UNSW Aerospace Engineering Course Features Scott M. Graffius' "Phases of Team Development"
12 March 2026
BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com
Scott M. Graffius' "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property on teamwork tradecraft was featured in coursework for AERO4110 Aerospace Design 2 at the University of South Wales (UNSW Sydney), a globally recognized research university known for its strength in engineering and technology. The course is part of the School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, taught by Dr. Sonya A. Brown.
Excerpts are shown below.
Informed by the research of Bruce W. Tuckman and Mary Ann C. Jensen, over 150 subsequent studies, and Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property 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. Leaders can apply the actionable insights to help advance the effectiveness and success of teams.
It has been adopted and relied upon by esteemed organizations, such as Adobe, Bayer, Boston University, Broadcom, Cisco, DevOps Institute, Finland Government, Hasso-Plattner-Institut für Digital Engineering GmbH, IEEE, Johns Hopkins University, Journal of Neurosurgery, Mary Raum (Professor of National Security Affairs, United States Naval War College), Microsoft, New Zealand Government, Oracle, Technical University of Munich, Tufts University, U.S. National Park Service, UCSD, Yale University, and many more.
In 2026, Graffius added human-AI teamwork—including the "exotic team dynamics" which emerge when advanced AI (agentic, autonomous, or autopoietic) collaborates as a teammate. A visual from the current (2026) edition is shown below and details are here.
The University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney) is a leading global research university based in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1949, it is a member of Australia’s Group of Eight coalition of research-intensive universities and is widely recognized for excellence in engineering, technology, business, and the sciences. UNSW enrolls tens of thousands of students from around the world and consistently ranks among the top universities globally.
The Group of Eight (Go8) is a coalition of Australia’s leading research-intensive universities. Established in 1999, the organization represents eight universities that collectively produce a substantial share of Australia’s university research output and receive a significant portion of competitive research funding. Go8 universities are widely recognized for their strong performance in global rankings, extensive international collaborations, and contributions to scientific, technological, and economic development.
The School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering at UNSW Sydney is one of Australia’s leading engineering schools. The school conducts research and education across various areas, including aerospace engineering, advanced manufacturing, robotics, energy systems, and mechanical design. It offers undergraduate and postgraduate programs that emphasize industry engagement, multidisciplinary collaboration, and the practical application of engineering principles to complex technological challenges.
AERO4110 Aerospace Design 2 is an advanced undergraduate aerospace engineering course offered through the School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering at UNSW Sydney. The course focuses on the design and development of aerospace systems, emphasizing engineering analysis, collaborative design processes, and the application of multidisciplinary principles to aerospace engineering projects.
Dr. Sonya A. Brown is an academic in the School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering at UNSW Sydney. Her teaching includes aerospace engineering design courses such as AERO4110 Aerospace Design 2, where students apply engineering principles to complex aerospace design challenges in collaborative project environments.
Brown, S. A. (n.d.). Associate Professor Sonya Brown. UNSW Sydney. https://www.unsw.edu.au/staff/sonya-brown
Graffius, S. M. (2021, January 4). Using Bruce Tuckman's Phases of Team Development to Help Your Team Grow and Advance: 2021 Update. ScottGraffius.com. https://www.scottgraffius.com/blog/files/team-21.html
Graffius, S. M. (2026, January 23). Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts: Update for 2026. ScottGraffius.com. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.32407.43689
Group of Eight. (n.d.). About the Group of Eight. https://go8.edu.au/about
University of New South Wales. (n.d.). About UNSW Sydney. https://www.unsw.edu.au/about-us
University of New South Wales. (2021). AERO4110 Aerospace Design 2: Course outline. https://www.unsw.edu.au/engineering/sites/default/files/documents/AERO4110_CourseOutline_T2_2021_0.pdf
UNSW Sydney. (n.d.). School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering. https://www.unsw.edu.au/engineering/our-schools/mechanical-and-manufacturing-engineering
Scott M. Graffius is a strategic transformation leader who drives AI, Agile, and broader business and technology initiatives to deliver measurable value across projects, programs, portfolios, and PMOs. He is an expert in the teamwork tradecraft of both human and human-AI teams, including the “exotic team dynamics” that emerge. He is also an authority on the temporal patterns of social media, including the half-life of audience engagement.
He’s a practitioner, researcher, thought leader, award-winning author, and keynote speaker who’s taken the stage at 96 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.
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 97 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:
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:
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 150 subsequent studies, and Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property 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. In 2026, Graffius added human-AI teamwork—including the "exotic team dynamics" which emerge when advanced AI collaborates as a teammate—to his "Phases of Team Development."
The 2026 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 Fast Company, GoDaddy, Journal of Hand Surgery (European Volume), Ministère de la Culture (French Ministry of Culture), Pinterest Inc., PNAS, and Telecommunications Policy, among others—his research exemplifies methodological rigor and sustained significance in the field of digital informatics.
The 2026 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:
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.
Discover Scott’s Books
Connect with and follow Scott on LinkedIn, X, YouTube, Facebook, Threads, Bluesky, Mastodon, and ResearchGate.
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Graffius, S. M. (2026, March 12). UNSW Aerospace Engineering Course Features Scott M. Graffius' "Phases of Team Development". ScottGraffius.com. https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/unsw-features-phases-of-team-development-by-scott-m-graffius.html
Coming soon.
Scott M. Graffius' “Phases of Team Development” intellectual property on teamwork tradecraft was featured in coursework for AERO4110 Aerospace Design 2 at the University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney), a globally recognized research university known for its strength in engineering and technology. The course is part of the School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering and was taught by Dr. Sonya A. Brown.
The respective coursework is the property of Dr. Sonya A. Brown and UNSW Sydney.
UNSW Sydney name, mark, and content are the property of UNSW Sydney.
This article includes limited excerpts of content from Dr. Sonya A. Brown and UNSW Sydney, attributed and used under fair use for news reporting and analysis.
Graffius' "Phases of Team Development" is copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.
If there are any supplements or updates to this article after the date of publication, they will appear here.
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.
Aerospace Design Course Features Graffius' Work on Teamwork Tradecraft
Scott M. Graffius' "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property on teamwork tradecraft was featured in coursework for AERO4110 Aerospace Design 2 at the University of South Wales (UNSW Sydney), a globally recognized research university known for its strength in engineering and technology. The course is part of the School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, taught by Dr. Sonya A. Brown.
Excerpts are shown below.
About Graffius' "Phases of Team Development"
Informed by the research of Bruce W. Tuckman and Mary Ann C. Jensen, over 150 subsequent studies, and Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property 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. Leaders can apply the actionable insights to help advance the effectiveness and success of teams.
It has been adopted and relied upon by esteemed organizations, such as Adobe, Bayer, Boston University, Broadcom, Cisco, DevOps Institute, Finland Government, Hasso-Plattner-Institut für Digital Engineering GmbH, IEEE, Johns Hopkins University, Journal of Neurosurgery, Mary Raum (Professor of National Security Affairs, United States Naval War College), Microsoft, New Zealand Government, Oracle, Technical University of Munich, Tufts University, U.S. National Park Service, UCSD, Yale University, and many more.
In 2026, Graffius added human-AI teamwork—including the "exotic team dynamics" which emerge when advanced AI (agentic, autonomous, or autopoietic) collaborates as a teammate. A visual from the current (2026) edition is shown below and details are here.
About UNSW Sydney
The University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney) is a leading global research university based in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1949, it is a member of Australia’s Group of Eight coalition of research-intensive universities and is widely recognized for excellence in engineering, technology, business, and the sciences. UNSW enrolls tens of thousands of students from around the world and consistently ranks among the top universities globally.
About the Group of Eight Universities
The Group of Eight (Go8) is a coalition of Australia’s leading research-intensive universities. Established in 1999, the organization represents eight universities that collectively produce a substantial share of Australia’s university research output and receive a significant portion of competitive research funding. Go8 universities are widely recognized for their strong performance in global rankings, extensive international collaborations, and contributions to scientific, technological, and economic development.
About the School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering
The School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering at UNSW Sydney is one of Australia’s leading engineering schools. The school conducts research and education across various areas, including aerospace engineering, advanced manufacturing, robotics, energy systems, and mechanical design. It offers undergraduate and postgraduate programs that emphasize industry engagement, multidisciplinary collaboration, and the practical application of engineering principles to complex technological challenges.
About AERO4110 Course
AERO4110 Aerospace Design 2 is an advanced undergraduate aerospace engineering course offered through the School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering at UNSW Sydney. The course focuses on the design and development of aerospace systems, emphasizing engineering analysis, collaborative design processes, and the application of multidisciplinary principles to aerospace engineering projects.
