Tom Spencer, Ph.D.
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7 Ways to Improve Agile Practices with Behavioral Science
Agile project management methodologies are no longer confined to software development or technology companies. As rapid innovation creates the need for increased adaptability, organizations have…
Behavior Change is Risky Business
All projects and change efforts involve behavioral risk. They require people to start doing some things or to do things differently. When sustained behavior change is a requirement, those responsible…
Hear No Evil: Yes-Men Leadership
Leadership requires confidence in one’s ability to make good decisions. Yet that confidence does not guarantee quality in the decision making. Sometimes confidence isn’t well founded. The dark side…
Survivor: Feeding the Fire
In the long-running TV reality series Survivor, starting and maintaining a fire has always been a fundamental and immediate need. Without the proper tools, merely generating a spark can be…
Putting an End to Groundhog Day
Like Bill Murray in the 1993 movie Groundhog Day, every day for some people feels like a repeat of the last. Seemingly no matter what they do, nothing changes. Each day greets them with the same…
Justin Bieber, Senior Leaders and “Yes-Men”
Recently I heard Charles Barkley on ESPN radio, but he wasn't talking basketball. He was talking about Justin Bieber and how Bieber’s life is gradually unraveling. It’s been a slow shaping process…
Getting New Employees Game Ready
The start of the school year is my favorite time of the year because it marks the start of the college football season. While college freshmen have plenty of adjustments to make, freshmen football…
Urinal Gamification Misses the Mark
However inconvenient it might be sometimes, emptying your bladder is inevitable. You might want to do it at the time, especially if the time is the middle of a long road trip, but it’s not something…
Building Informal Learning Habits
"There’s no substitute for experience” is a common adage for those who have learned by doing during a long career. Well-designed learning can help close an experience gap, but the expression still…
Don’t Ruin My Basketball With Your Mega Millions Jackpot
WVU Mountaineer play-by-play announcer @TonyCaridi tweeted this morning, “If you won the Mega Millions lottery….what 3 hoop officials would you pay to never work another game?” I thought Tony had hit…
Positive Reinforcement Can Kill
The news media recently reported the death of a man in a gaming café. He had been playing League of Legends for 23 hours. Police suspected that “a combination of tiredness, lack of movement and the…