification exam – delivery (in-person or online): in-person or online
Certification exam – number of questions: Core 1 exam has 90 questions, Core 2 exam also has 90 questions
Certification exam – time to complete it: 90 minutes for Core 1 exam, and 90 minutes for Core 2 exam
Certification exam – minimum pass rate (X% or higher correct required to pass exam): Estimated to be 83% for the Core 1 exam. Estimated to be 86% for the Core 2 exam.
Certification expiration – does it expire? Yes
Certification expiration – how long does it last before expiring? 3 years
Certification renewal cost: $75

Note: Prerequisites, cost (shown in United States Dollar - USD), and other data are subject to change by the governing organization.

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2. Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA)

Certification name: Cisco Certified Network Associate
Certification name abbreviation: CCNA
Governing organization - name: Cisco
Governing organization - website: https://www.cisco.com
Short description of certification: Validates the ability to install, operate, configure, and troubleshoot basic Cisco networking devices and technologies.
Prerequisites (if any) for certification: No prerequisites. However, Cisco recommends having at least a basic knowledge of networking and at least one year of experience with Cisco products.
Certification exam – cost: $300
Certification exam – delivery (in-person or online): In-person or online
Certification exam – number of questions: Varies, between 50-75 questions
Certification exam – time to complete it: 120 minutes
Certification exam – minimum pass rate (X% or higher correct required to pass exam): Estimated to be 80%
Certification expiration – does it expire? Yes
Certification expiration – how long does it last before expiring? 3 years
Certification renewal cost: $150

Note: Prerequisites, cost (shown in United States Dollar - USD), and other data are subject to change by the governing organization.

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Most Valuable IT Certifications - Update for 2025 - Scott_Graffius_com - Blog Sctn and Sq - X - CISSP - lwres

3. Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)

Certification name: Certified Information Systems Security Professional
Certification name abbreviation: CISSP
Governing organization - name: (ISC)²
Governing organization - website: https://www.isc2.org
Short description of certification: The CISSP is a highly respective, vendor-neutral certification that validates a broad understanding of information security and best practices.
Prerequisites (if any) for certification: At least five years of paid, full time work experience involving two or more (of the eight) domains of the CISSP Common Body of Knowledge (CBK)
Certification exam - cost: $749, although the cost may vary by location and other factors
Certification exam - delivery (in-person or online): In-person at a Pearson VUE testing center
Certification exam - number of questions: Between 125-175 questions
Certification exam - time to complete it: 4 hours
Certification exam - minimum pass rate (X% or higher correct required to pass exam): Estimated to be 70%
Certification expiration - does it expire? Yes
Certification expiration - how long does it last before expiring? 3 years
Certification renewal cost: $125

Note: Prerequisites, cost (shown in United States Dollar - USD), and other data are subject to change by the governing organization.

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Most Valuable IT Certifications - Update for 2025 - Scott_Graffius_com - Blog Sctn and Sq - X - PMP - lwres

4. Project Management Professional (PMP)

Certification name: Project Management Professional
Certification name abbreviation: PMP
Governing organization - name: Project Management Institute (PMI)
Governing organization - website: https://www.pmi.org/
Short description of certification: PMP certification is a globally recognized and sought-after project management credential that recognizes experienced project managers for successfully leading teams through a project’s life cycle.
Prerequisites (if any) for certification: A or B. (A) Bachelor's degree (or global equivalent) + 36 months of project management experience + 35 hours of project management education/training. Or (B) Secondary degree (high school diploma, associate’s degree or global equivalent) + 60 months of project management experience + 35 hours of project management education/training.
Certification exam - cost: $405 for members of the PMI, $575 for those not a member of the PMI
Certification exam - delivery (in-person or online): In-person
Certification exam - number of questions: Between 180-200 questions
Certification exam - time to complete it: 230 minutes
Certification exam - minimum pass rate (X% or higher correct required to pass exam): Estimated to be 81%
Certification expiration - does it expire? Yes
Certification expiration - how long does it last before expiring? 3 years
Certification renewal cost: $150

Note: Prerequisites, cost (shown in United States Dollar - USD), and other data are subject to change by the governing organization.

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Most Valuable IT Certifications - Update for 2025 - Scott_Graffius_com - Blog Sctn and Sq - X - CEH - lwres

5. Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH)

Certification name: Certified Ethical Hacker
Certification name abbreviation: CEH
Governing organization - name: EC-Council
Governing organization - website: https://www.eccouncil.org
Short description of certification: This certification is obtained by demonstrating knowledge of assessing the security of computer systems by looking for vulnerabilities in target systems, using the same knowledge and tools as a malicious hacker, but in a lawful and legitimate manner to assess the security posture of a target system.
Prerequisites (if any) for certification: Candidates need to have experience in a job related to network security or complete approved training courses before taking the exam
Certification exam - cost: $1,199, can vary based on registration options and other factors
Certification exam - delivery (in-person or online): In-person at a Pearson VUE testing center or online proctored
Certification exam - number of questions: 125
Certification exam - time to complete it: 4 hours
Certification exam - minimum pass rate (X% or higher correct required to pass exam): Estimated to be 70%
Certification expiration - does it expire? Yes
Certification expiration - how long does it last before expiring? 3 years
Certification renewal cost: $85

Note: Prerequisites, cost (shown in United States Dollar - USD), and other data are subject to change by the governing organization.

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Most Valuable IT Certifications - Update for 2025 - Scott_Graffius_com - Blog Sctn and Sq - X - AWS - lwres

6. AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate (AWS SA)

Certification name: AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate
Certification name abbreviation: AWS SA
Governing organization - name: Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Governing organization - website: http://aws.amazon.com
Short description of certification: This certification showcases knowledge and skills in AWS technology, across a wide range of AWS services. The focus is on the design of cost- and performance-optimized solutions, demonstrating a strong understanding of the AWS Well-Architected Framework.
Prerequisites (if any) for certification: None
Certification exam - cost: $150
Certification exam - delivery (in-person or online): In-person or online
Certification exam - number of questions: 65 questions
Certification exam - time to complete it: 130 minutes
Certification exam - minimum pass rate (X% or higher correct required to pass exam): Estimated to be 70%
Certification expiration - does it expire? Yes
Certification expiration - how long does it last before expiring? 3 years
Certification renewal cost: $75

Note: Prerequisites, cost (shown in United States Dollar - USD), and other data are subject to change by the governing organization.

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Most Valuable IT Certifications - Update for 2025 - Scott_Graffius_com - Blog Sctn and Sq - X - Azure - lwres

7. Azure Administrator Associate

Certification name: Azure Administrator Associate
Certification name abbreviation: There isn't an abbreviation designated. AZ-104 (the corresponding exam code for the certification) is sometimes used as an identifier.
Governing organization - name: Microsoft
Governing organization - website: https://learn.microsoft.com
Short description of certification: Azure Administrator Associate (also referred to as Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate) certification validates one’s ability to manage Azure subscriptions, implement and secure infrastructure, configure virtual networks, deploy virtual machines, monitor resources, and troubleshoot issues.
Prerequisites (if any) for certification: None, but Microsoft recommends at least six months of experience administering Azure
Certification exam - cost: $165
Certification exam - delivery (in-person or online): In-person or online proctored
Certification exam - number of questions: Varies, typically between 40-60 questions
Certification exam - time to complete it: 120 minutes
Certification exam - minimum pass rate (X% or higher correct required to pass exam): Estimated to be 70%
Certification expiration - does it expire? Yes
Certification expiration - how long does it last before expiring? 1 year
Certification renewal cost: Free renewal

Note: Prerequisites, cost (shown in United States Dollar - USD), and other data are subject to change by the governing organization.

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Most Valuable IT Certifications - Update for 2025 - Scott_Graffius_com - Blog Sctn and Sq - X - GCP - lwres

8. Google Certified Professional Cloud Architect (GCP Architect)

Certification name: Google Certified Professional Cloud Architect
Certification name abbreviation: GCP Architect
Governing organization - name: Google
Governing organization - website: https://cloud.google.com
Short description of certification: Demonstrates expertise in designing, developing, and managing secure, reliable, scalable, and cost-effective solutions on the Google Cloud Platforms (GCP)
Prerequisites (if any) for certification: None; familiarity with GCP products and services is recommended
Certification exam - cost: $200
Certification exam - delivery (in-person or online): In-person
Certification exam - number of questions: 50 questions
Certification exam - time to complete it: 120 minutes
Certification exam - minimum pass rate (X% or higher correct required to pass exam): Estimated to be 70%
Certification expiration - does it expire? Yes
Certification expiration - how long does it last before expiring? 2 years
Certification renewal cost: $100

Note: Prerequisites, cost (shown in United States Dollar - USD), and other data are subject to change by the governing organization.
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9. Certified ScrumMaster (CSM)

Certification name: Certified ScrumMaster
Certification name abbreviation: CSM
Governing organization - name: Scrum Alliance
Governing organization - website: https://www.scrumalliance.org
Short description of certification: Validates a solid understanding of Scrum including practical ways to apply it on one’s team and organization
Prerequisites (if any) for certification: Completion of a two-day course by an authorized trainer
Certification exam - cost: Course (referenced above) includes the cost of the exam. Cost ranges from about $500 to $1,500 depending on the location, delivery format, and other factors
Certification exam - delivery (in-person or online): Online
Certification exam - number of questions: 50
Certification exam - time to complete it: 1 hour
Certification exam - minimum pass rate (X% or higher correct required to pass exam): Estimated to be 74%
Certification expiration - does it expire? Yes
Certification expiration - how long does it last before expiring? 2 years
Certification renewal cost: $100

Note: Prerequisites, cost (shown in United States Dollar - USD), and other data are subject to change by the governing organization.

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Most Valuable IT Certifications - Update for 2025 - Scott_Graffius_com - Blog Sctn and Sq - X - CAIS - lwres

10. Certified Artificial Intelligence Scientist (CSAI)

Certification name: Certified Artificial Intelligence Scientist
Certification name abbreviation: CAIS
Governing organization - name: United States Artificial Intelligence Institute (USAII)
Governing organization - website: https://www.usaii.org
Short description of certification: The CAIS is publicized by USAII as the most sophisticated and ground-breaking certification program for senior AI professionals and business leaders to develop the perfect AI solutions and strategy, bringing the right organizational change leading to an absolute business transformation.
Prerequisites (if any) for certification: One of three eligibility paths and completion of a self-paced course. Path 1: Bachelor's degree (or equivalent) in any academic discipline; and at least five years of experience in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Data Science, Business Analytics, Business Intelligence, Project Management, or any Programming Languages. Path 2: Bachelor's degree (or equivalent) in any academic discipline; and at least four years of experience in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Data Science, Business Analytics, Business Intelligence, Engineering, Finance, or Management. Path 3: Certified Artificial Intelligence Consultant (CAIC) (or other equivalent) certification; and at least four years of experience for a candidate who has a Bachelor's degree (or equivalent), or three years of experience for a candidate who has a Master's degree (or equivalent).
Certification exam - cost: Course (referenced above) includes the cost of the exam. Cost is $894.
Certification exam - delivery (in-person or online): In-person
Certification exam - number of questions: 80
Certification exam - time to complete it: 100 minutes
Certification exam - minimum pass rate (X% or higher correct required to pass exam): 70%
Certification expiration - does it expire? Yes
Certification expiration - how long does it last before expiring? 3 years
Certification renewal cost: $249

Note: Prerequisites, cost (shown in United States Dollar - USD), and other data are subject to change by the governing organization.

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Certifications can provide significant value for professionals looking to enhance their skills and credibility in the marketplace. Employers often prefer to hire certified professionals, and people who invest in professional credentials typically enjoy larger salaries.

Informed by data from multiple sources, this article identified and profiled 10 IT-related certifications: CompTIA A+, Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA), Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), Project Management Professional (PMP), Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH), AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate (AWS SA), Azure Administrator Associate, Google Certified Professional Cloud Architect (GCP Architect), Certified ScrumMaster (CSM), and Certified Artificial Intelligence Scientist (CAIS).

Those interested in securing one or more IT-related certifications can leverage the data presented in this article to assist in their decision-making.

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References/Sources:

California Institute of Arts and Technology (CIAT) (2024, February). 10 In-Demand IT Jobs You Can Get With Tech Certifications. Available at: https://www.ciat.edu/blog/10-in-demand-it-jobs-you-can-get-with-tech-certifications.
CIO (2024, November 24). The 15 Most Valuable IT Certifications Today. Available at: https://www.cio.com/article/286762/careers-staffing-12-it-certifications-that-deliver-career-advancement.html.
CIO.com (2024, June 7). Top 8 IT Certifications in Demand Today. Available at: https://www.cio.com/article/193586/top-15-it-certifications-in-demand-today.html.
CIO Dive (2023, November 14). 5 Highest-Paying IT Certifications in 2023. Available at: https://www.ciodive.com/news/top-paying-IT-certifications-project-management-security/699641.
Computer Science(dot)org. (2023, November 9). Best IT Certifications To Boost Your Computer Science Career. Available at: https://www.computerscience.org/resources/top-it-certifications.
eWeek (2024, February 8). 30 Top AI Certifications: Hotlist of 2024. Available at: https://www.eweek.com/artificial-intelligence/ai-certifications.
Exceptional Agility (2024, January 4). Top Agile Certifications: Update for 2024. Available at: https://exceptionalagility.com/blog/files/top-agile-certifications-2024.html.
Forbes (2024, March 21). 10 Certificates To Put On Your Resume In 2024. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelwells/2024/03/21/10-certificates-to-put-on-your-resume-in-2024/.
Fortune (2023, November 14). How Much Can You Make with IT Certifications? Available at: https://fortune.com/education/articles/how-much-can-you-make-with-it-certifications-average-salaries.
Global Knowledge (2023, April 27). 10 Top-Paying IT Certifications. Available at: https://www.globalknowledge.com/us-en/resources/resource-library/articles/10-top-paying-it-certifications.
Graffius, Scott M. (2024, March 15). Most Valuable IT Certifications: Update for 2024. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/it-certs-2024.html. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.11776.03849.
Indeed (2023, December 18). Top 17 IT Certifications in Demand for 2024. Available at: https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/top-it-certifications.
Indeed (2024, April 18). 10 High-Paying IT Certifications. Available at: https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/finding-a-job/highest-paying-it-certifications.
ITTA (2024, November 7). Top 10 Must-have IT certifications for 2025. Available at: https://www.itta.net/en/blog/top-10-must-have-it-certifications-for-2025/.
PC Magazine (2023, December 1). Level Up Your Career: The Highest-Paying IT Certifications for 2024. Available at: https://www.pcmag.com/news/highest-paying-it-certifications.
Robert Half (2023, November 27). The 29 Most Valuable IT Certifications. Available at: https://www.roberthalf.com/us/en/insights/career-development/which-it-certifications-are-most-valuable.
Robert Half (2024, December 17). 34 of the Best IT Certifications for Boosting Your Tech Career. Available at: https://www.roberthalf.com/us/en/insights/career-development/which-it-certifications-are-most-valuable.
Skillsoft (2024, January 16). The 20 Top-Paying Microsoft Certifications in 2024. Available at: https://www.skillsoft.com/blog/top-paying-microsoft-certifications.
Workday (2025, February 4). Ultimate Guide to IT Certifications in 2025. Available at: https://blog.workday.com/en-us/ultimate-guide-to-it-certifications-in-2025.html.

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How to Cite This Article

Graffius, Scott M. (2025, February 5). Most Valuable IT Certifications: Update for 2025. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/top-it-certifications-update-for-2025.html.

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About Scott M. Graffius

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Scott M. Graffius is an AI, Agile, and Project Management/PMO leader, researcher, author, and speaker. Along the way, he spearheaded initiatives that have generated over $2.3 billion in impact for organizations across tech, entertainment, finance, healthcare, and beyond. The following sections provide additional information on his experience, contributions, and influence.

Experience

Graffius heads the professional services firm Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, along with its subsidiary Exceptional Agility. These consultancies offer strategic and tactical advisory, training, embedded expertise, and consulting services to the public, private, and government sectors. They help organizations enhance their capabilities and results in agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership, supporting innovation and driving competitive advantage. The consultancies confidently back services with a Delighted Client Guarantee™.

Graffius is a former VP of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more.

He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets.

Award-Winning Author

Graffius has authored three books.

Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions, his first book, earned 17 awards.
Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change, his second book, was named one of the best Scrum books of all time by BookAuthority.
Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum, his third book and his first work of fiction, was released in April 2025. The book trailer is on YouTube.

International Public Speaker

Organizations worldwide engage Graffius to present on tech (including AI), Agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership. He crafts and delivers unique and compelling talks and workshops. To date, Graffius has conducted 93 sessions across 25 countries. Select examples of events include Agile Trends Gov, BSides (Newcastle Upon Tyne), Conf42 Quantum Computing, DevDays Europe, DevOps Institute, DevOpsDays (Geneva), Frug’Agile, IEEE, Microsoft, Scottish Summit, Scrum Alliance RSG (Nepal), Techstars, and W Love Games International Video Game Development Conference (Helsinki), and more.

With an average rating of 4.81 (on a scale of 1-5), sessions are highly valued.

The speaker engagement request form is here.

Thought Leadership and Influence

Prominent businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities have showcased Graffius and his contributions—spanning his books, talks, workshops, and beyond. Select examples include:

Adobe,
American Management Association,
Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
Bayer,
BMC Software,
Boston University,
Broadcom,
Cisco,
Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts - Germany,
Computer Weekly,
Constructor University - Germany,
Data Governance Success,
Deimos Aerospace,
DevOps Institute,
Dropbox,
EU's European Commission,
Ford Motor Company,
Gartner,
GoDaddy,
Harvard Medical School,
Hasso Plattner Institute - Germany,
IEEE,
Innovation Project Management,
Johns Hopkins University,
Journal of Neurosurgery,
Lam Research (Semiconductors),
Leadership Worthy,
Life Sciences Trainers and Educators Network,
London South Bank University,
Microsoft,
NASSCOM,
National Academy of Sciences,
New Zealand Government,
Oracle,
Pinterest Inc.,
Project Management Institute,
Mary Raum (Professor of National Security Affairs, United States Naval War College),
SANS Institute,
SBG Neumark - Germany,
Singapore Institute of Technology,
Torrens University - Australia,
TBS Switzerland,
Tufts University,
UC San Diego,
UK Sports Institute,
University of Galway - Ireland,
US Department of Energy,
US National Park Service,
US Soccer,
US Tennis Association,
Verizon,
Wrike,
Yale University,
and many others.

Graffius has played a key role in the Project Management Institute (PMI) in developing professional standards. He was a member of multiple teams that authored, reviewed, and produced:

Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures—Second Edition.
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge—Sixth Edition.
The Standard for Program Management—Fourth Edition.
The Practice Standard for Project Estimating—Second Edition.

Additional details are here.

He was also a subject matter expert reviewer of content for the PMI’s Congress. Beyond the PMI, Graffius also served as a member of the review team for two of the Scrum Alliance’s Global Scrum Gatherings.

Acclaimed Authority on Teamwork Tradecraft

Graffius is a renowned authority on teamwork tradecraft. Informed by the research of Bruce W. Tuckman and Mary Ann C. Jensen, over 100 subsequent studies, and Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his 'Phases of Team Development' as a unique perspective and visual conveying the five phases of team development. First introduced in 2008 and periodically updated, his work provides a diagnostic and strategic guide for navigating team dynamics. It provides actionable insights for leaders across industries to develop high-performance teams. Its adoption by esteemed organizations such as Yale University, IEEE, Cisco, Microsoft, Ford, Oracle, Broadcom, the U.S. National Park Service, and the Journal of Neurosurgery, among others, highlights its utility and value, solidifying its status as an indispensable resource for elevating team performance and driving organizational excellence.

The 2025 edition of Graffius' "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property is here.

Expert on Temporal Dynamics on Social Media Platforms

Graffius is also an authority on temporal dynamics on social media platforms. His 'Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts' research—first published in 2018 and updated annually—delivers a precise quantitative analysis of post longevity across digital platforms, utilizing advanced statistical techniques to determine mean half-life with precision. It establishes a solid empirical base, effectively highlighting the ephemeral nature of content within social media ecosystems. Referenced and applied by leading entities such as the Center for Direct Marketing, Fast Company, GoDaddy, Pinterest Inc., and PNAS, among others, his research exemplifies methodological rigor and sustained significance in the field of digital informatics.

The 2025 edition of Graffius "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts" research is here.

Education and Professional Certifications

Graffius has a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a focus in Human Factors. He holds eight professional certifications:

Certified SAFe 6 Agilist (SA),
Certified Scrum Professional - ScrumMaster (CSP-SM),
Certified Scrum Professional - Product Owner (CSP-PO),
Certified ScrumMaster (CSM),
Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO),
Project Management Professional (PMP),
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB), and
IT Service Management Foundation (ITIL).

He is an active member of the Scrum Alliance, the Project Management Institute (PMI), and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Advancing AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management

Scott M. Graffius continues to advance the fields of AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Management through his leadership, research, writing, and real-world impact. Businesses and other organizations leverage Graffius’ insights to drive their success.

Thought Leader | Public Speaker | Agile Protocol Book | Agile Scrum Book | Agile Transformation Book | Blog | Photo | X | LinkedIn | Email

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Copyright

Copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

Content on this site—including text, images, videos, and data—may not be used for training or input into any artificial intelligence, machine learning, or automatized learning systems, or published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.

Tags: (ISC)² • #AWS • CIO • CIO Dive • Cisco • CompTIA • Computer Science • Workday • Tech Certifications • GCP Architect (Google Certified Professional Cloud Architect) • Fortune • Forbes • CSM (Certified ScrumMaster) • CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional) • Certifications for Tech • Certifications for IT • CEH (Certified Ethical Hacker) • CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate) • California Institute of Arts and Technology • CAIS (Certified Artificial Intelligence Scientist) • AZ-104 (Azure Administrator Associate) • AWS SA (AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate) • Amazon Web Services (AWS) • #AWSSA • #AZ104 • #CAIS • #CCNA • #CEH • #CIO • #ITTA • #IT • #Microsoft • #Indeed • #Google • Skillsoft • #Robert Half • Google • Scrum Alliance • Tech Certs • #Skillsoft • #ScrumAlliance • #Workday • #Tech • #USAII • #ProjectManagementProfessional • #ProjectManagementInstitute • #PCMagazine • #PMP • #GlobalKnowledge • Exceptional Agility • EC-Council • Global Knowledge • #GCP • #Fortune • #Forbes • #ExceptionalAgility • #CSM • Robert Half • Project Management Institute • PMP (Project Management Professional) • PC Magazine • Microsoft • Most valuable IT certifications • ITTA • IT Certifications • Indeed • #CompTIA • #CISSP • #Cisco • #CertifiedScrumMaster

The PMI + Agile Alliance Merger: A Recipe for Success?

03 February 2025

BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com

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Introduction

In a significant move for the project management community, the Project Management Institute® (PMI) and Agile Alliance® announced a merger, effective December 31, 2024, as detailed in PMI's press release and Agile Alliance’s announcement. This union aims to combine the structured methodologies of PMI with the adaptive practices of Agile Alliance, heralding a new era for professionals in the field.

With the merger between PMI and Agile Alliance sizzling in the project management community, it’s only fitting to present a recipe that blends both worlds. Bon Appétit!

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Recipe

Ingredients

1 cup of Agile Manifesto Values - The foundation of adaptability and collaboration.
2 tablespoons of PMI's Traditional Project Management - Adds structure with a dash of predictability.
A sprinkle of PMI's Global Reach - Expands influence for widespread appeal.
3 doses of Agile Thought Leadership - Infuses bold ideas with a rebellious spirit.
1 part Disciplined Agile Delivery (DAD) - Previously acquired by PMI, it layers in complexity.
A pinch of Controversy - Keeps the medley lively.
Generous helping of Certification Programs - Thickens with professional credibility.
A dash of Agile Events - Enhances community engagement and networking.
1 heaping tablespoon of Integration - Ensures Agile methodologies blend smoothly with PMI's framework.
A few drops of Irony - A nod to Agile’s transformation from disruptor to establishment.
Optional: A hint of Corporate Speak - Adds a polished, boardroom-friendly finish.

Steps

Heat Expectations: Begin by heating the industry's expectations in a large pot over medium heat.
Establish the Base: Pour in the Agile Manifesto Values, ensuring an even spread at the bottom.
Add Structure: Slowly stir in PMI's Traditional Project Management, ensuring it blends without overpowering Agile.
Expand the Flavor: Introduce PMI's Global Reach, ensuring it is distributed throughout.
Infuse Innovation: Gently add doses of Agile Thought Leadership to ensure innovative ideas simmer into the mix without boiling over.
Layer Complexity and Controversy: Incorporate Disciplined Agile Delivery for depth, and a pinch of Controversy to keep the medley bubbling.
Thicken the Mix: Add Certification Programs to refine the medley’s texture.
Foster Community: Diligently mix in Agile Events, ensuring they enhance rather than dissolve the communal spirit of the medley.
Integrate: Add a cup of Integration and stir until seamless.
Serve with Irony: Add a few drops of Irony for a reflective touch.
Garnish as Desired: Optionally, top with Corporate Speak for boardroom appeal.

Serving Suggestion

Serve the PMI Agile Alliance Medley hot at industry conferences, where it will be both critiqued and celebrated. Pair with a side of LinkedIn posts and blog articles for the full experience.

Note: This medley is meant to be enjoyed by all (agile or otherwise) in the project management community. Taste may vary depending on one’s perspective on the merger.

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This article was simultaneously published here (the initial, working title was "Recipe for PMI® Agile Alliance® Medley") and on LinkedIn.

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Read on for:

About the Project Management Institute,
About the Agile Alliance,
About Scott M. Graffius,
How to cite this article,
A PDF of a stylized version of this article,
and more.

About the Project Management Institute

The Project Management Institute (PMI) is a leading global association for professionals in the field of project management. Founded in 1969, PMI is dedicated to advancing the profession through research, standards development, education, and certification. With members in nearly every country, PMI offers resources like the Project Management Professional (PMP) certification, which is recognized worldwide as a benchmark for project management expertise. The organization also promotes project management practices that drive better results, foster innovation, and enhance career opportunities for professionals across various industries. Through its extensive network and resources, PMI helps in connecting project managers, sharing knowledge, and advocating for the strategic value of project management.

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About the Agile Alliance

The Agile Alliance is a global nonprofit membership organization dedicated to promoting Agile software development principles and practices. Founded in 2001, it was established by a group of leading figures in software development who crafted the Agile Manifesto—emphasizing values like collaboration, customer focus, and adaptability. The organization supports a community of over 90,000 members through various initiatives, including conferences, resource sharing, and local community groups. Agile Alliance has been instrumental in advancing Agile methodologies, providing educational resources, and fostering professional development. Its merger with the Project Management Institute (PMI) aims to enhance the integration of Agile practices with traditional project management, offering new opportunities for professionals worldwide.

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About Scott M. Graffius

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Scott M. Graffius sparks breakthroughs in AI, agile, and project management/PMO leadership as a globally recognized practitioner, researcher, thought leader, award-winning author, and international public speaker.

Graffius has generated more than USD $1.9 billion in business value for organizations served, including Fortune 500 companies. Businesses and industries range from technology (including R&D and AI) to entertainment, financial services, and healthcare, government, social media, and more.

Graffius leads the professional services firm Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, along with its subsidiary Exceptional Agility. These consultancies offer strategic and tactical advisory, training, embedded talent, and consulting services to public, private, and government sectors. They help organizations enhance their capabilities and results in agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership, supporting innovation and driving competitive advantage. The consultancies confidently back services with a Delighted Client Guarantee™. Graffius is a former vice president of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more. He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets.

He is the author of two award-winning books.

His first book, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions (ISBN-13: 9781533370242), received 17 awards.
His second book is Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change (ISBN-13: 9781072447962). BookAuthority named it one of the best Scrum books of all time.

Organizations around the world invite Graffius to speak on tech (including AI), agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership. He has developed and delivered unique and compelling talks and workshops. To date, Graffius has delivered 91 sessions across 25 countries. Select examples of events include Agile Trends Gov, BSides (Newcastle Upon Tyne), Conf42 Quantum Computing, DevDays Europe, DevOps Institute, DevOpsDays (Geneva), Frug’Agile, IEEE, Microsoft, Scottish Summit, Scrum Alliance RSG (Nepal), Techstars, and W Love Games International Video Game Development Conference (Helsinki), and more. With an average rating of 4.81 (on a scale of 1-5), sessions are highly valued.

Prominent businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities have featured Graffius and his work including content from his books, talks, workshops, and more. Select examples include:

Adobe,
American Management Association,
Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
Bayer,
BMC Software,
Boston University,
Broadcom,
Cisco,
Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts Germany,
Computer Weekly,
Constructor University Germany,
Data Governance Success,
Deimos Aerospace,
DevOps Institute,
EU's European Commission,
Ford Motor Company,
Gartner,
GoDaddy,
Harvard Medical School,
Hasso Plattner Institute Germany,
IEEE,
Innovation Project Management,
Johns Hopkins University,
Journal of Neurosurgery,
Lam Research (Semiconductors),
Leadership Worthy,
Life Sciences Trainers and Educators Network,
London South Bank University,
Microsoft,
NASSCOM,
National Academy of Sciences,
New Zealand Government,
Oracle,
Pinterest Inc.,
Project Management Institute,
SANS Institute,
SBG Neumark Germany,
Singapore Institute of Technology,
Torrens University Australia,
TBS Switzerland,
Tufts University,
UC San Diego,
UK Sports Institute,
University of Galway Ireland,
US Department of Energy,
US National Park Service,
US Tennis Association,
Veleučilište u Rijeci Croatia,
Verizon,
Virginia Tech,
Warsaw University of Technology,
Wrike,
Yale University,
and many others.

Graffius has been actively involved with the Project Management Institute (PMI) in the development of professional standards. He was a member of the team which produced the Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures—Second Edition. Graffius was a contributor and reviewer of A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge—Sixth Edition, The Standard for Program Management—Fourth Edition, and The Practice Standard for Project Estimating—Second Edition. He was also a subject matter expert reviewer of content for the PMI’s Congress. Beyond the PMI, Graffius also served as a member of the review team for two of the Scrum Alliance’s Global Scrum Gatherings.

Graffius has a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a focus in Human Factors. He holds eight professional certifications:

Certified SAFe 6 Agilist (SA),
Certified Scrum Professional - ScrumMaster (CSP-SM),
Certified Scrum Professional - Product Owner (CSP-PO),
Certified ScrumMaster (CSM),
Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO),
Project Management Professional (PMP),
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB), and
IT Service Management Foundation (ITIL).

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How to Cite This Article

Graffius, Scott M. (2025, February 3). The PMI + Agile Alliance Merger: A Recipe for Success? (The earlier, working title was: Recipe for PMI® Agile Alliance® Medley.) Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/recipe-for-pmi-agile-alliance-medley.html.

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Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.20537.48485

PDF

A PDF of a stylized version of this article is here.

Short Link for Article

The short link for this article is https://bit.ly/pmi-aa

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Copyright

Copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

Content on this site—including text, images, videos, and data—may not be used for training or input into any artificial intelligence, machine learning, or automatized learning systems, or published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.

Tags: #Agile • #AgileAlliance • #AgileManifesto • PMI Agile Alliance • #ProjectManager • Agile Manifesto • Project Manager • Project Management News • Agile News • PMI • Disciplined Agile Delivery • Bon Appétit • Agile Thought Leadership • Agile Satire • Agile Project Manager • Agile Project Management • Agile Alliance • #Satire • Agile • #RecipeForPMIAgileAllianceMedley • #ProjectManagementSatire • #ProjectManagementNews • Project Management Institute • Project Management • PMI Agile Alliance Medley • #ProjectManagementInstitute • #ProjectManagement • #AgileProjectManagement • #AgileNews • Satire • #BonAppétit • Agility • #Agility • #PMI • #PMIAgileAllianceMedley • #PMIAgileAlliance • #DisciplinedAgileDelivery • #ProjectManagementSatire • Recipe for PMI Agile Alliance Medley • Scott M. Graffius • #AgileThoughtLeadership • #AgileSatire • #AgileProjectManager

When Agile, AI, and Strategic Thinking Converge

24 January 2025

BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com

scott-m-graffius---when-agile-ai-and-strategic-thinking-converge---v25012407-lwres2

Introduction

Agile, artificial intelligence (AI), and strategic thinking are essential for businesses to thrive in today’s fast-paced world. Each pillar stands on its own. Combined, the synergistic intersections of these pillars forge a powerful triad, capable of revolutionizing operations, supercharging performance, and delivering unprecedented results.