About Instructor Dr. Sonya A. Brown
Dr. Sonya A. Brown is an academic in the School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering at UNSW Sydney. Her teaching includes aerospace engineering design courses such as AERO4110 Aerospace Design 2, where students apply engineering principles to complex aerospace design challenges in collaborative project environments.
Bibliography
Brown, S. A. (n.d.). Associate Professor Sonya Brown. UNSW Sydney. https://www.unsw.edu.au/staff/sonya-brown
Graffius, S. M. (2021, January 4). Using Bruce Tuckman's Phases of Team Development to Help Your Team Grow and Advance: 2021 Update. ScottGraffius.com. https://www.scottgraffius.com/blog/files/team-21.html
Graffius, S. M. (2026, January 23). Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts: Update for 2026. ScottGraffius.com. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.32407.43689
Group of Eight. (n.d.). About the Group of Eight. https://go8.edu.au/about
University of New South Wales. (n.d.). About UNSW Sydney. https://www.unsw.edu.au/about-us
University of New South Wales. (2021). AERO4110 Aerospace Design 2: Course outline. https://www.unsw.edu.au/engineering/sites/default/files/documents/AERO4110_CourseOutline_T2_2021_0.pdf
UNSW Sydney. (n.d.). School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering. https://www.unsw.edu.au/engineering/our-schools/mechanical-and-manufacturing-engineering
About Scott M. Graffius
Scott M. Graffius is a strategic transformation leader who drives AI, Agile, and broader business and technology initiatives to deliver measurable value across projects, programs, portfolios, and PMOs. He is an expert in the teamwork tradecraft of both human and human-AI teams, including the “exotic team dynamics” that emerge. He is also an authority on the temporal patterns of social media, including the half-life of audience engagement.
He’s a practitioner, researcher, thought leader, award-winning author, and keynote speaker who’s taken the stage at 96 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 97 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
Graffius is a renowned authority on teamwork tradecraft. Informed by the research of Bruce W. Tuckman and Mary Ann C. Jensen, over 150 subsequent studies, and Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property 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. In 2026, Graffius added human-AI teamwork—including the "exotic team dynamics" which emerge when advanced AI collaborates as a teammate—to his "Phases of Team Development."
The 2026 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 Fast Company, GoDaddy, Journal of Hand Surgery (European Volume), Ministère de la Culture (French Ministry of Culture), Pinterest Inc., PNAS, and Telecommunications Policy, among others—his research exemplifies methodological rigor and sustained significance in the field of digital informatics.
The 2026 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.
Discover Scott’s Books
- Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions — Deliver Products in Short Cycles with Rapid Adaptation to Change, Fast Time-to-Market, and Continuous Improvement
- 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
- Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum
Connect with and follow Scott on LinkedIn, X, YouTube, Facebook, Threads, Bluesky, Mastodon, and ResearchGate.
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How to Cite This Article
Graffius, S. M. (2026, March 12). UNSW Aerospace Engineering Course Features Scott M. Graffius' "Phases of Team Development". ScottGraffius.com. https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/unsw-features-phases-of-team-development-by-scott-m-graffius.html
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
Coming soon.
Content Acknowledgements
Scott M. Graffius' “Phases of Team Development” intellectual property on teamwork tradecraft was featured in coursework for AERO4110 Aerospace Design 2 at the University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney), a globally recognized research university known for its strength in engineering and technology. The course is part of the School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering and was taught by Dr. Sonya A. Brown.
The respective coursework is the property of Dr. Sonya A. Brown and UNSW Sydney.
UNSW Sydney name, mark, and content are the property of UNSW Sydney.
This article includes limited excerpts of content from Dr. Sonya A. Brown and UNSW Sydney, attributed and used under fair use for news reporting and analysis.
Graffius' "Phases of Team Development" is copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.
Tags and Hashtags
- Phases of Team Development
- University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney)
- Team Dynamics, Development, and Leadership
- Teamwork Tradecraft
- AERO4110 Aerospace Design 2 at UNSW Sydney
- School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering
- #TeamDevelopment
- #BusinessSchool
- #Leadership
- #Innovation
- #PhasesOfTeamDevelopment
- #UNSW
- #Aerospace
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.
Thinkers360 Honors Scott M. Graffius as a 2026 Top Agile Thought Leader
04 March 2026
BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com
Graffius, S. M. (2026, March 4). Thinkers360 Honors Scott M. Graffius as a 2026 Top Agile Thought Leader. ScottGraffius.com. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.18793.15200
Scott M. Graffius has earned recognition as a leading global thought leader and influencer on Agile in Thinkers360's 2026 annual ranking, which is determined by the platform's patented algorithm that measures impact through articles, books, speaking engagements, and other contributions. This accolade highlights his influential work in advancing Agile, AI-integrated project management, and high performing teams (both human and human-AI, including the "exotic team dynamics" which emerge when agentic, autonomous, or autopoietic artificial intelligence collaborates as a teammate).
The honor reflects his dedication to providing actionable insights that empower organizations to thrive in the face of challenges and drive meaningful results. This achievement celebrates the vital role of thought leadership in evolving Agile methodologies and shaping successful outcomes worldwide.
Excerpts from Thinkers360 are shown below.
Next is the bibliography, which includes links to sources. It's followed by additional information on Thinkers360 and Graffius.
This is the select bibliography.
Graffius, S. M. (n.d.). Speaker. ScottGraffius.com. https://scottgraffius.com/publicspeaker.html
Graffius, S. M. (n.d.). Thought Leader. ScottGraffius.com. https://scottgraffius.com/thoughtleaderandinfluencer.html
Graffius, S. M. (2016). Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions. CreateSpace.
Graffius, S. 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. CreateSpace.
Graffius, S. M. (2025). Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum. Amazon Digital Services.
Graffius, S. M. (2025, June 2). Meta and Anduril’s EagleEye and the Future of XR: How Gaming, AI, and Agile Are Transforming Defense. ScottGraffius.com. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.26938.45766
Graffius, S. 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. ScottGraffius.com. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.27667.95527
Graffius, S. M. (2025, November 13). Scott M. Graffius Contributed to and Reviewed the PMBOK Guide, 8th Edition — the Global Standard for Project Management. ScottGraffius.com. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.25557.69601
Graffius, S. M. (2026, January 3). Scott M. Graffius' Phases of Team Development - Applied to Human Teams and Human-AI Teams: 2026 Update. ScottGraffius.com. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.18184.89601
Thinkers360. (2026, March 2). Congrats to the Top 50 Global Thought Leaders and Influencers on Agile 2026! [LinkedIn post]. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/thinkers360_agile-thoughtleadership-influencers-activity-7434611000403718144-9iJK
Thinkers360. (2026, March 2). Top 50 global thought leaders and influencers on agile 2026. Thinkers360. https://www.thinkers360.com/top-50-global-thought-leaders-and-influencers-on-agile-2026/
Additional content is available here.
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. The platform's approach to rating factors each candidate’s diverse contributions and content such as articles, books, media coverage, podcasts, social media, speaking events, videos, and more. Thinkers360 has over 100 million followers on social media combined.
Scott M. Graffius is a strategic transformation leader who drives AI, Agile, and broader business and technology initiatives to deliver measurable value across projects, programs, portfolios, and PMOs. He is an expert in the teamwork tradecraft of both human and human-AI teams, including the “exotic team dynamics” that emerge. He is also an authority on the temporal patterns of social media, including the half-life of audience engagement.
He’s a practitioner, researcher, thought leader, award-winning author, and keynote speaker who’s taken the stage at 96 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.
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 97 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:
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:
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 150 subsequent studies, and Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property 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. In 2026, Graffius added human-AI teamwork—including the "exotic team dynamics" which emerge when advanced AI collaborates as a teammate—to his "Phases of Team Development."
The 2026 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 Fast Company, GoDaddy, Journal of Hand Surgery (European Volume), Ministère de la Culture (French Ministry of Culture), Pinterest Inc., PNAS, and Telecommunications Policy, among others—his research exemplifies methodological rigor and sustained significance in the field of digital informatics.
The 2026 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:
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.
Discover Scott’s Books
Connect with and follow Scott on LinkedIn, X, YouTube, Facebook, Threads, Bluesky, Mastodon, and ResearchGate.
