Matters of Agility

image credit: http://dailyllama.tumblr.com/

I am forever exploring, and experimenting with, ways to apply Agile to the development of online courses (as well as other content/learning related projects and products). Yesterday, I stumbled upon the term “LLAMA” and I love it!!

LLAMA = “Lot Like Agile Method Approach”

I am not 100% sure its origination, by it seems to be at the center of work done by the folk at Torrance Learning, so that’s where I’d go first. Speaking of which, if interested, you should definitely read this article by Megan Torrance in Learning Solutions Magazine: Reconciling ADDIE and Agile

An interesting piece out of Forbes — Some bullet points, as found in the piece, are below. Note a few important concepts which I feel are critical to individual and team success, no matter if you are a “Millennial” or not:

√ A priority for them to make the world a better place
√ Want their boss to serve more as a coach or mentor
√ Prefer a collaborative work-culture rather than a competitive one
√ Want flexible work schedules
√ “Work-life integration,” which isn’t the same as work-life balance

What Millennials Want In The Workplace (And Why You Should Start Giving It To Them)
Rob Asghar, Contributor / Forbes

• 64% of them say it’s a priority for them to make the world a better place.
• 72% would like to be their own boss. But if they do have to work for a boss, 79% of them would want that boss to serve more as a coach or mentor.
• 88% prefer a collaborative work-culture rather than a competitive one.
• 74% want flexible work schedules.
• And 88% want “work-life integration,” which isn’t the same as work-life balance, since work and life now blend together inextricably.

Reference kudos to: Hugh MacLeod, creative genius at gapingvoid.com

From the HBR (Harvard Business Review) Blog Network/Daily Stat:

In a series of experiments on choices between sure amounts of money and various kinds of gambles, researchers found that three-person groups are both less averse to ambiguity and less inclined to seek it — in other words, are more neutral about ambiguity — than are individuals. A possible reason is that individuals’ extreme attitudes toward ambiguity, either negative or positive, tend to be softened by persuasive arguments from other group members, says a team led by Steffen Keck of Insead. The findings suggest that teams may be better than individuals at handling tasks involving imprecise probabilities, such as long-term planning.

— by Andrew O’Connell

SOURCE:  Group decisions under ambiguity: Convergence to neutrality