Agile is an iterative and incremental methodology. Agile approaches (such as Scrum and Kanban) help teams work in short cycles, rapidly adapt to change, and deliver products and services expeditiously.

AI adds a new dimension to adaptability. Leveraging vast datasets, AI can automate tasks, generate actionable insights (for smarter, faster decisions), and more.

Strategic thinking is about anticipating change and identifying opportunities. It helps individuals navigate complexities and achieve long-term goals. Strategic thinking centers on understanding the broader context. It considers market dynamics, competition, and internal capabilities. It ensures efforts align with a clear vision. While agile promotes adaptability and AI powers insights, strategic thinking ties everything together.

The Real Magic Happens When Agile, AI, and Strategic Thinking Converge

Here’s how the synergy plays out.

Agile Plus AI Provides Enhanced Agility with Intelligence

Agile combined with AI enables teams to work more effectively. For example, AI can analyze customer/user feedback and market data in real-time. This helps agile teams prioritize features or quickly pivot when needed.

AI also automates repetitive tasks. For example, it can handle some testing in software development. This frees teams to focus on innovation and higher-value work.

In addition, AI provides predictive insights. It helps improve sprint planning by anticipating challenges or uncovering opportunities. This helps teams stay one step ahead.

AI Plus Strategic Thinking Provides Data-Driven Strategy

AI and strategic thinking together create data-driven strategies. This empowers organizations to make informed and effective decisions.

AI provides precision at scale. It helps leaders analyze vast amounts of data, from market trends to user behavior. It assists them in crafting more impactful strategies.

AI’s predictive capabilities enhance scenario planning. Organizations can model potential outcomes and reduce uncertainty. This can provide a competitive edge.

Agile Plus Strategic Thinking Provides a Flexible Vision

Agile combined with strategic thinking creates a flexible vision. This helps organizations adapt and thrive in dynamic environments.

Agile methods allow strategies to evolve as real-world results emerge. Adaptable approaches replace rigid plans. This flexibility best positions businesses to respond effectively to new insights and changing conditions.

Agile also bridges the gap between execution and vision. It transforms ambitious goals into actionable steps; incremental progress aligns day-to-day efforts with long-term objectives.

Agile Plus AI Plus Strategic Thinking Provides Synergy at Its Best

When agile, AI, and strategic thinking converge, they create a powerful synergy. This drives a dynamic and adaptive approach to problem-solving and innovation.

Integrating AI into agile processes allows organizations to measure strategy effectiveness in real-time. They can make adjustments as needed, enabling real-time adaptive strategies.

This combination fosters a culture of fast-paced innovation. Agile frameworks and AI insights embed innovation into daily operations.

Strategic thinking ensures agility and AI are applied with purpose. It aligns efforts with long-term objectives. This provides resilience and better future-proofing in our ever-changing world.

Conclusion

Combining agile methodologies, AI technologies, and strategic thinking is not just advantageous—it's essential in today's rapidly evolving business landscape. Agile provides the framework to adapt quickly, AI augments decision-making with data-driven insights, and strategic thinking ensures a clear vision aligns these elements. Together, they create a synergistic system where responsiveness, innovation, and foresight form the foundation of sustainable success.

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Read on for:

Sources/References,
About Scott M. Graffius,
How to Cite This Article,
and more.

References/Sources

Select bibliography:

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Beall, Justin L. (2024, March 15). Revolutionizing Agile Ceremonies with OpenAI. Available at: https://dev.to/dev3l/revolutionizing-agile-ceremonies-with-openai-a-game-changer-in-software-development-177p.
Berlin School of Business and Innovation (2022, September 22). How Do Technical Abilities Combined with Leadership Skills Fuel Career Growth? Available at: https://www.berlinsbi.com/blog/career-advice/how-do-technical-abilities-combined-with-leadership-skills-fuel-career-growth.
Bonn, Ingrid (2005, June). Improving Strategic Thinking: A Multilevel Approach. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 26 (5). DOI: 10.1108/01437730510607844.
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) (2024, September 27). Teaching AI What It Should and Shouldn’t Do. Available at: https://www.darpa.mil/news/2024/teaching-ai.
Dixit, Avinash K., & Nelebuff, Barry J. (1993). Thinking Strategically: The Competitive Edge in Business, Politics, and Everyday Life. New York, NY: W. W. Norton & Company.
Dolev, Niva, & Itzkovich, Yariv (2020). In the AI Era, Soft Skills are the New Hard Skills. In: Artificial Intelligence and Its Impact on Business, pp. 55-77. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.
Engineering Research Visioning Alliance (n.d.). Strategic Thinking for Engineering Research in the Era of Artificial Intelligence. Available at: https://www.ervacommunity.org/task-force/visioning-event-strategic-thinking-for-engineering-research-in-the-era-of-ai/.
Exceptional Agility (2023, April 10). What's the Future of Agile? Available at: https://exceptionalagility.com/blog/files/the-future.html.
Goldman, Ellen F. (2007, Summer). Strategic Thinking at the Top. MIT Sloan Management Review, 48 (4): 75-81.
Graffius, Scott M. (2016). Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions. North Charleston, SC: CreateSpace.
Graffius, Scott M. (2016). Thinking Strategically and Acting Tactically. Winnetka, CA: Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions.
Graffius, Scott M. (2018, October 18). Agile Scrum Helps Innovators, Disruptors, and Entrepreneurs Develop and Deliver Products at Astounding Speed Which Drives Competitive Advantage [Presentation]. Talk delivered at Techstars Startup Week Conference. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.25009.12647.
Graffius, Scott M. (2019). Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change. Scotts Valley, CA: CreateSpace.
Graffius, Scott M. (2020, October 16). Four Ways to Improve Your Strategic Thinking Skills Today. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/4-Strategic.html.
Graffius, Scott M. (2023, May 1). AI is a Team Sport: A Confluence of Diverse Technical and Soft Skills are Crucial for Success. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/successful-ai-teams.html. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.20321.79200.
Graffius, Scott M. (2024, May 3). Leverage Agile and AI to Innovate at the Speed of Light. Talk at private event in Dubai, UAE. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.30790.48960.
Kerzner, Harold (2022). Innovation Project Management: Methods, Case Studies, and Tools for Managing Innovation Projects—Second Edition. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley.
Kilby, Mark (2024, February 2). How AI Will Reshape Agile Development: Takeaways from a Recent Briefing. Agile Alliance. Available at: https://www.agilealliance.org/how-ai-will-reshape-agile-development-takeaways-from-a-recent-briefing/.
Lang, Trudi, & Ramírez, Rafael (2023, October 11). How Ghost Scenarios Haunt Strategy Execution. MIT Sloan Management Review. Available at: https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/how-ghost-scenarios-haunt-strategy-execution/.
Lieberman, Marvin (2021, February). Is Competitive Advantage Intellectually Sustainable? Strategic Management Review, 2 (1): 29-46.
Maneria, Sumitra, & Paikaray, Divya (2023). Artificial Intelligence and Agile Based Business Development Review. Third International Conference on Advance Computing and Innovative Technologies in Engineering (ICACITE), 2023, pp. 2091-2095. DOI: 10.1109/ICACITE57410.2023.10182756.
Panesar, Gurpreet Singh, and Chadha, Raman, and Sharma, Ashim, and Tinna, Mandeep Singh, and Gupta, Anish, & Puri, Digvijay (2022). Atificial Intelligence in Business Development and Agile Software. Second International Conference on Advance Computing and Innovative Technologies in Engineering (ICACITE), 2022, pp. 306-311. DOI: 10.1109/ICACITE53722.2022.9823907.
Reynolds, K. (2013). Strategic Thinking for Today's Project Managers. Paper presented at PMI Global Congress 2013—North America, New Orleans, LA. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute.
Schoemaker, Paul J. H. (1993, March). Multiple Scenario Development: Its Conceptual and Behavioral Foundation. Strategic Management Journal, 14 (3): 193-213.
Steinberger, Tom, & Wiersema, Margarethe (2021). Data Models as Organizational Design: Coordinating Beyond Boundaries Using Artificial Intelligence. Strategic Management Review, 2 (1): 119-144.
Syrett, Michael, & Devine, Marion (2012). Managing Uncertainty: Strategies for Surviving and Thriving in Turbulent Times. London, United Kingdom: Profile Books.
Tallman, Stephen, and Shenkar, Oded, & Wu, Jay Valerian. (2023). Culture Eats Strategy for Breakfast: Use and Abuse of Culture in International Strategy Research. Strategic Management Review, 4 (2): 193-229.
TechRepublic (2023, December 22). Crucial Skills Gaps in the UK Include AI and Strategic Thinking, According to Red Hat. Available at: https://www.techrepublic.com/article/red-hat-uk-tech-skills-gap-survey/.

About Scott M. Graffius

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Scott M. Graffius sparks breakthroughs in AI, agile, and project management/PMO leadership as a globally recognized practitioner, researcher, thought leader, award-winning author, and international public speaker.

Graffius has generated more than USD $1.9 billion in business value for organizations served, including Fortune 500 companies. Businesses and industries range from technology (including R&D and AI) to entertainment, financial services, and healthcare, government, social media, and more.

Graffius leads the professional services firm Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, along with its subsidiary Exceptional Agility. These consultancies offer strategic and tactical advisory, training, embedded talent, and consulting services to public, private, and government sectors. They help organizations enhance their capabilities and results in agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership, supporting innovation and driving competitive advantage. The consultancies confidently back services with a Delighted Client Guarantee™. Graffius is a former vice president of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more. He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets.

He is the author of two award-winning books.

His first book, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions (ISBN-13: 9781533370242), received 17 awards.
His second book is Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change (ISBN-13: 9781072447962). BookAuthority named it one of the best Scrum books of all time.

Organizations around the world invite Graffius to speak on tech (including AI), agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership. He has developed and delivered unique and compelling talks and workshops. To date, Graffius has delivered 91 sessions across 25 countries. Select examples of events include Agile Trends Gov, BSides (Newcastle Upon Tyne), Conf42 Quantum Computing, DevDays Europe, DevOps Institute, DevOpsDays (Geneva), Frug’Agile, IEEE, Microsoft, Scottish Summit, Scrum Alliance RSG (Nepal), Techstars, and W Love Games International Video Game Development Conference (Helsinki), and more. With an average rating of 4.81 (on a scale of 1-5), sessions are highly valued.

Prominent businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities have featured Graffius and his work including content from his books, talks, workshops, and more. Select examples include:

Adobe,
American Management Association,
Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
Bayer,
BMC Software,
Boston University,
Broadcom,
Cisco,
Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts Germany,
Computer Weekly,
Constructor University Germany,
Data Governance Success,
Deimos Aerospace,
DevOps Institute,
EU's European Commission,
Ford Motor Company,
GoDaddy,
Harvard Medical School,
Hasso Plattner Institute Germany,
IEEE,
Innovation Project Management,
Johns Hopkins University,
Journal of Neurosurgery,
Lam Research (Semiconductors),
Leadership Worthy,
Life Sciences Trainers and Educators Network,
London South Bank University,
Microsoft,
NASSCOM,
National Academy of Sciences,
New Zealand Government,
Oracle,
Pinterest Inc.,
Project Management Institute,
SANS Institute,
SBG Neumark Germany,
Singapore Institute of Technology,
Torrens University Australia,
TBS Switzerland,
Tufts University,
UC San Diego,
UK Sports Institute,
University of Galway Ireland,
US Department of Energy,
US National Park Service,
US Tennis Association,
Veleučilište u Rijeci Croatia,
Verizon,
Virginia Tech,
Warsaw University of Technology,
Wrike,
Yale University,
and many others.

Graffius has been actively involved with the Project Management Institute (PMI) in the development of professional standards. He was a member of the team which produced the Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures—Second Edition. Graffius was a contributor and reviewer of A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge—Sixth Edition, The Standard for Program Management—Fourth Edition, and The Practice Standard for Project Estimating—Second Edition. He was also a subject matter expert reviewer of content for the PMI’s Congress. Beyond the PMI, Graffius also served as a member of the review team for two of the Scrum Alliance’s Global Scrum Gatherings.

Graffius has a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a focus in Human Factors. He holds eight professional certifications:

Certified SAFe 6 Agilist (SA),
Certified Scrum Professional - ScrumMaster (CSP-SM),
Certified Scrum Professional - Product Owner (CSP-PO),
Certified ScrumMaster (CSM),
Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO),
Project Management Professional (PMP),
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB), and
IT Service Management Foundation (ITIL).

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How to Cite This Article

Graffius, Scott M. (2025, January 24). When Agile, AI, and Strategic Thinking Converge. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/when-agile-ai-and-strategic-thinking-converge.html.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.22277.46565

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Short Link for Article

The short link for this article is https://bit.ly/ai-agile

Copyright

Copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

Content on this site—including text, images, videos, and data—may not be used for training or input into any artificial intelligence, machine learning, or automatized learning systems, or published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.

Tags: Scott M. Graffius • MIT • DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.22277.46565 • Leverage Agile and AI to Innovate at the Speed of Light • DARPA • #AgileExpert • #AI • #AgileTrends • #Tech • OpenAI • Exceptional Agility • Exceptional Agility AI • #SynergyInBusiness • #Technology • #SustainableSuccess • #StrategicThinking • #StrategicLeadership • #Scrum • #ProjectManagement • #PredictiveAnalytics • #Kanban • #InnovationStrategy • #Innovation • #DigitalTransformation • #DataDrivenStrategy • #DataDrivenDecisions • #DataDriven • #BusinessStrategy • #BusinessInnovation • #BusinessAgility • #ArtificialIntelligence • #AITrends • #AIInsights • #AINews • #TechStrategy • Strategic Thinking Tradecraft • AI Tradecraft • Agile Tradecraft • #InnovationCulture • #FutureOfAgile • #FutureProofing • #Innovate • #FutureOfWork • #FutureOfAI • #AIInnovation • #AIForBusiness • #AIExpert • #AIAutomation • #AIAndAgile • #AgileTransformation • #AgileTeams • #AgileProjectManagement • #AgileNews • #AgileMindset • #AgileMethodology • #AgileLeadership • #AgileAI • #AgileAndAI • #Adaptability • #Agile • #AdvancedTechnology

Scott M. Graffius’ Phases of Team Development: 2025 Update

07 January 2025

BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com

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Download PDF of Article | High Resolution Files of Visual: See Permission Request Information section

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Introduction

Informed by the research of Bruce W. Tuckman and Mary Ann C. Jensen, over 100 subsequent studies, and Scott M. Graffius’ first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his 'Phases of Team Development' as a unique perspective and visual conveying the five phases of team development—Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, and Adjourning—inclusive of a graph showing how performance varies by phase, as well as the characteristics and strategies for each phase.

Graffius initially developed his unique material in 2008, and he periodically updates it. This article presents the refreshed 2025 edition.

Project Managers, Scrum Masters, Agile Coaches, DevOps Leads, and other leaders can apply these insights to overcome team challenges, fostering happiness, productivity, and success.

This article has “team development” in the title. Alternative terms that may be interchangeable in the context of this discussion include group development, group dynamics, high-performance teaming, strategic team building, team agility, team building, team coaching, team collaboration, team dynamics, team leadership, team optimization, team performance, team tradecraft, teamcraft, teamwork, and teamwork tradecraft.

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Five Phases of Team Development

1. Forming

Characteristics of the Forming phase include displaying eagerness, socializing, a generally polite tone, sticking to safe topics, being unclear about how one fits in, and some anxiety and questioning.

Strategies for Forming include taking the ‘lead,’ being highly visible, facilitating introductions, providing the ‘big picture,’ establishing clear expectations, communicating success criteria, and ensuring response times are quick.

2. Storming

Traits of the Storming phase include some resistance, lack of participation, conflict arising from differences of opinion, competition, high levels of emotions, and tension.

Strategies for Storming include requesting and encouraging feedback, identifying issues and facilitating their resolution, normalizing matters, and building trust by honoring commitments.

3. Norming

Features of the Norming phase include developing cohesion; purpose and goals are well-understood; more confident; improved commitment; members are engaged and supportive; and relief, lowered anxiety.