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Setting Direction with OKRs and Tracking Progress with KPIs: A Guide for Agile, Project Management, and Tech Teams
AI Showcase Showdown: Ranking AI Accuracy on Project Management Basics
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Exploring Team Dynamics, Adaptability, and Creative Problem-Solving Through Felix the Cat’s Metaphorical Toolkit
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The “Pants-on-Fire Index for AI”
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AI in Agile: Benefits, Risks, Outlook
Hostinger Highlights Scott M. Graffius’ “Agile Protocol” Book in Feature on Software Projects
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Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts: Update for 2025
Verizon Features Scott M. Graffius
Do Not Read This Article! An Exploration of the Streisand Effect and Other Phenomena
Scott M. Graffius' 'Phases of Team Development' was Spotlighted in Journal of Neurosurgery
Pinterest Japan Uses Graffius’ Research on Temporal Dynamics on Social Media Platforms
Hochschule Coburg (Coburg University) Germany Uses Scott M. Graffius’ Phases of Team Development IP in Coursework on Agile Development
Wild World of Team Dynamics [Updated Two-Minute Video]
EU Europass Teacher Academy Features Scott M. Graffius’ ‘Phases of Team Development’ in Leadership Training
Side-by-Side Comparison of Retrospectives and Hot Washes
Constructor University 2024 Advanced Software Technology Handbook References Scott M. Graffius' Work on Team Dynamics
Strategies for Medical Team Success Featured Scott M. Graffius’ ‘Phases of Team Development’ Intellectual Property
SBG Neumark — Europe’s Largest Distribution Transformer Plant — Powers Up with Scott M. Graffius’ Intellectual Property
Scott M. Graffius’ Intellectual Property was Employed by the NHS — the Largest Single-Payer Healthcare System in Europe
Luxury Unwrapped: The Ultimate Holiday Gift Guide for Every Budget
Singapore Institute of Technology Features Work of Scott M. Graffius
Tufts University Features Scott M. Graffius 'Phases of Team Development' Intellectual Property
'Cat Herders': Retelling the Massive Success Story
Pennsylvania State Agency Used Scott M. Graffius' Intellectual Property
Copyright Infringement in a Book Published by AuthorHouse / Author Solutions / The Najafi Companies: Publisher Fails to Respond or Take Required Action
Pinterest Inc. References Scott M. Graffius’ Research
Bournemouth University Used Scott M. Graffius’ Intellectual Property
‘Comparative Methodological Guidelines: Handbook for Educators’ Violates Scott M. Graffius’ Copyright
Japan Backlog User Group Event Featured Scott M. Graffius’ ‘Phases of Team Development’
TurningWest's 'Trial'
Radio Silence from the American Association of Neurological Surgeons on Report of Blatant Plagiarism in Their ‘Journal of Neurosurgery’ Publication
Supplement to Graffius' 'Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts' Research: Typical Engagement Distribution Pattern for Social Media Posts
How Algorithms Shape the User Experience on Social Media Platforms
Thinkers360 Named Scott M. Graffius a Top Thought Leader on Agile
More articles are listed here.
Graffius, S. M. (2026, March 4). Thinkers360 Honors Scott M. Graffius as a 2026 Top Agile Thought Leader. ScottGraffius.com. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.18793.15200
https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.18793.15200
Names, marks, and content are the property of their respective owners.
This article includes brief excerpts from Thinkers360, attributed and used under fair use for news reporting and analysis.
Thinkers360 name and mark are the property of Thinkers360.
If there are any supplements or updates to this article after the date of publication, they will appear here.
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.
Graffius, S. M. (2026, March 4). Thinkers360 Honors Scott M. Graffius as a 2026 Top Agile Thought Leader. ScottGraffius.com. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.18793.15200
Agile Thought Leader and Influencer
Scott M. Graffius has earned recognition as a leading global thought leader and influencer on Agile in Thinkers360's 2026 annual ranking, which is determined by the platform's patented algorithm that measures impact through articles, books, speaking engagements, and other contributions. This accolade highlights his influential work in advancing Agile, AI-integrated project management, and high performing teams (both human and human-AI, including the "exotic team dynamics" which emerge when agentic, autonomous, or autopoietic artificial intelligence collaborates as a teammate).
The honor reflects his dedication to providing actionable insights that empower organizations to thrive in the face of challenges and drive meaningful results. This achievement celebrates the vital role of thought leadership in evolving Agile methodologies and shaping successful outcomes worldwide.
Excerpts from Thinkers360 are shown below.
Next is the bibliography, which includes links to sources. It's followed by additional information on Thinkers360 and Graffius.
Bibliography
This is the select bibliography.
Graffius, S. M. (n.d.). Speaker. ScottGraffius.com. https://scottgraffius.com/publicspeaker.html
Graffius, S. M. (n.d.). Thought Leader. ScottGraffius.com. https://scottgraffius.com/thoughtleaderandinfluencer.html
Graffius, S. M. (2016). Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions. CreateSpace.
Graffius, S. 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. CreateSpace.
Graffius, S. M. (2025). Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum. Amazon Digital Services.
Graffius, S. M. (2025, June 2). Meta and Anduril’s EagleEye and the Future of XR: How Gaming, AI, and Agile Are Transforming Defense. ScottGraffius.com. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.26938.45766
Graffius, S. 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. ScottGraffius.com. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.27667.95527
Graffius, S. M. (2025, November 13). Scott M. Graffius Contributed to and Reviewed the PMBOK Guide, 8th Edition — the Global Standard for Project Management. ScottGraffius.com. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.25557.69601
Graffius, S. M. (2026, January 3). Scott M. Graffius' Phases of Team Development - Applied to Human Teams and Human-AI Teams: 2026 Update. ScottGraffius.com. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.18184.89601
Thinkers360. (2026, March 2). Congrats to the Top 50 Global Thought Leaders and Influencers on Agile 2026! [LinkedIn post]. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/thinkers360_agile-thoughtleadership-influencers-activity-7434611000403718144-9iJK
Thinkers360. (2026, March 2). Top 50 global thought leaders and influencers on agile 2026. Thinkers360. https://www.thinkers360.com/top-50-global-thought-leaders-and-influencers-on-agile-2026/
Additional content is available here.
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. The platform's approach to rating factors each candidate’s diverse contributions and content such as articles, books, media coverage, podcasts, social media, speaking events, videos, and more. Thinkers360 has over 100 million followers on social media combined.
About Scott M. Graffius
Scott M. Graffius is a strategic transformation leader who drives AI, Agile, and broader business and technology initiatives to deliver measurable value across projects, programs, portfolios, and PMOs. He is an expert in the teamwork tradecraft of both human and human-AI teams, including the “exotic team dynamics” that emerge. He is also an authority on the temporal patterns of social media, including the half-life of audience engagement.
He’s a practitioner, researcher, thought leader, award-winning author, and keynote speaker who’s taken the stage at 96 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 97 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
Graffius is a renowned authority on teamwork tradecraft. Informed by the research of Bruce W. Tuckman and Mary Ann C. Jensen, over 150 subsequent studies, and Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property 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. In 2026, Graffius added human-AI teamwork—including the "exotic team dynamics" which emerge when advanced AI collaborates as a teammate—to his "Phases of Team Development."
The 2026 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 Fast Company, GoDaddy, Journal of Hand Surgery (European Volume), Ministère de la Culture (French Ministry of Culture), Pinterest Inc., PNAS, and Telecommunications Policy, among others—his research exemplifies methodological rigor and sustained significance in the field of digital informatics.
The 2026 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.
Discover Scott’s Books
- Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions — Deliver Products in Short Cycles with Rapid Adaptation to Change, Fast Time-to-Market, and Continuous Improvement
- 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
- Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum
Connect with and follow Scott on LinkedIn, X, YouTube, Facebook, Threads, Bluesky, Mastodon, and ResearchGate.
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List of Additional Articles
You may be interested in these stories.
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Thinkers360 Named Scott M. Graffius a Top Thought Leader on Agile
More articles are listed here.
How to Cite This Article
Graffius, S. M. (2026, March 4). Thinkers360 Honors Scott M. Graffius as a 2026 Top Agile Thought Leader. ScottGraffius.com. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.18793.15200
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.18793.15200
Content Acknowledgements
Names, marks, and content are the property of their respective owners.
This article includes brief excerpts from Thinkers360, attributed and used under fair use for news reporting and analysis.
Thinkers360 name and mark are the property of Thinkers360.
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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.
Agile's Journey Through the Decades: Update for 2026
03 March 2026
BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com
Graffius, S. M. (2026, March 3). Agile's Journey Through the Decades: Update for 2026. ScottGraffius.com. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.15437.70883
On February 21, 2025, Scott M. Graffius published "Agile's Journey Through the Decades" along with the "Agile's History, Visualized" infographic, chronicling key milestones in the evolution of Agile.
Fast-forward to March 3, 2026: the Project Management Institute (PMI) and the Agile Alliance jointly released the Manifesto for Enterprise Agility. It’s a significant milestone that advances Agile. What started as practices focused on teams and individual projects now explicitly extends to the entire enterprise. The new manifesto provides a values-based foundation for scaling adaptability amid constant disruption and accelerating technological change.
It articulates four core enterprise-level values and supporting principles designed to help leaders bridge the persistent strategy-execution gap frequently cited by C-suite executives. The focus shifts from rigid plans and functional silos toward purpose-driven alignment, shared outcomes, and human-centric adaptability. Rather than prescribing a specific framework, it emphasizes leadership behaviors, decision-making guardrails, adaptive funding models, and decentralized authority. That enables organizations to become more resilient, responsive, and culturally agile.
This development elevates agility from a localized team or project practice to a strategic organizational capability, offering practitioners and executives a practical compass for embedding agility into culture, governance, operating models, and leadership itself.
In consideration of this milestone, which was timed closely with the 25th anniversary of the Agile Manifesto (2001), Graffius has updated his original (2025) article, "Agile's Journey Through the Decades," and its companion infographic visual, "Agile's History, Visualized." This is the refreshed article, and the revised visual is shown below.
The 1950s
The 1960s
The 1970s
[Agile took a Disco Nap]
The 1980s
The 1990s
The 2000s
The 2010s
The 2020s
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." The visual is shown below, and a high-resolution PDF of it is here.
Graffius, S. M. (2025, February 21). Agile's Journey Through the Decades. ScottGraffius.com. https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/agile's-journey-through-the-decades.html
Graffius, S. M. (2025, February 23). Agile's Journey Through the Decades [LinkedIn article]. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/agiles-journey-through-decades-scott-m-graffius-rifdc/
Le Manh, P. [@pierre-le-manh-3a4158]. (2025, March 3). Today PMI Agile Alliance is publishing the Manifesto for Enterprise Agility… [LinkedIn post]. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/pierre-le-manh-3a4158_enterprise-agile-manifesto-short-activity-7434459656221167616-Xdhj
Project Management Institute. (2026, March 3). Manifesto for Enterprise Agility. Project Management Institute (PMI). https://www.pmi.org/learning/agile/manifesto-for-enterprise-agility
Scott M. Graffius is a strategic transformation leader who drives AI, Agile, and broader business and technology initiatives to deliver measurable value across projects, programs, portfolios, and PMOs. He is an expert in the teamwork tradecraft of both human and human-AI teams, including the “exotic team dynamics” that emerge. He is also an authority on the temporal patterns of social media, including the half-life of audience engagement.
He’s a practitioner, researcher, thought leader, award-winning author, and keynote speaker who’s taken the stage at 96 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.
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 97 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:
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:
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 150 subsequent studies, and Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property 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. In 2026, Graffius added human-AI teamwork—including the "exotic team dynamics" which emerge when advanced AI collaborates as a teammate—to his "Phases of Team Development."
The 2026 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 Fast Company, GoDaddy, Journal of Hand Surgery (European Volume), Ministère de la Culture (French Ministry of Culture), Pinterest Inc., PNAS, and Telecommunications Policy, among others—his research exemplifies methodological rigor and sustained significance in the field of digital informatics.
The 2026 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:
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.
Discover Scott’s Books
Connect with and follow Scott on LinkedIn, X, YouTube, Facebook, Threads, Bluesky, Mastodon, and ResearchGate.
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More articles are listed here.
Graffius, S. M. (2026, March 3). Agile's Journey Through the Decades: Update for 2026. ScottGraffius.com. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.15437.70883
https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.15437.70883
Names, marks, and content are the property of their respective owners.
If there are any supplements or updates to this article after the date of publication, they will appear here.
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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.
Graffius, S. M. (2026, March 3). Agile's Journey Through the Decades: Update for 2026. ScottGraffius.com. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.15437.70883
Introduction
On February 21, 2025, Scott M. Graffius published "Agile's Journey Through the Decades" along with the "Agile's History, Visualized" infographic, chronicling key milestones in the evolution of Agile.
Fast-forward to March 3, 2026: the Project Management Institute (PMI) and the Agile Alliance jointly released the Manifesto for Enterprise Agility. It’s a significant milestone that advances Agile. What started as practices focused on teams and individual projects now explicitly extends to the entire enterprise. The new manifesto provides a values-based foundation for scaling adaptability amid constant disruption and accelerating technological change.
It articulates four core enterprise-level values and supporting principles designed to help leaders bridge the persistent strategy-execution gap frequently cited by C-suite executives. The focus shifts from rigid plans and functional silos toward purpose-driven alignment, shared outcomes, and human-centric adaptability. Rather than prescribing a specific framework, it emphasizes leadership behaviors, decision-making guardrails, adaptive funding models, and decentralized authority. That enables organizations to become more resilient, responsive, and culturally agile.
This development elevates agility from a localized team or project practice to a strategic organizational capability, offering practitioners and executives a practical compass for embedding agility into culture, governance, operating models, and leadership itself.
In consideration of this milestone, which was timed closely with the 25th anniversary of the Agile Manifesto (2001), Graffius has updated his original (2025) article, "Agile's Journey Through the Decades," and its companion infographic visual, "Agile's History, Visualized." This is the refreshed article, and the revised visual is shown below.
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
- 2010: Dean Leffingwell and Drew Jemilo introduced the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe), designed for enterprise-level Agile adoption.
The 2020s
- 2026: Project Management Institute (PMI) and Agile Alliance jointly released the Manifesto for Enterprise Agility.
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." The visual is shown below, and a high-resolution PDF of it is here.
Bibliography
Graffius, S. M. (2025, February 21). Agile's Journey Through the Decades. ScottGraffius.com. https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/agile's-journey-through-the-decades.html
Graffius, S. M. (2025, February 23). Agile's Journey Through the Decades [LinkedIn article]. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/agiles-journey-through-decades-scott-m-graffius-rifdc/
Le Manh, P. [@pierre-le-manh-3a4158]. (2025, March 3). Today PMI Agile Alliance is publishing the Manifesto for Enterprise Agility… [LinkedIn post]. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/pierre-le-manh-3a4158_enterprise-agile-manifesto-short-activity-7434459656221167616-Xdhj
Project Management Institute. (2026, March 3). Manifesto for Enterprise Agility. Project Management Institute (PMI). https://www.pmi.org/learning/agile/manifesto-for-enterprise-agility
About Scott M. Graffius
Scott M. Graffius is a strategic transformation leader who drives AI, Agile, and broader business and technology initiatives to deliver measurable value across projects, programs, portfolios, and PMOs. He is an expert in the teamwork tradecraft of both human and human-AI teams, including the “exotic team dynamics” that emerge. He is also an authority on the temporal patterns of social media, including the half-life of audience engagement.
He’s a practitioner, researcher, thought leader, award-winning author, and keynote speaker who’s taken the stage at 96 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 97 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
Graffius is a renowned authority on teamwork tradecraft. Informed by the research of Bruce W. Tuckman and Mary Ann C. Jensen, over 150 subsequent studies, and Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property 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. In 2026, Graffius added human-AI teamwork—including the "exotic team dynamics" which emerge when advanced AI collaborates as a teammate—to his "Phases of Team Development."
The 2026 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 Fast Company, GoDaddy, Journal of Hand Surgery (European Volume), Ministère de la Culture (French Ministry of Culture), Pinterest Inc., PNAS, and Telecommunications Policy, among others—his research exemplifies methodological rigor and sustained significance in the field of digital informatics.
The 2026 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.
Discover Scott’s Books
- Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions — Deliver Products in Short Cycles with Rapid Adaptation to Change, Fast Time-to-Market, and Continuous Improvement
- 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
- Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum
Connect with and follow Scott on LinkedIn, X, YouTube, Facebook, Threads, Bluesky, Mastodon, and ResearchGate.
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List of Additional Articles
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University of Greenwich Features Graffius' Phases of Team Development
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Are AI Hallucinations Getting Better or Worse? We Analyzed the Data
Scott M. Graffius' Phases of Team Development - Applied to Human Teams and Human-AI Teams: 2026 Update
Lessons from Yesterday’s Tomorrowland
Scott M. Graffius’ Update to His "Phases of Team Development” Coming Early 2026
A Data-Driven Analysis of the Evolution of Project Management: Tasks, Trends, and AI
Actionable Insights. Global Impact. Scott M. Graffius.