Strategies for Norming include delivering feedback, recognizing individual and team efforts, providing learning/upskilling opportunities, and monitoring the ‘energy’ of the team.

4. Performing

Characteristics of the Performing phase include high-level performance; demonstrations of interdependence and self-management; elevated empathy, trust, and morale; individuals defer to team needs; and producing deliverables effectively and consistently.

Strategies for Performing include ‘guiding from the side’ (minimal intervention), highlighting successes, and encouraging collective decision-making and problem-solving.

5. Adjourning

Typical traits of the Adjourning phase (also referred to as the Transitioning or Mourning phase) include potential sadness and the disbanding of temporary teams.

Strategies for Adjourning include communicating change; conducting a summative team evaluation via a retrospective event, lessons learned meeting, or similar session; recognizing individual and team efforts and achievements; and celebrating the team's accomplishments.

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Conclusion

These insights provide a practical framework to navigate the complexities of group dynamics. Whether you’re a Project Manager guiding a cross-functional team, a Scrum Master fostering agility, a DevOps Lead bridging development and operations, or another leader, understanding and leveraging the phases of team development can transform challenges into opportunities. And they’ll advance the teams’—and your own—happiness, productivity, and success.

Organizations around the world engage Graffius to deliver compelling talks and workshops. To date, he's presented sessions at 91 conferences and other events across 25 countries:

Armenia,
Australia,
Brazil,
Canada,
Czech Republic,
Finland,
France,
Germany,
Greece,
Hong Kong,
Hungary,
India,
Ireland,
Lithuania,
Luxembourg,
Nepal,
Netherlands,
New Zealand,
Norway,
Romania,
Sweden,
Switzerland,
United Arab Emirates,
United Kingdom,
and the United States.

Scott M. Graffius’ 'Phases of Team Development' intellectual property is central and key to many of those sessions.

Graffius is a global expert on high-performance teams and he delivers engaging talks and workshops that bring teamwork tradecraft to life. His sessions are tailored to inspire, educate, and equip audiences with actionable tools for success. Whether at global conferences or private corporate events, he provides a fresh perspective on leadership and teamwork.

For booking inquiries, complete the speaker engagement request form or email directly to explore how Graffius can help elevate your organization’s performance.

Read on for:

Coverage of Graffius’ Research,
Sources/References,
About Scott M. Graffius,
Permission Request Information,
How to Cite This Article,
and more.

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Graffius’ Research is Widely Cited, Featured, and Used

Businesses, professional associations, government agencies, universities, researchers, journalists, and others around the world have featured and used prior editions of Scott M. Graffius’ ‘Phases of Team Development’ material. Here are some examples:

Adobe,
American Management Association,
Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
Bayer,
Boston University,
Broadcom,
Cisco,
CodeMonk,
Dagen,
Deimos Aerospace,
DevOps Institute,
Erste Group Bank AG (Austria),
FINAT,
Ford Motor Company,
FSU College of Medicine,
Hasso Plattner Institute (Hasso-Plattner-Institut für Digital Engineering GmbH),
IEEE,
Innovify,
Johns Hopkins University,
Journal of Neurosurgery,
LeadingEng,
Life Sciences Trainers & Educators Network (LTEN),
London South Bank University,
Manufacturers Alliance,
Mary Raum (Professor of National Security Affairs, United States Naval War College),
Microsoft,
New Zealand Government,
Oracle,
Prima Resource,
Royal Australasian College of Physicians,
Singapore University of Social Sciences,
TBS Switzerland,
Technical University of Munich,
Torrens University (Australia),
Tufts University,
U.S. National Park Service,
U.S. Tennis Association,
UC San Diego,
UK Sports Institute,
University of Galway (Ireland),
University of Graz (Austria),
University of Waterloo,
Victorian Institute of Technology (Australia),
Virginia Tech,
Warsaw University of Technology,
Western Sydney University,
Yale University,
and many others.

These examples demonstrate the widespread recognition and application of Scott M. Graffius' 'Phases of Team Development' work across diverse sectors and entities around the world.

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References/Sources

Here’s the select (partial) bibliography:

Activision Blizzard (2022, September 9). Tackling the Talent Shortage: Identifying the Skills Critical for Game Development. Available at: https://www.activisionblizzard.com/content/atvi/activisionblizzard/ab-touchui/ab/web/en/newsroom/2022/09/tackling-the-talent-shortage.html.
Alfateh, Maryam Ali Abu; Messaadia, Mourad; and Ali, Mazen (2023, September). Exploring the Dynamics of Team Formation in Human-Artificial Intelligence Collaboration. In 2023 International Conference on Decision Aid Sciences and Applications (DASA), pp. 384-388, DOI: 10.1109/DASA59624.2023.10286788.
Alford, J. (2019, April 11). Our Co-Production Journey: From Sandpits to Bird Boxes. London, United Kingdom: Imperial College London.
Ali, A. J., Fuenzalida, J., Gómez, M., & Williams, M. J. (2021, June). Four Lenses on People Management in the Public Sector: An Evidence Review and Synthesis. Oxford Review of Economic Policy, 37 (2): 335-366.
Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute (2021). APH Quality Handbook. Amsterdam: Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute.
Bandai Namco (n.d.). Teamwork Makes the Dream Work. Available at: https://bandainamcomobile.com/news/power-up-your-teamwork-how-bandai-namco-mobile-builds-stronger-teams.
Bellet, C., De Neve, J., & Ward, G. (2019 October 14). Does Employee Happiness Have an Impact on Productivity? Saïd Business School WP 2019-13. Oxford, UK: Oxford University.
Bennett, M., Gadlin, H., & Marchand, C. (2018). Collaboration Team Science: Field Guide. Rockville, MD: National Institutes of Health.
Berlin School of Business and Innovation (2022, September 22). How Do Technical Abilities Combined with Leadership Skills Fuel Career Growth? Available at: https://www.berlinsbi.com/blog/career-advice/how-do-technical-abilities-combined-with-leadership-skills-fuel-career-growth.
Brief, A. P. & Weiss, H. M. (2022, February). Organizational Behavior: Affect in the Workplace. Annual Review of Psychology, 53 (1): 279-307.
Buckinghamshire New University (2024). Strategic Leadership. International Master of Business Administration Programme.
Caredda, Sergio (2020, January 20) (updated 2021, December 10). Models: Tuckman’s Stages of Team Development. Available at: https://sergiocaredda.eu/organisation/models-tuckmans-stages-of-team-development.
Cisco (2019). Next-Generation IT Talent Strategies: How CIOs Can Close the Skills Gap and Drive True Business Transformation. Available at: https://www.cisco.com/c/dam/global/en_uk/solutions/executive-perspectives/pdf/ITTalent.pdf.
Constructor University (2024). Master of Science in Advanced Software Technology. Available at: https://constructor.university/sites/default/files/2024-09/AST_MSc_Handbook__2024.pdf.
Couture, N. (2016, October 27). A Note About Teams. CIO. Boston, MA: International Data Group (IDG).
Daly, L. (2002). Identify Your Project Management Team’s Level of Development and Facilitate It to Success. Paper presented at Project Management Institute Annual Seminars and Symposium, San Antonio, TX. Newtown Square, PA: Project Management Institute.
Dechurch, Leslie; & Mesmer-Magnus, Jessica. (2010). The Cognitive Underpinnings of Effective Teamwork: A Meta-Analysis. The Journal of Applied Psychology, 95: 32-53.
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) (2023, February 23). Episode 65: A Sprint to Tomorrow, Powered by Teamwork [Podcast]. Available at: https://www.darpa.mil/news-events/2023-02-23a.
Deloitte (2017). Digital Era Technology Operating Models, Volume 2. New York, NY: Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited.
DevOps Institute (2021). 2021 Upskilling Enterprise DevOps Skills Report. Boca Raton, FL: DevOps Institute.
Dickinson, A.; & Stoneman, K. (1989). Individual Performance as a Function of Group Contingencies and Group Size. Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, 10: 131-150.
Dolev, Niva, & Itzkovich, Yariv (2020). In the AI Era, Soft Skills are the New Hard Skills. In: Artificial Intelligence and Its Impact on Business, pp. 55-77. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.
Dzombak, Rachel, & Palat, Jay (2021, August 30). 5 Ways to Start Growing an AI-Ready Workforce. Pittsburgh, PA: Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University.
Elliott, Joshua (n.d.). Artificial Social Intelligence for Successful Teams (ASIST). Arlington, VA: Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
Europass Teacher Academy (2023). Leadership and Management for School Principals. Available at: https://sgv.si/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Porocilo-o-mobilnosti-Urska-Doblehar.pdf.
Exceptional Agility (2023, January 1). Making Teams More Agile: Strategies and Benefits. Available at: https://exceptionalagility.com/blog/files/teams.html.
Fédération Internationale des Fabricants et Transformateurs d'Adhésifs et Thermocollants sur Papiers et Autres Supports (FINAT) (2024, April). FINAT Committee Summit Amsterdam 2024.
Finkelstein, S. (2017, October 29). Why Companies Should Hire Teams, Not Individuals. The Wall Street Journal. New York, NY: The Wall Street Journal.
Forbes (2012, October 27). How the iPad Mini is Defining Tim Cook’s Apple. Forbes. New York, NY: Forbes.
Forbes (2018, April 23). How to Fast-Track Any Team to Success. Forbes. New York, NY: Forbes.
Gartner (2020, December 15). How to Staff Your AI Team. Available at: https://www.gartner.com/smarterwithgartner/how-to-staff-your-ai-team.
Glover, P. (2012, March 13). Team Conflict: Why It’s a Good Thing. Fast Company. New York, NY: Mansueto Ventures.
Gorman, Austin (2023, April 27). How to Strengthen Your Soft Skills for AI and the Future of Work. Fast Company. Available at: https://www.fastcompany.com/90887540/how-to-strengthen-your-soft-skills-for-ai-and-the-future-of-work.
Graffius, Scott M. (2016, January 21). 2014 NSDM Publication on Leadership by National Security Affairs Professor Mary Raum Featured the 2008 Edition of Scott M. Graffius’ Work on Team Development. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/nsdm-leadership.html.
Graffius, Scott M. (2016). Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions. North Charleston, SC: CreateSpace.
Graffius, Scott M. (2018, October 18). Agile Scrum Helps Innovators, Disruptors, and Entrepreneurs Develop and Deliver Products at Astounding Speed Which Drives Competitive Advantage [Presentation]. Talk delivered at Techstars Startup Week Conference. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.25009.12647.
Graffius, Scott M. (2019). Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change. Scotts Valley, CA: CreateSpace.
Graffius, Scott M. (2021, February 20). But First, the Team! [Presentation]. Talk delivered at the Brno, Czech Republic DevConf.CZ 2021 Conference. Digital Object Identifier (DOI): 10.13140/RG.2.2.29016.72964. DOI link: https://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.29016.72964.
Graffius, Scott M. (2021, June 21). DevOps and Team Leadership [Workshop]. Session at private event in Las Vegas, NV. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.15380.22401.
Graffius, Scott M. (2021, May 13). But First, the Team! [Presentation]. Lecture delivered at DevOps Pro Europe 2021 Conference. Based and simulcast live from Vilnius, Lithuania. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.30524.36481.
Graffius, Scott M. (2021, November 10). An Error Was Introduced Into the Seventh Edition of 'A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK).’ Los Angeles, CA: Scott M. Graffius.
Graffius, Scott M. (2021, November 8). Bruce Tuckman’s Model (Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, and Adjourning) is Highly Relevant and Beneficial, But It Doesn’t Please Everyone. Los Angeles, CA: Scott M. Graffius.
Graffius, Scott M. (2021, November 8). Bruce Tuckman’s Model (Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, and Adjourning) is Highly Relevant and Beneficial, But It Doesn’t Please Everyone. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/jobs.html.
Graffius, Scott M. (2021, October 5). Navigate the Phases of Team Development with Speed and Agility for Happier and More Productive Teams [Presentation]. Talk delivered at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers IEEE Day 2021 Conference. Digital Object Identifier (DOI): 10.13140/RG.2.2.20055.19365. DOI link: https://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.20055.19365.
Graffius, Scott M. (2021). Phases of Team Development. Los Angeles, CA: Scott M. Graffius. Digital Object Identifier (DOI): 10.13140/RG.2.2.22040.42246.
Graffius, Scott M. (2022, February 4). Team Development Tradecraft: A Source of Competitive Advantage [Workshop]. Session at private event in Adelaide, Australia. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.14092.80002.
Graffius, Scott M. (2022, May 13). Want Happier and More Productive DevOps Teams? [Presentation]. Talk delivered at DevOpsDays Geneva, Switzerland 2022 Conference. Digital Object Identifier (DOI): 10.13140/RG.2.2.22252.85127. DOI link: https://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.22252.85127.
Graffius, Scott M. (2023, April 26). The Science of High-Performance Teams [Presentation]. Talk delivered at the DevOps Institute’s SKILup Day 2023 Conference. Digital Object Identifier (DOI): 10.13140/RG.2.2.15888.28169. DOI link: https://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.15888.28169.
Graffius, Scott M. (2023, January 9). Use the Phases of Team Development (Based on Bruce W. Tuckman's Model of Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, and Adjourning) to Help Teams Grow and Advance: 2023 Update. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com. Digital Object Identifier (DOI): 10.13140/RG.2.2.10720.35846. DOI link: https://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.10720.35846.
Graffius, Scott M. (2023, July 15). Successful Video Game Development Teams Leverage an Extensive Range of Hard Skills and Soft Skills. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/gamedev.html. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.31205.17124.
Graffius, Scott M. (2023, June 23). What Successful AI Teams Have in Common. Talk at Conf42 Quantum Computing Conference. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.29382.45120.
Graffius, Scott M. (2023, June 29). What Successful AI Teams Have in Common [Presentation]. Talk delivered at Conf42 Quantum Computing 2023 Conference. Digital Object Identifier (DOI): 10.13140/RG.2.2.29382.45120. DOI link: https://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.29382.45120.
Graffius, Scott M. (2023, May 1). Fueling the Development of Innovative and Life-Changing AI Solutions [Presentation]. Talk delivered to an audience of Technology professionals (including Data Scientists, Machine Learning Engineers, Data Engineers, AI Researchers, Project Managers, Business Analysts, UX Designers, Software Developers, Cloud Architects, Data Privacy and Security Specialists, and others involved or interested in AI) at a private event in Mountain View, California, United States. Digital Object Identifier (DOI): 10.13140/RG.2.2.27956.73601. DOI link: https://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.27956.73601.
Graffius, Scott M. (2023, October 13). The Science of High-Performance Game Development Teams [Presentation]. Talk delivered at the W Love Games International Video Game Development Conference 2023 - Helsinki, Finland. Digital Object Identifier (DOI): 10.13140/RG.2.2.28602.16326. DOI link: https://dx.doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.28602.16326.
Graffius, Scott M. (2024, January 5). Scott M. Graffius’ Phases of Team Development: 2024 Update. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/teams-2024.html. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.28629.40168.
Graffius, Scott M. (2024, May 21). The Wild World of Team Dynamics: Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, and Adjourning. Video. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vD4-XueiB1k.
Graffius, Scott M. (2024, May 21). What Successful AI Development Teams Have in Common. Talk at DevDays Europe 2024 Conference. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.24313.07529.
Graffius, Scott M. (2024, May 3). Leverage Agile and AI to Innovate at the Speed of Light. Talk at private event in Dubai, UAE. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.30790.48960.
Graffius, Scott M. (2024, November 18). Side-by-Side Comparison of Retrospectives and Hot Washes. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/retrospectives-and-hot-washes.html.
Graffius, Scott M. (2025, January 6). Dive into the 5 Phases of Team Development. Post with video on X at https://x.com/ScottGraffius/status/1876261289946968111.
Himmelstein, D. (2018, January 26). Team Cycles and Culture Development. San Jose, CA: Acer, Inc.
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About Scott M. Graffius

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Scott M. Graffius is a high impact and globally recognized AI, advanced technology, agile, and project management researcher, thought leader, author, and public speaker.

Graffius has generated more than USD $1.9 billion in business value for organizations served, including Fortune 500 companies. Businesses and industries range from technology (including R&D and AI) to entertainment, financial services, and healthcare, government, social media, and more.