Beep Beep! Why Wile E. Coyote Is the Patron Saint of AI Failure
Social Media Half-Life Research Cited in Prestigious Peer-Reviewed Medical Journal
Navigating the Spectrum of Advanced AI – Agentic, Autonomous, and Autopoietic
Lessons from Unhinged AI in Fiction: What Rogue AIs in Sci-Fi Storytelling, Films, and TV Shows Reveal About Us
Scott M. Graffius Contributed to and Reviewed the PMBOK Guide, 8th Edition — the Global Standard for Project Management
UK Sports Institute Features Teamwork and Leadership Work of Scott M. Graffius
Definitions of Advanced AIs: Agentic, Autonomous, and Autopoietic
HAN University of Applied Sciences Features the Work of Scott M. Graffius
Gifts That Inspire Joy
Evergreen Echoes: How Pinterest Inc. and Pinterest Japan Spotlighted Scott M. Graffius’ Research on the Half-Life of Social Media Content
Scott M. Graffius’ Team Development Work Lights Up the University of Tasmania’s Curriculum
Taiwan’s Leading Outlet for Technology and Innovation Spotlights Graffius’ Research on Social Media Temporal Dynamics
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
Top Predictions of 2024, Tested in 2025
Government of Finland Agency Features Graffius' Phases of Team Development IP
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Environmental Science Journal References Scott M. Graffius’ Project Management Work
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Scott M. Graffius’ “Agile Scrum” Book Featured in a Publication of the Associação Nacional de Educação Católica do Brasil (ANEC)
Setting Direction with OKRs and Tracking Progress with KPIs: A Guide for Agile, Project Management, and Tech Teams
AI Showcase Showdown: Ranking AI Accuracy on Project Management Basics
BookAuthority Features “Agile Scrum” by Scott M. Graffius in “10 Agile Software Development Books That Define the Field”
Exploring Team Dynamics, Adaptability, and Creative Problem-Solving Through Felix the Cat’s Metaphorical Toolkit
Mind Games and Master Plans: How PsyOps Exploit Psychological Phenomena
The “Pants-on-Fire Index for AI”
16 Causes of Technical Debt and How to Avoid It
PMI’s Infinity AI Gets the Basics of Team Development Alarmingly and Repeatedly Wrong
Agile for Unicorns: 7 Keys to Thrive; Scott M. Graffius’ Workshop
Scott M. Graffius’ “Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions” Featured in Prestigious National Academies of Sciences Publication
Meta and Anduril’s EagleEye and the Future of XR: How Gaming, AI, and Agile Are Transforming Defense
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Hostinger Highlights Scott M. Graffius’ “Agile Protocol” Book in Feature on Software Projects
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Pinterest Inc. References Scott M. Graffius’ Research
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Thinkers360 Named Scott M. Graffius a Top Thought Leader on Agile
More articles are listed here.
How to Cite This Article
Graffius, S. M. (2026, March 3). Agile's Journey Through the Decades: Update for 2026. ScottGraffius.com. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.15437.70883
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.15437.70883
Content Acknowledgements
Names, marks, and content are the property of their respective owners.
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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.
BMC Software Features Content from Scott M. Graffius' Book
27 February 2026
BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com
Graffius, S. M. (2026, February 27). BMC Software Features Content from Scott M. Graffius' Book. ScottGraffius.com. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.11243.40489
When a global enterprise software company quotes a publication to emphasize an important point, it signals authority and broad market relevance. BMC's article, "Software Quality Metrics Explained," features content from the award-winning book Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions by Scott M. Graffius (technical editors: Chris Hare and Colin Giffen). BMC highlighted the following excerpt from Agile Scrum: "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." An excerpt rom BMC's article is shown below.
The passage is about the danger of operating without metrics and the equal danger of being overwhelmed by too many. It captures a tension that organizations of every size wrestle with. Seeing that insight applied in the context of enterprise-scale technology reinforces that effective metrics are essential for all organizations—whether Agile or otherwise—seeking clarity, performance, and better decision-making.
See the bibliography for details including links.
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 you:
Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions 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.
BMC Software is a U.S.-based multinational enterprise IT software and services company founded in 1980 and headquartered in Houston, Texas, United States. It specializes in AI-driven infrastructure management, automation, workflow orchestration, IT service management (ITSM), and mainframe operations software, helping large organizations streamline and accelerate digital transformation across hybrid cloud environments. BMC’s portfolio includes flagship offerings such as Control-M for workload automation and mainframe transformation solutions. It serves over 10,000 global customers, with 80% of the Forbes Global 100 relying on its solutions, reflecting its deep reach and influence among the world’s largest enterprises. The company is widely recognized by industry analysts and customers alike for leadership in service orchestration and automation platforms, earning top rankings in Gartner and other independent evaluations that underscore its reputation for innovation and reliability in complex enterprise IT environments.
Graffius, S. M. (2016). Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions. North Charleston, South Carolina: CreateSpace.
Watts, S. (2020, April 21). Software quality metrics explained. BMC Software. https://www.bmc.com/blogs/software-quality-metrics/
Scott M. Graffius is a strategic transformation leader who drives AI, Agile, and broader business and technology initiatives to deliver measurable value across projects, programs, portfolios, and PMOs. He is an expert in the teamwork tradecraft of both human and human-AI teams, including the “exotic team dynamics” that emerge. He is also an authority on the temporal patterns of social media, including the half-life of audience engagement.
He’s a practitioner, researcher, thought leader, award-winning author, and keynote speaker who’s taken the stage at 96 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.
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 97 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:
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:
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 150 subsequent studies, and Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property 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. In 2026, Graffius added human-AI teamwork—including the "exotic team dynamics" which emerge when advanced AI collaborates as a teammate—to his "Phases of Team Development."
The 2026 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 Fast Company, GoDaddy, Journal of Hand Surgery (European Volume), Ministère de la Culture (French Ministry of Culture), Pinterest Inc., PNAS, and Telecommunications Policy, among others—his research exemplifies methodological rigor and sustained significance in the field of digital informatics.
The 2026 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:
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.
Discover Scott’s Books
Connect with and follow Scott on LinkedIn, X, YouTube, Facebook, Threads, Bluesky, Mastodon, and ResearchGate.
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Graffius, S. M. (2026, February 27). BMC Software Features Content from Scott M. Graffius' Book. ScottGraffius.com. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.11243.40489
https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.11243.40489
BMC’s article "Software Quality Metrics Explained" highlights content from the award-winning book Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions by Scott M. Graffius (technical editors: Chris Hare and Colin Giffen).
BMC name, mark, and content are the property of BMC Software, Inc.
This article uses limited excerpts from BMC’s respective material, attributed and used under fair use for news reporting and analysis.
Graffius’ Agile Scrum book is copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.
If there are any supplements or updates to this article after the date of publication, they will appear here.
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.
Graffius, S. M. (2026, February 27). BMC Software Features Content from Scott M. Graffius' Book. ScottGraffius.com. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.11243.40489
Metrics Drive Clarity, Accountability, and Results
When a global enterprise software company quotes a publication to emphasize an important point, it signals authority and broad market relevance. BMC's article, "Software Quality Metrics Explained," features content from the award-winning book Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions by Scott M. Graffius (technical editors: Chris Hare and Colin Giffen). BMC highlighted the following excerpt from Agile Scrum: "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." An excerpt rom BMC's article is shown below.
The passage is about the danger of operating without metrics and the equal danger of being overwhelmed by too many. It captures a tension that organizations of every size wrestle with. Seeing that insight applied in the context of enterprise-scale technology reinforces that effective metrics are essential for all organizations—whether Agile or otherwise—seeking clarity, performance, and better decision-making.
See the bibliography for details including links.
About the Award-Winning Agile Scrum Book
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 you:
- 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: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions 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.
About BMC Software
BMC Software is a U.S.-based multinational enterprise IT software and services company founded in 1980 and headquartered in Houston, Texas, United States. It specializes in AI-driven infrastructure management, automation, workflow orchestration, IT service management (ITSM), and mainframe operations software, helping large organizations streamline and accelerate digital transformation across hybrid cloud environments. BMC’s portfolio includes flagship offerings such as Control-M for workload automation and mainframe transformation solutions. It serves over 10,000 global customers, with 80% of the Forbes Global 100 relying on its solutions, reflecting its deep reach and influence among the world’s largest enterprises. The company is widely recognized by industry analysts and customers alike for leadership in service orchestration and automation platforms, earning top rankings in Gartner and other independent evaluations that underscore its reputation for innovation and reliability in complex enterprise IT environments.
Bibliography
Graffius, S. M. (2016). Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions. North Charleston, South Carolina: CreateSpace.
Watts, S. (2020, April 21). Software quality metrics explained. BMC Software. https://www.bmc.com/blogs/software-quality-metrics/
About Scott M. Graffius
Scott M. Graffius is a strategic transformation leader who drives AI, Agile, and broader business and technology initiatives to deliver measurable value across projects, programs, portfolios, and PMOs. He is an expert in the teamwork tradecraft of both human and human-AI teams, including the “exotic team dynamics” that emerge. He is also an authority on the temporal patterns of social media, including the half-life of audience engagement.
He’s a practitioner, researcher, thought leader, award-winning author, and keynote speaker who’s taken the stage at 96 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 97 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
Graffius is a renowned authority on teamwork tradecraft. Informed by the research of Bruce W. Tuckman and Mary Ann C. Jensen, over 150 subsequent studies, and Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property 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. In 2026, Graffius added human-AI teamwork—including the "exotic team dynamics" which emerge when advanced AI collaborates as a teammate—to his "Phases of Team Development."
The 2026 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 Fast Company, GoDaddy, Journal of Hand Surgery (European Volume), Ministère de la Culture (French Ministry of Culture), Pinterest Inc., PNAS, and Telecommunications Policy, among others—his research exemplifies methodological rigor and sustained significance in the field of digital informatics.
The 2026 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.
Discover Scott’s Books
- Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions — Deliver Products in Short Cycles with Rapid Adaptation to Change, Fast Time-to-Market, and Continuous Improvement
- 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
- Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum
Connect with and follow Scott on LinkedIn, X, YouTube, Facebook, Threads, Bluesky, Mastodon, and ResearchGate.
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List of Additional Articles
You may be interested in these stories.
University of Greenwich Features Graffius' Phases of Team Development
10 Essential Agile Books: Curated Recommendations for Agile Professionals
Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts: Update for 2026
Scott M. Graffius' Research on the Half-Life of Social Media was Cited in a Peer-Reviewed Study Published in Telecommunications Policy, a Leading Academic Journal
Are AI Hallucinations Getting Better or Worse? We Analyzed the Data
Scott M. Graffius' Phases of Team Development - Applied to Human Teams and Human-AI Teams: 2026 Update
Lessons from Yesterday’s Tomorrowland
Scott M. Graffius’ Update to His "Phases of Team Development” Coming Early 2026
A Data-Driven Analysis of the Evolution of Project Management: Tasks, Trends, and AI
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Beep Beep! Why Wile E. Coyote Is the Patron Saint of AI Failure
Social Media Half-Life Research Cited in Prestigious Peer-Reviewed Medical Journal
Navigating the Spectrum of Advanced AI – Agentic, Autonomous, and Autopoietic
Lessons from Unhinged AI in Fiction: What Rogue AIs in Sci-Fi Storytelling, Films, and TV Shows Reveal About Us
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UK Sports Institute Features Teamwork and Leadership Work of Scott M. Graffius
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HAN University of Applied Sciences Features the Work of Scott M. Graffius
Gifts That Inspire Joy
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Scott M. Graffius’ Team Development Work Lights Up the University of Tasmania’s Curriculum
Taiwan’s Leading Outlet for Technology and Innovation Spotlights Graffius’ Research on Social Media Temporal Dynamics
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
Top Predictions of 2024, Tested in 2025
Government of Finland Agency Features Graffius' Phases of Team Development IP
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Environmental Science Journal References Scott M. Graffius’ Project Management Work
AI Institute of Switzerland Features Scott M. Graffius’ Work on Algorithms
Exotic Team Dynamics: The New Frontier of Human–AI Collaboration
Scott M. Graffius’ Work Featured at ACM DIS ’25
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More articles are listed here.
How to Cite This Article
Graffius, S. M. (2026, February 27). BMC Software Features Content from Scott M. Graffius' Book. ScottGraffius.com. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.11243.40489
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.11243.40489
Content Acknowledgements
BMC’s article "Software Quality Metrics Explained" highlights content from the award-winning book Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions by Scott M. Graffius (technical editors: Chris Hare and Colin Giffen).
BMC name, mark, and content are the property of BMC Software, Inc.
This article uses limited excerpts from BMC’s respective material, attributed and used under fair use for news reporting and analysis.
Graffius’ Agile Scrum book is copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.
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- Quote on Metrics
- #BMC
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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.
Peer-Reviewed Journal Cited Work of Scott M. Graffius
20 February 2026
BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com
Scott M. Graffius is a leading authority on temporal dynamics across social media platforms. His widely recognized "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts" research—first published in 2018 and updated annually—takes a data-driven look at a question marketers and creators constantly ask: How long does a post matter? The study measures the half-life of engagement—the point at which a post has received half of its total interactions (e.g., likes, shares, comments, etc.). That simple but powerful metric provides practical guidance. By understanding post half-life, professionals can make smarter decisions about when—and how often—to publish content.
The work has been cited by Fast Company, GoDaddy, Journal of Hand Surgery (European Volume), Marketing in the Metaverse, Ministère de la Culture, Pinterest, Inc., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and many others—underscoring its rigor, clarity, and ongoing relevance in digital informatics.
A visual from the now-current (2026) edition is shown below and details are available here.
Frontiers in Public Health—a highly cited multidisciplinary, peer-reviewed journal—was added to the list of organizations featuring Graffius' "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media" work. Excerpts are shown below.
See the bibliography for details including links.
Frontiers in Public Health is a multidisciplinary, peer-reviewed open-access journal published online by Frontiers Media that advances research across the full spectrum of public health, including epidemiology, health policy, environmental health, and community interventions. It employs a rigorous peer review process and is indexed in major scholarly databases such as PubMed, Scopus, and the Web of Science Social Science Citation Index. As an open-access platform, it aims to disseminate high-quality research globally to researchers, clinicians, and policymakers alike, contributing to public health knowledge and practice.
Alomair, N., Alkhaldi, G., Alsadhan, N. M., Alkasabi, R., & Alageel, S. (2024). Public perceptions of digital mental health awareness campaign in the Arab Gulf states: A qualitative thematic analysis. Frontiers in Public Health, 12, Article 1477315. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1477315
Frontiers Media SA. (n.d.). Frontiers | Publisher of peer-reviewed articles in open access journals. https://www.frontiersin.org/
Frontiers Media S.A. (n.d.). Frontiers in Public Health. Frontiers. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health
Graffius, S. M. (2026, January 23). Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts: Update for 2026. ScottGraffius.com. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.32407.43689
Scott M. Graffius is a strategic transformation leader who drives AI, Agile, and broader business and technology initiatives to deliver measurable value across projects, programs, portfolios, and PMOs. He is an expert in the teamwork tradecraft of both human and human-AI teams, including the “exotic team dynamics” that emerge. He is also an authority on the temporal patterns of social media, including the half-life of audience engagement.
He’s a practitioner, researcher, thought leader, award-winning author, and keynote speaker who’s taken the stage at 96 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.
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 97 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:
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:
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 150 subsequent studies, and Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property 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. In 2026, Graffius added human-AI teamwork—including the "exotic team dynamics" which emerge when advanced AI collaborates as a teammate—to his "Phases of Team Development."
The 2026 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 Fast Company, GoDaddy, Journal of Hand Surgery (European Volume), Ministère de la Culture (French Ministry of Culture), Pinterest Inc., PNAS, and Telecommunications Policy, among others—his research exemplifies methodological rigor and sustained significance in the field of digital informatics.
The 2026 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:
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.
Discover Scott’s Books
Connect with and follow Scott on LinkedIn, X, YouTube, Facebook, Threads, Bluesky, Mastodon, and ResearchGate.
You may be interested in these stories.
University of Greenwich Features Graffius' Phases of Team Development
10 Essential Agile Books: Curated Recommendations for Agile Professionals
Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts: Update for 2026
Scott M. Graffius' Research on the Half-Life of Social Media was Cited in a Peer-Reviewed Study Published in Telecommunications Policy, a Leading Academic Journal
Are AI Hallucinations Getting Better or Worse? We Analyzed the Data
Scott M. Graffius' Phases of Team Development - Applied to Human Teams and Human-AI Teams: 2026 Update
Lessons from Yesterday’s Tomorrowland
Scott M. Graffius’ Update to His "Phases of Team Development” Coming Early 2026
A Data-Driven Analysis of the Evolution of Project Management: Tasks, Trends, and AI
Actionable Insights. Global Impact. Scott M. Graffius.