Graffius leads the professional services firm Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, along with its subsidiary Exceptional Agility. These consultancies offer strategic and tactical advisory, training, embedded talent, and consulting services to public, private, and government sectors. They help organizations enhance their capabilities and results in agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership, supporting innovation and driving competitive advantage. The consultancies confidently back services with a Delighted Client Guarantee™. Graffius is a former vice president of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more. He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets.

He is the author of two award-winning books.

His first book, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions (ISBN-13: 9781533370242), received 17 awards.
His second book is Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change (ISBN-13: 9781072447962). BookAuthority named it one of the best Scrum books of all time.

Organizations around the world invite Graffius to speak on tech (including AI), agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership. He has developed and delivered unique and compelling talks and workshops. To date, Graffius has delivered 91 sessions across 25 countries. Select examples of events include Agile Trends Gov, BSides (Newcastle Upon Tyne), Conf42 Quantum Computing, DevDays Europe, DevOps Institute, DevOpsDays (Geneva), Frug’Agile, IEEE, Microsoft, Scottish Summit, Scrum Alliance RSG (Nepal), Techstars, and W Love Games International Video Game Development Conference (Helsinki), and more. With an average rating of 4.81 (on a scale of 1-5), sessions are highly valued.

Prominent businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities have featured Graffius and his work including content from his books, talks, workshops, and more. Select examples include:

Adobe,
American Management Association,
Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
Bayer,
BMC Software,
Boston University,
Broadcom,
Cisco,
Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts Germany,
Computer Weekly,
Constructor University Germany,
Data Governance Success,
Deimos Aerospace,
DevOps Institute,
EU's European Commission,
Ford Motor Company,
GoDaddy,
Harvard Medical School,
Hasso Plattner Institute Germany,
IEEE,
Innovation Project Management,
Johns Hopkins University,
Journal of Neurosurgery,
Lam Research (Semiconductors),
Leadership Worthy,
Life Sciences Trainers and Educators Network,
London South Bank University,
Microsoft,
NASSCOM,
National Academy of Sciences,
New Zealand Government,
Oracle,
Pinterest Inc.,
Project Management Institute,
SANS Institute,
SBG Neumark Germany,
Singapore Institute of Technology,
Torrens University Australia,
TBS Switzerland,
Tufts University,
UC San Diego,
UK Sports Institute,
University of Galway Ireland,
US Department of Energy,
US National Park Service,
US Tennis Association,
Veleučilište u Rijeci Croatia,
Verizon,
Virginia Tech,
Warsaw University of Technology,
Wrike,
Yale University,
and many others.

Graffius has been actively involved with the Project Management Institute (PMI) in the development of professional standards. He was a member of the team which produced the Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures—Second Edition. Graffius was a contributor and reviewer of A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge—Sixth Edition, The Standard for Program Management—Fourth Edition, and The Practice Standard for Project Estimating—Second Edition. He was also a subject matter expert reviewer of content for the PMI’s Congress. Beyond the PMI, Graffius also served as a member of the review team for two of the Scrum Alliance’s Global Scrum Gatherings.

Graffius has a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a focus in Human Factors. He holds eight professional certifications:

Certified SAFe 6 Agilist (SA),
Certified Scrum Professional - ScrumMaster (CSP-SM),
Certified Scrum Professional - Product Owner (CSP-PO),
Certified ScrumMaster (CSM),
Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO),
Project Management Professional (PMP),
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB), and
IT Service Management Foundation (ITIL).

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Graffius, Scott M. (2025, January 7). Scott M. Graffius’ Phases of Team Development: 2025 Update. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/phases-of-team-development-update-for-2025.html. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.33705.30564.

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DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.33705.30564

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Tags: Bruce Tuckman • https://www.youtube.com/@scottgraffius • ett unikt perspektiv och visuellt som förmedlar de fem faserna av teamutveckling – Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing och Adjourning • uma perspectiva única e visual que transmite as cinco fases do desenvolvimento da equipe: Formação, Tempestade, Normatização, Execução e Encerramento • une perspective et un visuel uniques illustrant les cinq phases du développement d'une équipe : formation, prise d'assaut, normalisation, exécution et ajournement • Una perspectiva única y una imagen que transmite las cinco fases del desarrollo del equipo: formación, debate, normalización, desempeño y clausura. • DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.33705.30564 • Tuckman Curve • Tuckman's Curve • Formação • Tuckman • #BruceTuckman • team tradecraft • team performance • team optimization • team leadership • team dynamics • teamcraft • team collaboration • team coaching • team building • group dynamics • team agility • group development • Teamwork • #Teamwork • Teamwork stages • Teamwork phases • Team Lifecycle • Team Life Cycle • #TeamLifecycle • Mary Ann C. Jensen • Dissolução • Atuação • Normatização • Confrontação • FFurfio • Stormio • Normaleiddio • Perfformio • Ymadael • Google • Viacom • CBS • Agile Team Leadership • Team Collaboration • Fase 1: Vormfase • GovTech • Fase 3: Normfase • Fase 5: Afscheidsfase • Fase 4: Prestatiefase • Fase 2: Stormfase • 10.13140/RG.2.2.19112.85766 • Want happier and more productive teams? • American Management Association • Software Engineering Institute • RAND Corporation • Scrum Alliance • Project Management Institute • Microsoft • NASA • MIT • IEEE • Harvard Business Review • Use the Phases of Team Development -- Based on Bruce W. Tuckman's Model of Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, and Adjourning -- to Help Teams Grow and Advance • Team Building • Team Leadership • #TeamLeadership • Small Group Dynamics • #SmallGroupDynamics • Gesloten team • Groepsvorming • Ieder voor zich • Forming Storming Norming Performing for Agile Teams • Forming Storming Norming Performing and Adjourning for Agile Teams • Forming Storming Norming Performing for Teams (Agile and Otherwise) • Forming Storming Norming Performing Adjourning for Teams (Agile and Otherwise) • Teambuilding • Normiranje • Zbiranje idej • viharjenje • Oblikovanje skupine • Delovanje • Team-building • Teambuilding Chart • Tuckman Chart • Groepsontwikkeling • Oriëntatiefase • Machtsfase • Afsluitingsfase • Tuckman’ın 5 Aşamalı Grup Dinamiği Teorisi’ni biliyor muydunuz? • Stages of Group Dynamics • Building a High Performance Project Team • Highly Productive Teams • #FormingStormingNormingPerforming • #FormingStormingNormingPerformingAdjourning • Team Productivity • Bruce Wayne Tuckman • Developmental Sequence in Small Groups • Developmental Sequence in Groups • Developmental Sequence in Teams • Team Development Lifecycle • #Tuckman • Faza prekinitve • Building High Performance Teams • Tuckman's Ladder • #TuckmansLadder • Scott M. Graffius • #scottmgraffius • Phases of Team Development • #PhasesOfTeamDevelopment • Form • #Form • Forming • #Forming • Storm • #Storm • Storming • #Storming • Norm • #Norm • Norming • #Norming • Perform • #Perform • Performing • #Performing • Adjourn • #adjourn • Adjourning • #adjourning • Mourning • Forming Phase • Storming Phase • Norming Phase • Performing Phase • Adjourning Phase • Forming Stage • Storming Stage • Norming Stage • Performing Stage • Adjourning Stage • Team Dynamcs • #TeamDynamics • team performance • #TeamPerformance • Group Dynamics • #GroupDynamics • Tuckman Model • Tuckman Visual • Tuckman graph • Tuckman illustration • Forming Storming Norming Performing • Forming Storming Norming Performing Adjourning • Five Phases of Team Development • 5 Phases of Team Development • Five Stages of Team Development • 5 Stages of Team Development • PMP • CSP • CSP-SM • CSP-PO • CSM • CSPO • ITIL • LSSGB • Agile Thought Leader and Influencer • Agile Project Management • Author • Speaker • Public Speaker • International Speaker • Keynote Speaker • Computer Weekly • Innovation Project Management • MobileAppDaily • Gartner • Oracle • Cisco • RSA • Ford • Liberty Mutual Group • Qantas • Atlassian • BAYER • Bosch • National Academy of Sciences • United States Department of Energy • USDOE • US DOE • New Zealand Ministry of Education • Tufts University • James Madison University • Santa Clara University • Texas A&M University • Virginia Tech • Agile • Agility • Business Agility • Organizational Agility • Digital Transformation • Government • GovTech • IT • Information Technology • Tech • Technology • Team Leadership • #teamleadership • Leadership • #leadership

Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts: Update for 2025

06 January 2025

BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com

Download PDF of Article | High Resolution Files of Visual: JPG and PNG

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Introduction

People and organizations use digital communication to reach and engage target audiences and promote content. This is digital marketing, and it includes email, social media, web-based advertising, and text and multimedia messages.

Social media marketing is an increasingly vital aspect of digital marketing. It includes creating, curating, and sharing content on platforms such as Snapchat, TikTok, X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, Reddit, Instagram, LinkedIn, podcasts, YouTube, Pinterest, and blogs. Beyond posting, it involves engaging with audiences, fostering community interactions, and more. These platforms enable people to access, share, and interact with content while also connecting with family, friends, and others. For businesses, social media marketing provides direct channels to reach and engage with target audiences effectively. When well-executed, it delivers multiple benefits, including:

Global engagement: With 5,170,000,000 (5.17 billion) active social media users worldwide^B1, the potential audience is vast.
Enhanced brand visibility: Boost awareness and reach in the marketplace.
Stronger customer connections: Foster meaningful engagement with your audience.
Increased website traffic: Drive more visitors to your online platforms.
Better search engine rankings: Improve visibility in search results.
And more: Unlock additional opportunities to grow your brand.

Content on social media typically has a short window of relevance and engagement. An advantageous objective metric is half-life. It’s the time it takes for a post to receive half of its total engagement (such as likes, shares, and comments). Data can help inform strategic and tactical decisions, such as the frequency and scheduling of posts.

Others’ reports on the longevity of social media content often rely on anecdotal evidence, limited datasets, or otherwise non-robust methodology. These common constraints can result in findings that are non-representative, inaccurate, or unreliable.

In 2018, Scott M. Graffius first published data on the lifespan (half-life) of social media posts, using a robust methodology that analyzed a broad set of data from multiple sources. Given that algorithms and other factors on platforms change over time^B2,B25,B26, Graffius periodically updates his analysis.

This article provides the 'Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts: Update for 2025.' It covers Snapchat, TikTok, X, Facebook, Reddit, Instagram, LinkedIn, podcasts (audio and video formats with engagement functionality), YouTube, Pinterest, and blogs (with engagement functionality).

Findings were derived from an extensive analysis of over 5,000,000 social media posts and 225 podcasts, aggregated from multiple sources, including APIs, proprietary commercial datasets, academic and research consortia databases, publicly shared datasets, governmental and non-governmental organizational data repositories, and more.^A1

The collective dataset includes data from 1 January 2024 through 31 December 2024 (with retrospective data from antecedent blogging platforms) on diverse entities, including individuals (from those with a relatively small number of followers/subscribers to influencers), businesses (from small to large), professional associations, educational institutions, and others. Entities are represented proportionately, reflecting the distribution in the digital ecosystem.^A1

This comprehensive, multidimensional approach yields a robust and representative sampling of posts, providing a broad and deep scope of analysis.^A1

For more insights and details, refer to the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) section.

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Main Section of Article

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As detailed next, the average half-life of posts varies by social media platform.

scott-m-graffius---lifespan-halflife-of-social-media-posts---update-for-2025---focus-on-snapchat-lwres

Snapchat

Snapchat is a multimedia messaging app developed by Snap Inc., renowned for its fleeting content where images, videos, and messages vanish shortly after being viewed. Beyond its ephemeral nature, Snapchat offers features like Stories, Discover, augmented reality (AR) filters, and Snap Map. It has 800,000,000 (800 million) active users.^B3

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The average half-life duration for Snapchat posts is 0 minutes.^A1 Exceptions apply. Content may disappear instantly or live up to 24 hours (even longer in certain cases) depending on the message type, user settings, and other details.

Algorithms and other factors on platforms can change over time, potentially impacting the average half-life duration for posts. For comparison, here’s data on Snapchat for 2025 along with the previous two annual editions of this report:

2025: 0 minutes (exceptions apply).^A1
2024: 0 minutes (exceptions apply).^B4
2023: 0 minutes (exceptions apply).^B5

See the FAQs for more insights about Snapchat.

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scott-m-graffius---lifespan-halflife-of-social-media-posts---update-for-2025---focus-on-tiktok-lwres

TikTok

TikTok is a leading platform for ephemeral content, characterized by its fleeting nature where videos typically last only a short time before disappearing. The platform's emphasis on short clips aligns with the growing trend of instant decay in digital media, allowing creators to share spontaneous moments and real-time updates without the pressure of crafting polished, permanent content. TikTok has 1,582,000,000 (1.58 billion) active users.^B3

2025-social-media-lifespan-halflife-report---stylized-as-periodic-chart---v25010207-tiktok-lwres

The average half-life duration for TikTok posts is 0 minutes.^A1 However, exceptions apply. Videos with unique, compelling content or celebrity involvement can go viral, significantly extending their visibility and engagement.

TikTok was added to this report in 2025. It did not appear in the prior two annual editions.

2025: 0 minutes (exceptions apply).^A1
2024: TikTok did not appear in the 2024 report.^B4
2023: TikTok did not appear in the 2023 report.^B5

See the FAQs for a disclaimer and more insights about TikTok.

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X

X is a microblogging and social networking service owned by X Corp., where users post and interact with messages known as “tweets” or “X posts.” The following from X encapsulates its vision, mission, and goals: "We're building the world's most trusted public town square—and we pride ourselves on our commitment to protecting free speech within the boundaries of the law. Beyond that, we aim to increase unregretted user minutes on our platform, and make it the best place on the internet for creators to share content and make money." B6 X has 611,000,000 (611 million) active users.^B3

2025-social-media-lifespan-halflife-report---stylized-as-periodic-chart---v25010207-x-lwres

The average half-life duration for posts on X is 49 minutes.^A1

Algorithms and other factors on platforms can change over time, potentially impacting the average half-life duration for posts. For comparison, here’s data on X for 2025 along with the previous two annual editions of this report:

2025: 49 minutes.^A1
2024: 43 minutes.^B4
2023: 24 minutes.^B5

See the FAQs for more insights about X.

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scott-m-graffius---lifespan-halflife-of-social-media-posts---update-for-2025---focus-on-facebook-lwres

Facebook

Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It has 3,065,000,000 (3.06 billion) active users.^B3

2025-social-media-lifespan-halflife-report---stylized-as-periodic-chart---v25010207-facebook-lwres

The average half-life duration for Facebook posts is 81 minutes = 1.35 hours.^A1

Algorithms and other factors on platforms can change over time, potentially impacting the average half-life duration for posts. For comparison, here’s data on Facebook for 2025 along with the previous two annual editions of this report:

2025: 81 minutes = 1.35 hours.^A1
2024: 76 minutes = 1.27 hours.^B4
2023: 105 minutes = 1.75 hours.^B5

See the FAQs for more insights about Facebook.

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Reddit

Reddit, sometimes called 'the front page of the internet,' is a dynamic social media platform where users engage in discussions across over 100,000 topic-specific communities called subreddits. Its innovative upvote and downvote system empowers users to curate content collaboratively, promoting high-quality posts and comments while minimizing the visibility of less relevant ones. Since its launch in 2005, Reddit has grown into a diverse ecosystem encompassing everything from breaking news and in-depth discussions to memes and niche hobbies. Its participatory culture and vast range of content make it a cornerstone of online social interaction and a go-to platform for discovering and connecting with communities of shared interests. Reddit is estimated to have over 1,000,000,000 (1.00 billion) active users.^B21

2025-social-media-lifespan-halflife-report---stylized-as-periodic-chart---v25010207-reddit-lwres

The average half-life duration for Reddit posts is 155 minutes = 2.58 hours.^A1

Reddit was added to this report in 2025. It did not appear in the prior two annual editions.

2025: 155 minutes = 2.58 hours.^A1
2024: Reddit did not appear in the 2024 report.^B4
2023: Reddit did not appear in the 2023 report.^B5

See the FAQs for more insights about Reddit.