Beep Beep! Why Wile E. Coyote Is the Patron Saint of AI Failure
Social Media Half-Life Research Cited in Prestigious Peer-Reviewed Medical Journal
Navigating the Spectrum of Advanced AI – Agentic, Autonomous, and Autopoietic
Lessons from Unhinged AI in Fiction: What Rogue AIs in Sci-Fi Storytelling, Films, and TV Shows Reveal About Us
Scott M. Graffius Contributed to and Reviewed the PMBOK Guide, 8th Edition — the Global Standard for Project Management
UK Sports Institute Features Teamwork and Leadership Work of Scott M. Graffius
Definitions of Advanced AIs: Agentic, Autonomous, and Autopoietic
HAN University of Applied Sciences Features the Work of Scott M. Graffius
Gifts That Inspire Joy
Evergreen Echoes: How Pinterest Inc. and Pinterest Japan Spotlighted Scott M. Graffius’ Research on the Half-Life of Social Media Content
Scott M. Graffius’ Team Development Work Lights Up the University of Tasmania’s Curriculum
Taiwan’s Leading Outlet for Technology and Innovation Spotlights Graffius’ Research on Social Media Temporal Dynamics
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
Top Predictions of 2024, Tested in 2025
Government of Finland Agency Features Graffius' Phases of Team Development IP
Scott M. Graffius Premieres His New "Exotic Team Dynamics: Human-AI Collaboration" Talk at Corporate Event in Las Vegas
Environmental Science Journal References Scott M. Graffius’ Project Management Work
AI Institute of Switzerland Features Scott M. Graffius’ Work on Algorithms
Exotic Team Dynamics: The New Frontier of Human–AI Collaboration
Scott M. Graffius’ Work Featured at ACM DIS ’25
Climbing the Ladder: The Head of Agile/PMO’s Organizational Proximity to the CEO is Closer Than Ever
Harness Sci-Fi and Speculative Design While Embracing Imperfection to Drive Innovation and Proactively Predict and Prepare for the Future
Scott M. Graffius’ “Agile Scrum” Book Featured in a Publication of the Associação Nacional de Educação Católica do Brasil (ANEC)
Setting Direction with OKRs and Tracking Progress with KPIs: A Guide for Agile, Project Management, and Tech Teams
AI Showcase Showdown: Ranking AI Accuracy on Project Management Basics
BookAuthority Features “Agile Scrum” by Scott M. Graffius in “10 Agile Software Development Books That Define the Field”
Exploring Team Dynamics, Adaptability, and Creative Problem-Solving Through Felix the Cat’s Metaphorical Toolkit
Mind Games and Master Plans: How PsyOps Exploit Psychological Phenomena
The “Pants-on-Fire Index for AI”
16 Causes of Technical Debt and How to Avoid It
PMI’s Infinity AI Gets the Basics of Team Development Alarmingly and Repeatedly Wrong
Agile for Unicorns: 7 Keys to Thrive; Scott M. Graffius’ Workshop
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RGPV University Adds Scott M. Graffius’ "Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions" to Its Syllabus
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Dropbox Company (Nira) Taps into Scott M. Graffius’ Expertise in Strategic Planning
Reporting Errors in a Publication: A Case Study on ‘Frontiers in Public Health’
NESEA Conference Session on Innovation Highlights Scott M. Graffius' 'Phases of Team Development'
U.S. Soccer Scores with Scott M. Graffius' Intellectual Property on Teamwork
U.S. Department of Commerce Partner (IEDC) Features Scott M. Graffius’ Intellectual Property
How Long Do Your Posts Live? AI Critiques Scott M. Graffius’ Research on the Half-Life of Social Media
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Most Valuable IT Certifications: Update for 2025
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Do Not Read This Article! An Exploration of the Streisand Effect and Other Phenomena
Scott M. Graffius' 'Phases of Team Development' was Spotlighted in Journal of Neurosurgery
Pinterest Japan Uses Graffius’ Research on Temporal Dynamics on Social Media Platforms
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EU Europass Teacher Academy Features Scott M. Graffius’ ‘Phases of Team Development’ in Leadership Training
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Constructor University 2024 Advanced Software Technology Handbook References Scott M. Graffius' Work on Team Dynamics
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SBG Neumark — Europe’s Largest Distribution Transformer Plant — Powers Up with Scott M. Graffius’ Intellectual Property
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Pinterest Inc. References Scott M. Graffius’ Research
Bournemouth University Used Scott M. Graffius’ Intellectual Property
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Supplement to Graffius' 'Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts' Research: Typical Engagement Distribution Pattern for Social Media Posts
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Thinkers360 Named Scott M. Graffius a Top Thought Leader on Agile
More articles are listed here.
Graffius, S. M. (2026, February 20). Peer-Reviewed Journal Cited Work of Scott M. Graffius. ScottGraffius.com. https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/peer-reviewed-frontiers-in-public-health-journal-cited-work-of-scott-m-graffius.html
Coming soon
Names, marks, and content are the property of their respective owners.
Scott M. Graffius' "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts" research was cited in a peer-reviewed paper published in Frontiers in Public Health.
The paper ("Public perceptions of digital mental health awareness campaign in the Arab Gulf states: a qualitative thematic analysis") is © copyright the authors (Noura Alomair, Ghadah Alkhaldi, Norah M. Alsadhan, Rawan Alkasabi, and Samah Alageel), published by Frontiers Media S.A.
Frontiers and Frontiers in Public Health name, mark, and content are the property of Frontiers Media S.A.
Graffius' "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts" research is copyright © Scott M. Graffius.
This article uses limited excerpts from the respective content, attributed and used under fair use for news reporting and analysis.
If there are any supplements or updates to this article after the date of publication, they will appear here.
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.
Temporal Engagement Across Digital Networks
Scott M. Graffius is a leading authority on temporal dynamics across social media platforms. His widely recognized "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts" research—first published in 2018 and updated annually—takes a data-driven look at a question marketers and creators constantly ask: How long does a post matter? The study measures the half-life of engagement—the point at which a post has received half of its total interactions (e.g., likes, shares, comments, etc.). That simple but powerful metric provides practical guidance. By understanding post half-life, professionals can make smarter decisions about when—and how often—to publish content.
The work has been cited by Fast Company, GoDaddy, Journal of Hand Surgery (European Volume), Marketing in the Metaverse, Ministère de la Culture, Pinterest, Inc., Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and many others—underscoring its rigor, clarity, and ongoing relevance in digital informatics.
A visual from the now-current (2026) edition is shown below and details are available here.
Frontiers References Scott M. Graffius' Research
Frontiers in Public Health—a highly cited multidisciplinary, peer-reviewed journal—was added to the list of organizations featuring Graffius' "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media" work. Excerpts are shown below.
See the bibliography for details including links.
About Frontiers in Public Health Journal
Frontiers in Public Health is a multidisciplinary, peer-reviewed open-access journal published online by Frontiers Media that advances research across the full spectrum of public health, including epidemiology, health policy, environmental health, and community interventions. It employs a rigorous peer review process and is indexed in major scholarly databases such as PubMed, Scopus, and the Web of Science Social Science Citation Index. As an open-access platform, it aims to disseminate high-quality research globally to researchers, clinicians, and policymakers alike, contributing to public health knowledge and practice.
Bibliography
Alomair, N., Alkhaldi, G., Alsadhan, N. M., Alkasabi, R., & Alageel, S. (2024). Public perceptions of digital mental health awareness campaign in the Arab Gulf states: A qualitative thematic analysis. Frontiers in Public Health, 12, Article 1477315. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2024.1477315
Frontiers Media SA. (n.d.). Frontiers | Publisher of peer-reviewed articles in open access journals. https://www.frontiersin.org/
Frontiers Media S.A. (n.d.). Frontiers in Public Health. Frontiers. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health
Graffius, S. M. (2026, January 23). Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts: Update for 2026. ScottGraffius.com. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.32407.43689
About Scott M. Graffius
Scott M. Graffius is a strategic transformation leader who drives AI, Agile, and broader business and technology initiatives to deliver measurable value across projects, programs, portfolios, and PMOs. He is an expert in the teamwork tradecraft of both human and human-AI teams, including the “exotic team dynamics” that emerge. He is also an authority on the temporal patterns of social media, including the half-life of audience engagement.
He’s a practitioner, researcher, thought leader, award-winning author, and keynote speaker who’s taken the stage at 96 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 97 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
Graffius is a renowned authority on teamwork tradecraft. Informed by the research of Bruce W. Tuckman and Mary Ann C. Jensen, over 150 subsequent studies, and Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property 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. In 2026, Graffius added human-AI teamwork—including the "exotic team dynamics" which emerge when advanced AI collaborates as a teammate—to his "Phases of Team Development."
The 2026 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 Fast Company, GoDaddy, Journal of Hand Surgery (European Volume), Ministère de la Culture (French Ministry of Culture), Pinterest Inc., PNAS, and Telecommunications Policy, among others—his research exemplifies methodological rigor and sustained significance in the field of digital informatics.
The 2026 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.
Discover Scott’s Books
- Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions — Deliver Products in Short Cycles with Rapid Adaptation to Change, Fast Time-to-Market, and Continuous Improvement
- 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
- Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum
Connect with and follow Scott on LinkedIn, X, YouTube, Facebook, Threads, Bluesky, Mastodon, and ResearchGate.
Sign up for Miro—it's free!
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List of Additional Articles
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How to Cite This Article
Graffius, S. M. (2026, February 20). Peer-Reviewed Journal Cited Work of Scott M. Graffius. ScottGraffius.com. https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/peer-reviewed-frontiers-in-public-health-journal-cited-work-of-scott-m-graffius.html
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
Coming soon
Content Acknowledgements
Names, marks, and content are the property of their respective owners.
Scott M. Graffius' "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts" research was cited in a peer-reviewed paper published in Frontiers in Public Health.
The paper ("Public perceptions of digital mental health awareness campaign in the Arab Gulf states: a qualitative thematic analysis") is © copyright the authors (Noura Alomair, Ghadah Alkhaldi, Norah M. Alsadhan, Rawan Alkasabi, and Samah Alageel), published by Frontiers Media S.A.