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Instagram

Instagram is a photo and video-sharing social network owned by Meta Platforms. It enables users to upload media, which can be enhanced with filters, captions, and stickers, and organized using hashtags and location tags. Users can follow other accounts and engage by liking posts, sharing, and commenting to curate their feed. Instagram has 2,000,000,000 (2.00 billion) active users.^B3

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The average half-life duration for Instagram posts is 1,143 minutes = 19.04 hours.^A1

Algorithms and other factors on platforms can change over time, potentially impacting the average half-life duration for posts. For comparison, here’s data on Instagram for 2025 along with the previous two annual editions of this report:

2025: 1,143 minutes = 19.04 hours.^A1
2024: 1,185 minutes = 19.75 hours.^B4
2023: 1,200 minutes = 20.00 hours.^B5

See the FAQs for more insights about Instagram.

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LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a business and employment-oriented online service. It's a wholly-owned subsidiary of Microsoft. It is estimated that LinkedIn has 770,970,000 (770.97 million) users.^B22 However, LinkedIn does not report how many of its users are monthly active users.

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The average half-life duration for LinkedIn posts is 1,426 = 23.77 hours.^A1

Algorithms and other factors on platforms can change over time, potentially impacting the average half-life duration for posts. For comparison, here’s data on LinkedIn for 2025 along with the previous two annual editions of this report:

2025: 1,426 minutes = 23.77 hours.^A1
2024: 1,458 minutes = 24.30 hours.^B4
2023: 1,440 minutes = 24.00 hours.^B5

See the FAQs for more insights about LinkedIn.

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Podcasts

A podcast is a digital media file, available online for streaming or download. The term "podcast," coined in 2004, blends "iPod" and "broadcast." While audio podcasts dominate the medium, video podcasts, or vodcasts, have gained traction by integrating visual elements to boost engagement on platforms like YouTube. There are over 3,470,000 (3.47 million) podcasts.^B23

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The average half-life duration for posts on podcast platforms with engagement functionality is 9,625 minutes = 6.68 days.^A1

Podcasts were added to this report in 2025. It did not appear in the prior two annual editions.

2025: 9,625 minutes = 6.68 days.^A1
2024: Podcasts did not appear in the 2024 report.^B4
2023: Podcasts did not appear in the 2023 report.^B5

See the FAQs for more insights about podcasts.

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YouTube

YouTube is an online video-sharing platform. It's owned by Google, and it's the second most visited website, after Google Search. YouTube has 2,504,000,000 (2.50 billion) active users.^B3

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The average half-life duration for YouTube posts is 13,929 minutes = 9.67 days.^A1

Algorithms and other factors on platforms can change over time, potentially impacting the average half-life duration for posts. For comparison, here’s data on YouTube for 2025 along with the previous two annual editions of this report:

2025: 13,929 minutes = 9.67 days.^A1
2024: 12,717 minutes = 8.83 days.^B4
2023: 12,672 minutes = 8.80 days.^B5

See the FAQs for more insights about YouTube.

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Pinterest

Pinterest is a visual discovery and bookmarking platform that allows users to find, post, save, and organize ideas from the internet through images, videos, and links, presented as 'pins' on customizable boards. Operated by Pinterest, Inc., the platform serves as a hub for inspiration across categories such as fashion, home décor, recipes, and more, while also supporting content sharing and e-commerce integration. It has 498,000,000 (498 million) active users.^B3

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The average half-life duration for Pinterest posts is 169,789 minutes = 3.88 months.^A1

Algorithms and other factors on platforms can change over time, potentially impacting the average half-life duration for posts. For comparison, here’s data on Pinterest for 2025 along with the previous two annual editions of this report:

2025: 169,789 minutes = 3.88 months.^A1
2024: 164,518 minutes = 3.76 months.^B4
2023: 164,270 minutes = 3.75 months.^B5

See the FAQs for more insights about Pinterest.

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Blogs

Blogs (a truncation of "weblogs") are discussion or informational websites consisting of discrete, often diary-style entries. Up until 2009, blogs were usually the work of individuals and each typically covered a single topic. In the 2010s, multi-author blogs (MABs) from media outlets and others emerged. In addition to featuring the writings of multiple authors, MABs frequently span a range of topics. It is estimated that there are over 600,000,000 (600 million) blogs.^B8,B24

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The average half-life duration for posts on blog platforms with engagement functionality is 1,037,340 minutes = 1.97 years.^A1

Algorithms and other factors on platforms can change over time, potentially impacting the average half-life duration for posts. For comparison, here’s data on blogs for 2025 along with the previous two annual editions of this report:

2025: 1,037,340 minutes = 1.97 years.^A1
2024: 1,022,997 minutes = 1.95 years.^B4
2023: 1,051,200 minutes = 2.00 years.^B5

See the FAQs for more insights about blogs.

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Conclusion

Social media platforms—such as Snapchat, TikTok, X, Facebook, Reddit, Instagram, LinkedIn, podcasts, YouTube, Pinterest, and blogs—enable people to access, share, and interact with content while also connecting with family, friends, and others. The platforms also provide organizations with direct channels to reach and engage with their target audiences.

The relevance and engagement of social media posts have a limited lifespan. An advantageous objective metric is half-life. It’s the time it takes for a post to receive half of its total engagement (such as likes, shares, and comments). In 2018, Scott M. Graffius first published data on the lifespan (half-life) of social media posts. Algorithms and other factors on platforms change over time. For that reason, Graffius periodically updates his analysis. This report, which is based extensive study of over 5,000,000 social media posts and 225 podcasts aggregated from multiple sourcesA1, provides the update for 2025.

Social media analytics offer valuable insights that can support efforts to level up engagement and results.^{B9,B10,B11,B12,B13,B14,B15} Data on the average half-life of posts can help inform strategic and tactical decisions such as the frequency and scheduling of posts.

Read on for:

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs),
Coverage of Graffius’ Research,
Sources/References,
About Scott M. Graffius
How to Cite This Article,
and more.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

FAQ 01. What is Social Media?

Social media refers to digital platforms and related technologies that enable users to create, share, and interact with content and connect with others in virtual communities. Leading dictionaries support that relatively broad characterization.

Cambridge Dictionary: "Websites and computer programs that allow people to communicate and share information, opinions, pictures, videos, etc. on the internet, especially social networking websites."^B18
Britannica Dictionary: "Forms of electronic communication (such as Web sites) through which people create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, etc."^B19
Dictionary.com: "Websites and other online means of communication that are used by large groups of people to share information and to develop social and professional contacts."^B20

Summarized, the key characteristics of social media include:

User-generated content.
Multimedia sharing (such as text, images, audio, or videos).
Interactive engagement features (such as comments, likes, or shares).

FAQ 02. What platforms are included in this 2025 edition of the research?

This 2025 update covers Snapchat, TikTok, X, Facebook, Reddit, Instagram, LinkedIn, podcasts (audio and video formats with engagement functionality), YouTube, Pinterest, and blogs (with engagement functionality).

FAQ 03. Why exactly are posts on Snapchat a form of social media?

Further to FAQ items 1 and 2, posts on Snapchat are aligned with the core principles of social media by facilitating user-generated content, multimedia sharing, and interactive engagement. Here are the related definitive characteristics of Snapchat:

User-generated content: Users create personal stories and snaps.
Multimedia sharing: Allows sharing of photos and short videos.
Interactive features: Users can reply to snaps, react with emojis, and send direct messages.

FAQ 04. Why exactly are posts on TikTok a form of social media?

Further to FAQ items 1 and 2, posts on TikTok are aligned with the core principles of social media by facilitating user-generated content, multimedia sharing, and interactive engagement. Here are the related definitive characteristics of TikTok:

User-generated content: Users create and upload short videos.
Multimedia sharing: Primarily focused on video content.
Interactive features: Allows comments, likes, and shares on videos.

FAQ 05. Why exactly are posts on X a form of social media?

Further to FAQ items 1 and 2, posts on X are aligned with the core principles of social media by facilitating user-generated content, multimedia sharing, and interactive engagement. Here are the related definitive characteristics of X:

User-generated content: Users post tweets and threads.
Multimedia sharing: Supports text, images, GIFs, and videos.
Interactive features: Enables retweets, likes, and replies.

FAQ 06. Why exactly are posts on Facebook a form of social media?

Further to FAQ items 1 and 2, posts on Facebook are aligned with the core principles of social media by facilitating user-generated content, multimedia sharing, and interactive engagement. Here are the related definitive characteristics of Facebook:

User-generated content: Users create posts, stories, and events.
Multimedia sharing: Supports text, images, videos, and live streaming.
Interactive features: Offers likes, comments, shares, and reactions.

FAQ 07. Why exactly are posts on Reddit a form of social media?

Further to FAQ items 1 and 2, posts on Reddit are aligned with the core principles of social media by facilitating user-generated content, multimedia sharing, and interactive engagement. Here are the related definitive characteristics of Reddit:

User-generated content: Users submit posts and create subreddits.
Multimedia sharing: Allows text posts, images, videos, and links.
Interactive features: Includes upvotes/downvotes, comments, and awards.

FAQ 08. Why exactly are posts on Instagram a form of social media?

Further to FAQ items 1 and 2, posts on Instagram are aligned with the core principles of social media by facilitating user-generated content, multimedia sharing, and interactive engagement. Here are the related definitive characteristics of Instagram:

User-generated content: Users post photos, videos, and stories.
Multimedia sharing: Focuses on visual content (images and videos).
Interactive features: Enables likes, comments, and direct messaging.

FAQ 09. Why exactly are posts on LinkedIn a form of social media?

Further to FAQ items 1 and 2, posts on LinkedIn are aligned with the core principles of social media by facilitating user-generated content, multimedia sharing, and interactive engagement. Here are the related definitive characteristics of LinkedIn:

User-generated content: Users create profiles and post professional content.
Multimedia sharing: Supports text posts, articles, images, and videos.
Interactive features: Allows connections, likes, comments, and endorsements.

FAQ 10. Why exactly are posts on podcast platforms a form of social media?

Further to FAQ items 1 and 2, posts on podcast platforms with engagement functionality are aligned with the core principles of social media by facilitating user-generated content, multimedia sharing, and interactive engagement. Here are the related definitive characteristics of podcasts:

User-generated content: Creators produce and upload audio or video episodes.
Multimedia sharing: It can include both audio-only content or video formats.
Interactive features: Listeners/viewers can rate, review episodes, or otherwise comment on them.

FAQ 11. Why exactly are posts on YouTube a form of social media?

Further to FAQ items 1 and 2, posts on YouTube are aligned with the core principles of social media by facilitating user-generated content, multimedia sharing, and interactive engagement. Here are the related definitive characteristics of YouTube:

User-generated content: Users create and upload videos.
Multimedia sharing: Primarily video-based platform.
Interactive features: Allows likes, comments, subscriptions, and sharing.

FAQ 12. Why exactly are posts on Pinterest a form of social media?

Further to FAQ items 1 and 2, posts on Pinterest are aligned with the core principles of social media by facilitating user-generated content, multimedia sharing, and interactive engagement. Here are the related definitive characteristics of Pinterest:

User-generated content: Users create boards and pin content.
Multimedia sharing: Focuses on image and video sharing.
Interactive features: Enables re-pins, likes, and comments.

FAQ 13. Why exactly are posts on blog platforms a form of social media?

Further to FAQ items 1 and 2, posts on blog platforms with engagement functionality are aligned with the core principles of social media by facilitating user-generated content, multimedia sharing, and interactive engagement. Here are the related definitive characteristics of blogs:

User-generated content: Authors create and publish blog posts.
Multimedia sharing: It can include text, images, videos, and audio.
Interactive features: Readers can comment on posts or share them.

FAQ 14. What is the half-life of social media posts?

The half-life is the time it takes for a post to receive half of its total engagement, such as likes, shares, and comments. It’s an advantageous objective metric for assessing content.

FAQ 15. Why is half-life important in social media strategy?

Half-life provides an objective metric to inform strategic and tactical decisions, such as the frequency and scheduling of posts.

FAQ 16. What factors can impact the half-life of social media?

Posts can be influenced by multiple elements. Here are ten:

Content Relevance: Posts that resonate with audience interests and needs will likely have a longer half-life.
Timing of Post: The timing of your post can significantly affect its half-life. Posting at times when your audience is most active and likely to engage can extend the lifespan of your post.
Engagement Level: Posts with higher initial engagement will likely remain relevant and visible longer.
Quality of Visuals: Posts with high-quality visuals, such as images, videos, or infographics, tend to capture more attention and have a longer lifespan on social media.
Use of Hashtags: Strategic use of hashtags can increase the discoverability of your post and extend its reach, thus impacting its half-life.
Platform Algorithm: Each social media platform has its own algorithm that determines the visibility and reach of posts. Understanding and optimizing for these algorithms can affect the half-life of your posts.
Audience Engagement: The level of engagement from your audience, including likes, comments, shares, and click-through rates, can influence the half-life of your post. Higher engagement indicates higher relevance and longevity.
Post Frequency: The frequency at which you post content can impact the half-life of individual posts. Spacing posts out can allow each one to receive more attention over time.
Content Format: Different content formats, such as text-only posts, images, videos, and interactive content, may have varying half-lives based on their appeal and engagement potential.
External Events and Trends: External events, holidays, trends, and news topics can affect the relevance and visibility of your posts. Leveraging timely content can extend the half-life of your posts by tapping into current conversations and interests.

FAQ 17. What data sources were used for the 2025 update?

The analysis drew from over 5,000,000 social media posts and 225 podcasts. Data sources included APIs, proprietary commercial datasets, academic and research consortia databases, publicly shared datasets, governmental and non-governmental organizational data repositories, and more.

FAQ 18. What dates does the 2025 update cover?
The update includes data from 1 January 2024 through 31 December 2024 and retrospective data from antecedent blogging platforms.

FAQ 19. Who is represented in the dataset used for the research?
The dataset represents a diverse range of entities, including individuals (from small accounts to influencers), businesses (small to large), professional associations, educational institutions, and more. The representation reflects the distribution in the digital ecosystem.

FAQ 20. What is the significance of the dataset size and diversity?
With data aggregated from over 5,000,000 posts and diverse sources, the comprehensive and multidimensional approach ensures robust and representative sampling, yielding broad and deep analytical insights.

FAQ 21. How does ephemeral content impact the average half-life of posts on Snapchat? Are there any changes?

The consistency in Snapchat's average half-life of "0 minutes (exceptions apply)" from the January 2024 report to the January 2025 report reflects the platform's core feature of ephemeral content. Snapchat's zero-minute average half-life aligns with its design for instant, temporary communication. Messages and content typically disappear immediately after viewing, though exceptions (such as viral posts) apply.

FAQ 22. How does ephemeral content impact the average half-life of posts on TikTok?

The inclusion of TikTok in the January 2025 report with a half-life of "0 minutes (exceptions apply)" aligns with the platform's focus on ephemeral, short-form content. Several factors contribute to TikTok's zero-minute average half-life:

Algorithm-driven content delivery: TikTok's "For You" page constantly refreshes with
new content, promoting rapid consumption.
Short video format: TikTok videos are typically brief, encouraging users to quickly
move on to the next piece of content.
Ephemeral features: TikTok Stories (like Instagram Stories) disappear after 24 hours, reinforcing the platform's emphasis on fleeting content.

FAQ 23. What factors impact engagement and the average half-life of posts on X? Are there any changes?

The increase in X's average half-life from 43 minutes (2024 report) to 49 minutes (2025 report) represents a significant change in user engagement patterns. Multiple elements could be contributing to this shift. Select potential factors include:

Algorithm refinements: X may have adjusted its algorithm to promote certain content.
Content quality improvements: The platform's focus on attracting small-to-medium businesses as advertisers might have led to higher-quality, more engaging content that resonates with users for longer periods.
New features: X introduced new features and made changes to existing ones, which could impact how users interact with content.
Political events: The platform's increased activity during key events, such as the U.S. elections, may have contributed to longer-lasting engagement with posts.

FAQ 24. What factors impact engagement and the average half-life of posts on Facebook? Are there any changes?

The increase in Facebook's post half-life from 76 minutes (2024 report) to 81 minutes (2025 report) represents a modest change in user engagement patterns. Multiple elements could be contributing to this shift. Select potential factors include:

Algorithm refinements: Facebook may have adjusted its algorithm.
New features: Facebook has been introducing new features and changing existing ones.
Balanced content mix: The algorithm is designed to show users a variety of post types, ensuring they don't see multiple posts of the same type in a row. That could contribute to longer engagement periods.

FAQ 25. What factors impact engagement and the average half-life of posts on Reddit?

The inclusion of Reddit in the January 2025 report with an average half-life of 155 minutes (2.58 hours) is a significant development. Content on Reddit maintains engagement for a considerable period compared to some other social media platforms. Several factors likely contribute to Reddit's relatively extended half-life:

Content depth: Reddit's focus on in-depth discussions and longer-form content naturally leads to extended engagement periods.
Community-driven structure: The platform's subreddit system allows users to engage with niche communities, fostering longer-lasting interactions.
User behavior: Redditors may spend significant time exploring threads and participating in discussions, contributing to longer content lifespans.
Algorithm design: Reddit's algorithm may prioritize relevant content over recency, allowing posts to maintain visibility for longer periods.
Diverse content types: Reddit supports various content formats, including text posts, links, images, and videos, catering to different user preferences and engagement patterns.
User demographics: Reddit's user base, which includes a high proportion of tech-savvy and engaged users, may contribute to longer content lifespans.

This report conveys the average half-life for posts on the Reddit platform. Half-life may vary across different subreddits and content types. Factors such as the subreddit's size, topic, and activity level can greatly influence a post's half-life.

FAQ 26. What factors impact engagement and the average half-life of posts on Instagram? Are there any changes?

The slight decrease in Instagram's post half-life from 19.75 hours (2024 report) to 19.04 hours (2025 report) represents a minor shift in user engagement patterns. Several factors could be contributing to this change:

Increased content volume: With Instagram's large user base, more content may be competing for attention, leading to faster content turnover.
Algorithm adjustments: Instagram might have refined its algorithm to prioritize more recent content, potentially reducing the visibility of older posts.
Shift towards video content: The platform's increasing focus on Reels and short-form video content could be impacting the longevity of traditional posts.
User behavior changes: Users might spend less time on individual posts and more time scrolling through their feeds or exploring new content formats.
Rise of ephemeral content: The popularity of Stories and other temporary content types could be influencing overall engagement patterns on the platform.

Despite this slight decrease, Instagram maintains a relatively long half-life compared to some other social media platforms. This suggests that content on Instagram continues to have a significant window of opportunity for engagement.

FAQ 27. What factors impact engagement and the average half-life of posts on LinkedIn? Are there any changes?

The slight decrease in LinkedIn's post half-life from 24.30 hours (2024 report) to 23.77 hours (2025 report) represents a small shift in user engagement patterns. Select potential factors include:

Increased content volume: LinkedIn has been growing steadily. This growth may have led to more content being shared, potentially reducing the lifespan of individual posts.
Algorithm refinements: LinkedIn might have adjusted its algorithm to prioritize more recent or trending content, slightly reducing the visibility of older posts.
User behavior changes: Professionals might adopt more frequent, shorter engagement sessions, leading to quicker content turnover.
Shift in content types: The platform's increasing focus on video content and live events could be impacting the engagement patterns of traditional posts.
Mobile usage: With more users accessing LinkedIn via mobile devices, browsing habits may have shifted towards shorter, more frequent interactions.

Despite this slight decrease, LinkedIn maintains a relatively long half-life. This reflects the platform's nature as a professional network where content tends to have a longer relevance.

FAQ 28. What factors impact engagement and the average half-life of posts on podcast platforms?

The inclusion of podcasts (those on platforms with engagement functionality) in the January 2025 report with a half-life of 6.68 days is a significant development in understanding podcast engagement. This relatively long half-life suggests that podcast content maintains engagement for an extended period compared to many other forms of digital media. Several factors likely contribute to podcasts' extended half-life:

Content depth: Podcasts often feature in-depth discussions and longer-form content,
leading to extended engagement periods.
On-demand nature: Listeners/viewers can generally consume podcast content at their convenience, allowing for engagement over a longer timeframe.
Niche topics: Many podcasts cater to specific interests, fostering dedicated listener/viewer bases that engage with content more thoroughly.

This report conveys the average half-life for posts on podcast platforms with engagement functionality. Half-life may vary across different podcast genres, episode lengths, and audience demographics.

FAQ 29. What factors impact engagement and the average half-life of posts on YouTube? Are there any changes?

The increase in YouTube's post half-life from 8.83 days (2024 report) to 9.67 days (2025 report) represents a significant change in user engagement patterns. Several factors could be contributing to this shift:

Algorithm refinements: YouTube may have adjusted its recommendation algorithm to promote a wider variety of content, increasing the visibility of videos over a longer time frame.
Content quality improvements: There might be an emphasis on higher-quality, more engaging content that resonates with users for longer periods.
Shift in content types: The introduction of YouTube Shorts and its growing popularity could be influencing overall engagement patterns on the platform.
Improved search and discovery: As the second-largest search engine, YouTube's enhanced search capabilities may be helping users find relevant content more easily.

This report conveys the average half-life for posts on the YouTube platform. Half-life can vary across different types of content, channels, and topics. Factors such as video length, subject matter, and target audience can greatly influence a video's half-life on the platform.

FAQ 30. What factors impact engagement and the average half-life of posts on Pinterest? Are there any changes?

The increase in Pinterest's post half-life from 3.76 months (2024 report) to 3.88 months (2025 report) represents a modest but positive change in user engagement patterns. Several factors could be contributing to this shift:

Algorithm refinements: Pinterest may have improved its recommendation algorithm, increasing the visibility of relevant pins over a longer timeframe.
User behavior changes: With Pinterest's growing user base, particularly among Gen Z, there might be more users exploring content over extended periods.
Content quality improvements: The platform's focus on personalization and AI-driven recommendations could lead to more engaging, relevant content.
Mobile app optimization: Improvements in the mobile experience may be contributing to longer engagement periods.
Diverse use cases: Pinterest's expansion into emerging categories like men's fashion and auto, alongside its core areas, could be broadening content appeal and extending engagement.

This extended half-life aligns with Pinterest's unique position as a platform for long-term inspiration and planning. It reinforces Pinterest's value for marketers and content creators, offering an extended window for engagement compared to other social media platforms.

FAQ 31. What factors impact engagement and the average half-life of posts on blogs? Are there any changes?

The slight increase in blog post half-life from 1.95 years (2024 report) to 1.97 years (2025 report) represents a small but noteworthy change in long-term content engagement. This 1% increase suggests that blog posts on platforms with engagement functionality are maintaining user attention and interaction for a marginally longer period. Select potential factors include:

Content quality focus: The extended half-life may reflect an increased emphasis on creating high-quality, evergreen content that remains relevant over time.
SEO improvements: Ongoing refinements in search engine algorithms and SEO practices could contribute to better long-term visibility of blog content.
Shift to long-form content: With many platforms favoring short-form content, blogs remain a bastion for in-depth, comprehensive articles, which may contribute to sustained engagement.
Improved user experience: Enhanced blog designs, faster loading times, and mobile optimization could encourage longer and repeated engagement with content.
Integration with other platforms: Effective cross-promotion of blog content on social media and other channels may drive sustained traffic and engagement.

This extended half-life reinforces the value of blogs for content marketing strategies, especially for businesses and individuals looking to establish thought leadership and provide in-depth information to their audience.

While the increase is minimal, it underscores the enduring nature of blog content in an increasingly fast-paced digital landscape. Blogs continue to offer a unique platform for deep engagement and long-term content value, setting them apart from more ephemeral forms of online content.

FAQ 32. Can some posts have a half-life shorter or longer than the average half-life data published in this report?

Findings from this ‘Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts: Update for 2025’ research reports the average values derived from an extensive analysis of over 5,000,000 social media posts and 225 podcasts, aggregated from multiple sources including diverse entities, represented proportionately to reflect the distribution in the digital ecosystem. This comprehensive, multidimensional approach yields a robust and representative sampling of posts, providing a broad and deep scope of analysis to determine the average half-life durations.

However, individual posts may vary from the average. Additionally, others’ reports often rely on anecdotal evidence, limited datasets, or otherwise non-robust methodology. Those constraints can result in different findings.

FAQ 33. Which metric is better, views or engagement?

When evaluating the importance and value of views versus engagement on social media platforms, engagement metrics generally hold more value for several reasons. These include:

Quality Over Quantity: Engagement metrics—such as likes, comments, and shares—indicate a higher level of interaction with content. A high engagement rate suggests that the audience isn't just passively consuming content but is actively involved, which can lead to stronger relationships with followers. This interaction can foster community, loyalty, and advocacy.
Algorithmic Favor: Social media algorithms are designed to promote content that generates engagement. If posts receive a lot of likes, comments, and shares, the algorithm tends to favor the content by increasing its visibility. This can lead to a higher reach, which might not be directly proportional to the initial number of views.
Monetization and Influence: For creators and marketers, platforms often reward engagement more than views in their monetization models. Engagement indicates real user interaction, which is more likely to translate into website visits, product sales, or ad revenue compared to passive views.
Brand Loyalty and Advocacy: Engagement, especially comments and shares, can lead to user-generated content or discussions, which are invaluable for brand loyalty and advocacy. When followers share content, they're endorsing the respective brand or message to their network, potentially reaching a broader audience with a personal recommendation.
Feedback and Improvement: Comments and other forms of engagement provide direct feedback. This interaction allows content creators to understand what resonates with their audience, helping refine strategies or content for better performance.
Virality and Reach: Content that engages tends to have a higher chance of going viral.

FAQ 34. What are algorithms and how do they impact the user experience on social media platforms?

See our article.^B16

FAQ 35. What is the typical engagement distribution pattern for social media posts?

See our article.^B17

FAQ 36. Is there a disclaimer on TikTok?

Yes. As of the publication date of this research, TikTok remains a prominent social media platform. However, it faces ongoing discussions regarding regulatory actions, including a possible ban in the U.S. in 2025. The future of the platform is uncertain. This research includes TikTok to provide a comprehensive overview of current social media dynamics. Readers are encouraged to consider the context of this inclusion and to stay informed about any changes that may affect TikTok's availability and usage in the U.S. market.

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Coverage of Scott M. Graffius' 'Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts' Research

Scientists, researchers, journalists, academics, YouTubers, podcasters, SEO experts, analysts, businesses, and others have featured earlier editions of Scott M. Graffius' 'Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts' research. Here are some examples:

Bensley, Robert J., & Brookins-Fisher, Jodi (2023, December 14). Community and Public Health Education Methods: A Practical Guide—Fifth Edition. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning. [The authors cover Graffius’ work in Chapter 10 (Using Social Media) and list Graffius’ work as reference number 84 on page 256. A link to the publication at Google Books is here: https://bit.ly/cphem-5.]
Berkessel, Juergen (2021, October 27). How Evergreen Posting on Social Media for Podcasters Creates Growth. Season 1, Episode 9 of the Podcasting Strategy Show. Available at: https://polymash.com/evergreen-posting. [The podcast references Graffius’ research. Show notes include Graffius’ “Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts” visual as well as a hyperlink to Graffius’ full report.]
BlivSetOnline (2024, November 15). Forstå vigtigheden af halveringstid på sociale medier. Available at: https://blivset.online/forstaa-vigtigheden-af-halveringstid-paa-sociale-medier.
Buffer (2024, February 7). 9 Ways to Grow Your Following on X/Twitter. Available at: https://buffer.com/resources/get-more-followers-on-twitter-x/. [It has a hyperlink to Graffius’ research.]
Burton, Taylor (2022, November 2). Social Media Marketing: Leveraging LinkedIn. Pennsylvania Bar Institute. Available at: https://go.pbi.org/blog/social-media-marketing-leveraging-linkedin. [In the article, “LinkedIn posts are shown to have a longer lifespan” is hyperlinked to Graffius’ research.]
Center for Direct Marketing (2024, March 25). Best Marketing Podcasts, Lifespan of Social Media and Blog Posts. Available at: https://dmcenter.com/march-2024/. [The article references, and has a link to, Graffius’ research.]
Center for Direct Marketing (2022, September 27). What Is the Average Lifespan of a Blog or Social Media Post? Available at: https://dmcenter.com/lifespan-of-a-post. [The article includes data from Graffius and a hyperlink to his research.]
Chaturvedi, Saurabh (2024, September 27). How Often to Post on Social Media. Available at: https://recurpost.com/blog/how-often-to-post-on-social-media/.
Chowdhary, Tanish (2023, March 21). 13 Best Twitter Thread Tools to Go Viral in 2023. Geekflare. Available at: https://geekflare.com/best-twitter-thread-tools. [The article includes Graffius’ “Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts” visual and a hyperlink to Graffius’ research.]
Confederation of European Waste-to-Energy Plants (CEWEP) (2023, June 15). The Power of Social Media and How to Use It. 10th CEWEP Waste-to-Energy Congress, 14th - 16th June 2023, Berlin. Available at: https://www.cewep.eu/congress2023presentations/ and https://www.cewep.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/4.1-Monika-Michalska.pdf. [CEWEP Congress presentation slide 9 featured Graffius’ visual, representing a summary of his research findings.]
Degraux, Xavier (2022, November 5). Quelle est la Durée d’un Post sur Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn. Available at: https://www.xavierdegraux.be/quelle-est-la-duree-dun-post-sur-twitter-instagram-linkedin. [In his article, Xavier Degraux — a social networks and content marketing consultant based in Belgium — discussed Graffius' work and provided a hyperlink to the research. Here's the title in English: How Long is a Post on Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn.]
Encompass Online Marketing (2023, March 15). How Often Should You Publish New Content? Available at: https://encompassonline.ca/blog/how-often-should-you-publish-new-content. [Among other points, the article references the lifespan of tweets and has a hyperlink to Graffius’ research.]
Fallah, Georges (2023, December 18). The Best Times to Post on Social Media. Available at: https://www.vbout.com/blog/the-best-times-to-post-on-social-media. [The article has hyperlinks to Graffius’ research.]
Gebauer, Susanna (2022, October 25). Twitter Scheduling: How to Schedule Tweets for More Impact. Available at: https://susannagebauer.com/blog/twitter-scheduling/. [The article includes a link to Graffius' research.]
Geyser, Werner (2023, September 20). 34 Mind-blowing Pinterest Stats for 2023. Influencer Marketing Hub. Available at: https://influencermarketinghub.com/pinterest-stats. [The article references the durations of “three months” and provides a hyperlink to Graffius’ research.]
GoDaddy (2023, February 20). How to Do Social Media: A Guide for Small Businesses and Entrepreneurs. Available at: https://www.godaddy.com/resources/skills/how-to-do-social-media. [In discussing the lifespan of tweets, the article provides a hyperlink to Graffius’ research.]
Gotch, Nathan (2023, December 4). How to Start an SEO Business (2024 Update). Available at: https://www.gotchseo.com/start-seo-company/. [The article includes Graffius’ “Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts” visual and a hyperlink to Graffius’ research.]
Hawes, C. W. (2023, January 24). Social Media Half-Life. Available at: https://www.cwhawes.com/social-media-half-life. [The article identifies Graffius’ research and has a hyperlink to it.]
John, Vanessa (2024, September 5). Website vs. Social Media - Do You Still Need a Site in 2024? Madgicx. Available at: https://madgicx.com/blog/website-and-social-media.
Karr, Douglas (2024, February 18). The Half-Life of Social Media Posts in 2024: Navigating Lifespan for Strategic Impact. Available at: https://martech.zone/half-life-of-a-social-media-post/.
Lin, Yunduan, & Wang, Mengxin, & Zhang, Heng, & Zhang, Renyu, & Shen, Zuo-Jun Max (2021, June 9; revised 2023, June 28). Content Promotion for Online Content Platforms with the Diffusion Effect. SSRN. Available at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3863104 and https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3863104. [The scientific paper mentions Graffius’ work, and it delineates his research in the References section.]
Little, Trena (2024, April 1). Create a Content Calendar That's Simple and East to Implement. Video. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JI1muSuSVmA.
McErlain-Naylor, Stuart (2022, March 24). Social Media for Academia - All You Need to Know [Video]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ka88MxZbU8o. [At timestamp 13:59 in the video, Dr. Stuart McErlain-Naylor displays a visual which summarizes the 2022 edition of Graffius’ research.]
MeetEdgar (2023, April 2). Everything You Need to Know About Repeating Social Media Content. Available at: https://meetedgar.com/blog/repeating-social-media-content. [This article from social media management tool company MeetEdgar discusses the lifespan of posts and it has a hyperlink to Graffius’ research.]
Memom, Alafiya (2023, June 14). Master the Art of Using Pinterest for Blogging in 2023. ContentStudio. Available at: https://blog.contentstudio.io/pinterest-for-blogging. [The article rounds up the half-life of Pinterest pins as “4 months” and it includes a hyperlink to Graffius’ research.]
Metricool (2023, October 31). YouTube Marketing in 2023. Available at: https://metricool.com/youtube-marketing. [The article includes “According to Scott Graffius’s data ...” and a hyperlink to Graffius’ research.]
Midvalley Coach / Evercoach (2023, March 10). Proven Strategies To Enroll Coaching Clients [A Detailed Guide]. Available at: https://www.evercoach.com/coaching-guides/enroll-coaching-clients/. [Where the article addresses the life span of social media, “24 minutes (Twitter) to 24 hours (LinkedIn)” links to Graffius’ research.]
Patel, Neil (2023, May 23). 18 Powerful Twitter Marketing Tips [That Actually Work]. Neil Patel. Available at: https://neilpatel.com/blog/twitter-marketing-tips. [In the article, “The average lifespan of one tweet” has a hyperlink to Graffius’ research.]
Pinterest Inc. [See: Graffius, Scott M. (2024, October 10). Pinterest Inc. References Scott M. Graffius’ Research. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/pinterest_inc_business_blog_features_graffius.html. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.31296.55041.]
Pinterest Inc. – Japan [See: Graffius, Scott M. (2024, December 19). Pinterest Japan Uses Graffius’ Research on Temporal Dynamics on Social Media Platforms. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/pinterest-japan-uses-research-by-graffius.html. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.35455.93606.]
Pitzalis, Josh (2022, November 21). Finding Social Media Calendar Ideas for Twitter. Chirr App. Available at: https://getchirrapp.com/how-to/find. [The article references the half-life of a tweet and has a hyperlink to Graffius’ research.]
Pugalia, Akash, & Lalani, Farah (2023, September 29). Digital Safety: How a Multi-Faceted Approach Can Help Tackle Real-World Harm. World Economic Forum. Available at: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/09/digital-safety-multi-faceted-approach-tackle-real-world-harm. [The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) included data by Graffius on the half-life of social media. The World Economic Forum covered that PNAS study in their article.]
Rainey, Clint (2023, August 15). Social Media’s Toxic Impact Can Last Up to 8 Days. This Behavioral Scientist’s Solution Might Surprise You. Available at: https://www.fastcompany.com/90939081/social-media-toxic-impact-content-moderation-solution-behavior-science. [The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) included Graffius’ research data on the half-life of social media. Fast Company covered that PNAS publication — and summarized Graffius’ data from it — in their article.]
Rynek Pro (2023, June 26). Długość Życia Postów (Half-Life) w Mediach Społecznościowych w 2023 Roku. Available at: https://rynek.pro/half-life-dlugosc-zycia-postow/#pll_switcher. [Rynek Pro, a Poland-based advertising agency, featured Graffius’ research in their article. Here’s the title in English: Life Expectancy of Posts (Half-Life) in Social Media in 2023.]
Sallaway Paul (2024, June 1). Using Social Media The Right Way! Available at: https://mivision.com.au/2024/06/using-social-media-the-right-way/.
Schaffer, Neal (2024, September 17). Maximizing LinkedIn for Business Growth: A Practical Guide to Building Your Brand and Driving Results. Irvine, California. PDCA Social.
Schneider, Philipp J., & Rizoiu, Marian-Andrei (2023, August 22). The Effectiveness of Moderating Harmful Online Content. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 120 (34): e2307360120. Available at: https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.2307360120. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2307360120. [The scientific paper references Graffius’ “Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts” research and uses his data.]
Small Business Development Center (2024, September 30). 10 Marketing Strategies to Grow Your Small Business [Video]. YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WelVAmXuxPU&t=1181s.
Social Selling CRM (2024). Demi-vie de Vos Publications: Stratégies d’Optimisation 2024.’ (In English: Half-life of Your Publications: 2024 Optimization Strategies). Available at: https://www.socialsellingcrm.com/demi-vie-de-vos-publications-strategies-doptimisation-2024/.
Statler, Jacob (2024, September 12). How to Schedule Social Media Posts: Best Tools and Tips. Post Planner. Available at: https://www.postplanner.com/blog/how-to-schedule-social-media-posts/. ["The lifespan of a social media post" — in green text, located towards the end of the article — links to Graffius’ research.]
Strozyk, Kaylee (2023, November 3). 11 Tips on How to Use Pinterest for Real Estate. Fit Small Business. Available at: https://fitsmallbusiness.com/how-to-use-pinterest-for-real-estate-agents. [The article references that the half-life of Pinterest pins is “about 3.75 months.” Selecting the respective hyperlink brings up Graffius’ research.]
Thailand TV News (2022, August 16). Half-Life of Each Social Media Post. Available at: https://thailandtv.news/half-life-of-each-social-media-post-thumbsup. [The article incorporates data from Graffius’ work, and it has a hyperlink to his research.]
The Tech Reps (2023, January 23). SEO or Social Media Marketing, Which is Better for Sales? [video]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=aVmQdHDXCrw. [The Tech Reps used Graffius’ “Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts” visual as the background image in their video.]
Two Rivers Marketing (2020, December 9). 8 Social Media Channels and Tactics to Consider Adding to Your Marketing Mix. Available at: https://www.tworiversmarketing.com/blog/8- social-media-channels-and-tactics-to- consider-adding-to-your-marketing-mix. [The article references the lifespan of posts and has a hyperlink to Graffius’ research.] Walters, Christy (2023, May 4). How To Curate Content for LinkedIn: Handpick Your Next Post. CopyPress. Available at: https://www.copypress.com/kb/social- media-promotion/curate-content-for-linkedin. [The article discusses the lifespan of a LinkedIn post and has a hyperlink to Graffius’ research.]
What What SEO (2024, September 5). 5 bonnes raisons de créer un compte Pinterest si tu es entrepreneuse. (In English: 5 good reasons to create a Pinterest account if you are an entrepreneur.) Available at: https://whatwhatseo.fr/creer-compte- pinterest-entreprise-avantages/. [The article incorporates Graffius’ research; to see the details, select 'Sources' located towards the end of the article.]
And many more.

References/Sources

Section 'A' pertains to the rigorous methodology employed in this study.

A1. 'Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts: Update for 2025' by Scott M. Graffius covers Snapchat, TikTok, X, Facebook, Reddit, Instagram, LinkedIn, podcasts (audio and video formats with engagement functionality), YouTube, Pinterest, and blogs (with engagement functionality). Findings were derived from an extensive analysis of over 5,000,000 social media posts and 225 podcasts, aggregated from multiple sources, including APIs, proprietary commercial datasets, academic and research consortia databases, publicly shared datasets, governmental and non-governmental organizational data repositories, and more. The collective dataset includes data from 1 January 2024 through 31 December 2024 (with retrospective data from antecedent blogging platforms) on diverse entities, including individuals (from those with a relatively small number of followers/subscribers to influencers), businesses (from small to large), professional associations, educational institutions, and others. Entities are represented proportionately, reflecting the distribution in the digital ecosystem. This comprehensive, multidimensional approach yields a robust and representative sampling of posts, providing a broad and deep scope of analysis.

Section 'B' pertains to additional sources of information.

B1. Statista (2024, May 17). Number of Global Social Network Users 2017-2028. Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/278414/number- of-worldwide-social-network-users/.
B2. Trivette, Hannah (2022, October 14). A Guide to Social Media Algorithms and SEO. Forbes.
B3. Statista (2024, July 10). Most Popular Social Networks Worldwide as of April 2024, by Number of Monthly Active Users. Available at: https://www.statista.com/statistics/272014/global- social-networks-ranked-by-number-of-users/.
B4. Graffius, Scott M. (2024, January 1). Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts: Update for 2024. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/social-24.html. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.21043.60965.
B5. Graffius, Scott M. (2023, January 1). Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts: Update for 2023. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/social-2023.html. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.19783.98722.
B6. X. Available at: https://careers.x.com. Accessed on 2 January 2025.
B7. Macready, Hannah (2023, February 22). 47 LinkedIn Statistics You Need to Know in 2023. Hootsuite.
B8. Ong, Si Quan (2023, January 27). 59 Blogging Statistics for 2023.
B9. Colicev, Anatoli, & Malshe, Ashwin, & Pauwels, Koen, & O'Connor, Peter (2018). Improving Consumer Mindset Metrics and Shareholder Value Through Social Media: The Different Roles of Owned and Earned Media. Journal of Marketing, 82 (1): 37-56.
B10. Collier, Azure (2017, April 28). How to Create a Social Media Posting Schedule. Constant Contact.
B11. IBM (n.d.). What is Social Media Analytics. Available at: https://www.ibm.com/topics/social-media-analytics.
B12. Kanuri, V. K., & Chen, Y., & Sridhar, S. (2018). Scheduling Content on Social Media: Theory, Evidence, and Application. Journal of Marketing, 82 (6): 89-108.
B13. Liadeli, G., & Sotgiu, F., & Verlegh, P. W. J. (2023). A Meta-Analysis of the Effects of Brands' Owned Social Media on Social Media Engagement and Sales. Journal of Marketing, 87 (3): 406-427.
B14. Perreault, Marie-Catherine, & Mosconi, Elaine (2018). Social Media Engagement: Content Strategy and Metrics Research Opportunities. Proceedings of the 51st Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences: 3568-3577.
B15. Trunfio, Mariapina, & Rossi, Simona (2021). Conceptualising and Measuring Social Media Engagement: A Systematic Literature Review. Italian Journal of Marketing, 2021 (3):267-292.
B16. Graffius, Scott M. (2024, September 26). How Algorithms Shape the User Experience on Social Media Platforms. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/algorithms- and-the-user-experience.html. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.29149.01767.
B17. Graffius, Scott M. (2024, September 30). Supplement to Graffius' 'Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts' Research: Typical Engagement Distribution Pattern for Social Media Posts. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/distribution- pattern-for-social-media-posts.html. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.15820.22402.
B18. Cambridge Dictionary. Definition of social media at: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/social- media.
B19. Britannica Dictionary. Definition of social media at: https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/social-media.
B20. Dictionary.com. Definition of social media at: https://www.dictionary.com/browse/social-media.
B21. Statista (2024, February 27). Number of Monthly Active Reddit Users Worldwide from 2018 to 2026. Available at: https://www.statista.com/forecasts/1309791/reddit- mau-worldwide.
B22. Statista (2024, May 22). Number of LinkedIn Users Worldwide from 2019 to 2028. Available at: https://www.statista.com/forecasts/1147197/linkedin- users-in-the-world.
B23. Listen Notes (n.d.). Podcast Stats: How Many Podcasts Are There? Available at: https://www.listennotes.com/podcast-stats/. Accessed on 2 January 2025.
B24. Hostinger (2024, July 31). Essential Blogging Statistics: Trends, Tips, and Insights 2024. Available at: https://www.hostinger.com/tutorials/blogging-statistics.
B25. Musk, Elon (2024, February 28). A change is coming to our recommendation algorithm that will ensure that all your followers see your pinned posts. This only applies to one pinned post every ~48 hours to prevent gaming of the system. Post by @elonmusk on X at https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1762987619409879149. Accessed on 2 January 2025.
B26. Instagram (2024, April 30). Today we’re announcing four changes to how we rank content to give all creators a more equal chance of breaking through to new audiences. Post by Instagram on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/creators/p/C6YxvSXgFxp. Accessed on 2 January 2025.

About Scott M. Graffius

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Scott M. Graffius is a high impact and globally recognized AI, advanced technology, agile, and project management researcher, thought leader, author, and public speaker.

Graffius has generated more than USD $1.9 billion in business value for organizations served, including Fortune 500 companies. Businesses and industries range from technology (including R&D and AI) to entertainment, financial services, and healthcare, government, social media, and more.

Graffius leads the professional services firm Exceptional PPM and PMO Solutions, along with its subsidiary Exceptional Agility. These consultancies offer strategic and tactical advisory, training, embedded talent, and consulting services to public, private, and government sectors. They help organizations enhance their capabilities and results in agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership, supporting innovation and driving competitive advantage. The consultancies confidently back services with a Delighted Client Guarantee™. Graffius is a former vice president of project management with a publicly traded provider of diverse consumer products and services over the Internet. Before that, he ran and supervised the delivery of projects and programs in public and private organizations with businesses ranging from e-commerce to advanced technology products and services, retail, manufacturing, entertainment, and more. He has experience with consumer, business, reseller, government, and international markets.

He is the author of two award-winning books.

His first book, Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions (ISBN-13: 9781533370242), received 17 awards.
His second book is Agile Transformation: A Brief Story of How an Entertainment Company Developed New Capabilities and Unlocked Business Agility to Thrive in an Era of Rapid Change (ISBN-13: 9781072447962). BookAuthority named it one of the best Scrum books of all time.

Organizations around the world invite Graffius to speak on tech (including AI), agile, project management, program management, portfolio management, and PMO leadership. He has developed and delivered unique and compelling talks and workshops. To date, Graffius has delivered 91 sessions across 25 countries. Select examples of events include Agile Trends Gov, BSides (Newcastle Upon Tyne), Conf42 Quantum Computing, DevDays Europe, DevOps Institute, DevOpsDays (Geneva), Frug’Agile, IEEE, Microsoft, Scottish Summit, Scrum Alliance RSG (Nepal), Techstars, and W Love Games International Video Game Development Conference (Helsinki), and more. With an average rating of 4.81 (on a scale of 1-5), sessions are highly valued.

Prominent businesses, professional associations, government agencies, and universities have featured Graffius and his work including content from his books, talks, workshops, and more. Select examples include:

Adobe,
American Management Association,
Amsterdam Public Health Research Institute,
Bayer,
BMC Software,
Boston University,
Broadcom,
Cisco,
Coburg University of Applied Sciences and Arts Germany,
Computer Weekly,
Constructor University Germany,
Data Governance Success,
Deimos Aerospace,
DevOps Institute,
EU's European Commission,
Ford Motor Company,
GoDaddy,
Harvard Medical School,
Hasso Plattner Institute Germany,
IEEE,
Innovation Project Management,
Johns Hopkins University,
Journal of Neurosurgery,
Lam Research (Semiconductors),
Leadership Worthy,
Life Sciences Trainers and Educators Network,
London South Bank University,
Microsoft,
NASSCOM,
National Academy of Sciences,
New Zealand Government,
Oracle,
Pinterest Inc.,
Project Management Institute,
SANS Institute,
SBG Neumark Germany,
Singapore Institute of Technology,
Torrens University Australia,
TBS Switzerland,
Tufts University,
UC San Diego,
UK Sports Institute,
University of Galway Ireland,
US Department of Energy,
US National Park Service,
US Tennis Association,
Veleučilište u Rijeci Croatia,
Verizon,
Virginia Tech,
Warsaw University of Technology,
Wrike,
Yale University,
and many others.

Graffius has been actively involved with the Project Management Institute (PMI) in the development of professional standards. He was a member of the team which produced the Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures—Second Edition. Graffius was a contributor and reviewer of A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge—Sixth Edition, The Standard for Program Management—Fourth Edition, and The Practice Standard for Project Estimating—Second Edition. He was also a subject matter expert reviewer of content for the PMI’s Congress. Beyond the PMI, Graffius also served as a member of the review team for two of the Scrum Alliance’s Global Scrum Gatherings.

Graffius has a bachelor’s degree in psychology with a focus in Human Factors. He holds eight professional certifications:

Certified SAFe 6 Agilist (SA),
Certified Scrum Professional - ScrumMaster (CSP-SM),
Certified Scrum Professional - Product Owner (CSP-PO),
Certified ScrumMaster (CSM),
Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO),
Project Management Professional (PMP),
Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (LSSGB), and
IT Service Management Foundation (ITIL).

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Content Acknowledgements

Names, marks, and content are the property of their respective owners.

Scott M. Graffius’ 'Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts: Update for 2025' is copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

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How to Cite This Article

Graffius, Scott M. (2025, January 6). Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts: Update for 2025. Available at: https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/lifespan-halflife-of-social-media-posts-update-for-2025.html.

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Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.35085.65761

Short Link for Article

The short link for this article is https://bit.ly/life-2025

Copyright

Copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.

Content on this site—including text, images, videos, and data—may not be used for training or input into any artificial intelligence, machine learning, or automatized learning systems, or published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without the express written permission of Scott M. Graffius.