Frontiers and Frontiers in Public Health name, mark, and content are the property of Frontiers Media S.A.
Graffius' "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts" research is copyright © Scott M. Graffius.
This article uses limited excerpts from the respective content, attributed and used under fair use for news reporting and analysis.
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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.
University of Waterloo Features Graffius' "Phases of Team Development" in Course Materials
17 February 2026
BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com
Graffius, S. M. (2026, February 175). University of Waterloo Features Graffius' "Phases of Team Development" in Course Materials. ScottGraffius.com. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.23551.88482
The University of Waterloo features Scott M. Graffius' "Phases of Team Development" material on teamwork tradecraft in its Computer Science course - CS 346. Excerpts are shown below.
Informed by the research of Bruce W. Tuckman and Mary Ann C. Jensen, over 150 subsequent studies, and Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property 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. Leaders can apply the actionable insights to help advance the effectiveness and success of teams.
It has been adopted and relied upon by esteemed organizations, such as Adobe, Bayer, Boston University, Broadcom, Cisco, DevOps Institute, Finland Government, Hasso-Plattner-Institut für Digital Engineering GmbH, IEEE, Johns Hopkins University, Journal of Neurosurgery, Mary Raum (Professor of National Security Affairs, United States Naval War College), Microsoft, New Zealand Government, Oracle, Technical University of Munich, Tufts University, U.S. National Park Service, UCSD, Yale University, and many more.
In 2026, Graffius added human-AI teamwork—including the "exotic team dynamics" which emerge when advanced AI (agentic, autonomous, or autopoietic) collaborates as a teammate. A visual from the current (2026) edition is shown below and details are here.
Graffius, S. M. (2026, January 3). Scott M. Graffius' Phases of Team Development - Applied to Human Teams and Human-AI Teams: 2026 Update. ScottGraffius.com. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.18184.89601
University of Waterloo. (2026). Home | University of Waterloo. https://uwaterloo.ca/
University of Waterloo. (2026). Teamwork. CS 346 Winter 2026: Best practices. https://student.cs.uwaterloo.ca/~cs346/1261/reference/best-practices/teamwork/
The University of Waterloo is a leading research-intensive public university in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, known globally for its innovation, entrepreneurship, and experiential learning. Founded in 1957 with a focus on co-operative education, Waterloo has grown from a small engineering school into a vibrant institution of more than 42,000 students and a network of over 260,000 alumni in 160 countries, attracting world-class scholars across disciplines. Its hallmark co-op program — the largest of its kind — blends academic study with real-world work experience through partnerships with thousands of employers, giving students a competitive edge in the job market. Waterloo also fosters cutting-edge research excellence, from quantum computing and nanotechnology to interdisciplinary environments addressing global challenges. Today, Waterloo continues to build on its strengths in research, co-op education, and innovation.
Scott M. Graffius is a strategic transformation leader who drives AI, Agile, and broader business and technology initiatives to deliver measurable value across projects, programs, portfolios, and PMOs. He is an expert in the teamwork tradecraft of both human and human-AI teams, including the “exotic team dynamics” that emerge. He is also an authority on the temporal patterns of social media, including the half-life of audience engagement.
He’s a practitioner, researcher, thought leader, award-winning author, and keynote speaker who’s taken the stage at 97 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.
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 96 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:
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:
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 150 subsequent studies, and Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property 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. In 2026, Graffius added human-AI teamwork—including the "exotic team dynamics" which emerge when advanced AI collaborates as a teammate—to his "Phases of Team Development."
The 2026 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 Fast Company, GoDaddy, Journal of Hand Surgery (European Volume), Ministère de la Culture (French Ministry of Culture), Pinterest Inc., PNAS, and Telecommunications Policy, among others—his research exemplifies methodological rigor and sustained significance in the field of digital informatics.
The 2026 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:
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.
Discover Scott’s Books
Connect with and follow Scott on LinkedIn, X, YouTube, Facebook, Threads, Bluesky, Mastodon, and ResearchGate.
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Graffius, S. M. (2026, February 175). University of Waterloo Features Graffius' "Phases of Team Development" in Course Materials. ScottGraffius.com. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.23551.88482
https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.23551.88482
University of Waterloo features Scott M. Graffius' "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property on teamwork tradecraft in Computer Science course - CS 346.
This article includes limited excerpts of content from the University of Waterloo, attributed and used under fair use for news reporting and analysis.
University of Waterloo name, mark, and content are the property of the University of Waterloo.
Graffius' "Phases of Team Development" is copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.
If there are any supplements or updates to this article after the date of publication, they will appear here.
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.
Graffius, S. M. (2026, February 175). University of Waterloo Features Graffius' "Phases of Team Development" in Course Materials. ScottGraffius.com. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.23551.88482
Computer Science Course Features Graffius' Work
The University of Waterloo features Scott M. Graffius' "Phases of Team Development" material on teamwork tradecraft in its Computer Science course - CS 346. Excerpts are shown below.
Graffius' "Phases of Team Development"
Informed by the research of Bruce W. Tuckman and Mary Ann C. Jensen, over 150 subsequent studies, and Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property 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. Leaders can apply the actionable insights to help advance the effectiveness and success of teams.
It has been adopted and relied upon by esteemed organizations, such as Adobe, Bayer, Boston University, Broadcom, Cisco, DevOps Institute, Finland Government, Hasso-Plattner-Institut für Digital Engineering GmbH, IEEE, Johns Hopkins University, Journal of Neurosurgery, Mary Raum (Professor of National Security Affairs, United States Naval War College), Microsoft, New Zealand Government, Oracle, Technical University of Munich, Tufts University, U.S. National Park Service, UCSD, Yale University, and many more.
In 2026, Graffius added human-AI teamwork—including the "exotic team dynamics" which emerge when advanced AI (agentic, autonomous, or autopoietic) collaborates as a teammate. A visual from the current (2026) edition is shown below and details are here.
Bibliography
Graffius, S. M. (2026, January 3). Scott M. Graffius' Phases of Team Development - Applied to Human Teams and Human-AI Teams: 2026 Update. ScottGraffius.com. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.18184.89601
University of Waterloo. (2026). Home | University of Waterloo. https://uwaterloo.ca/
University of Waterloo. (2026). Teamwork. CS 346 Winter 2026: Best practices. https://student.cs.uwaterloo.ca/~cs346/1261/reference/best-practices/teamwork/
About the University of Waterloo
The University of Waterloo is a leading research-intensive public university in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, known globally for its innovation, entrepreneurship, and experiential learning. Founded in 1957 with a focus on co-operative education, Waterloo has grown from a small engineering school into a vibrant institution of more than 42,000 students and a network of over 260,000 alumni in 160 countries, attracting world-class scholars across disciplines. Its hallmark co-op program — the largest of its kind — blends academic study with real-world work experience through partnerships with thousands of employers, giving students a competitive edge in the job market. Waterloo also fosters cutting-edge research excellence, from quantum computing and nanotechnology to interdisciplinary environments addressing global challenges. Today, Waterloo continues to build on its strengths in research, co-op education, and innovation.
About Scott M. Graffius
Scott M. Graffius is a strategic transformation leader who drives AI, Agile, and broader business and technology initiatives to deliver measurable value across projects, programs, portfolios, and PMOs. He is an expert in the teamwork tradecraft of both human and human-AI teams, including the “exotic team dynamics” that emerge. He is also an authority on the temporal patterns of social media, including the half-life of audience engagement.
He’s a practitioner, researcher, thought leader, award-winning author, and keynote speaker who’s taken the stage at 97 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 96 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
Graffius is a renowned authority on teamwork tradecraft. Informed by the research of Bruce W. Tuckman and Mary Ann C. Jensen, over 150 subsequent studies, and Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property 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. In 2026, Graffius added human-AI teamwork—including the "exotic team dynamics" which emerge when advanced AI collaborates as a teammate—to his "Phases of Team Development."
The 2026 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 Fast Company, GoDaddy, Journal of Hand Surgery (European Volume), Ministère de la Culture (French Ministry of Culture), Pinterest Inc., PNAS, and Telecommunications Policy, among others—his research exemplifies methodological rigor and sustained significance in the field of digital informatics.
The 2026 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.
Discover Scott’s Books
- Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions — Deliver Products in Short Cycles with Rapid Adaptation to Change, Fast Time-to-Market, and Continuous Improvement
- 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
- Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum
Connect with and follow Scott on LinkedIn, X, YouTube, Facebook, Threads, Bluesky, Mastodon, and ResearchGate.
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List of Additional Articles
You may be interested in these stories.
University of Greenwich Features Graffius' Phases of Team Development
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Scott M. Graffius' Research on the Half-Life of Social Media was Cited in a Peer-Reviewed Study Published in Telecommunications Policy, a Leading Academic Journal
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Scott M. Graffius' Phases of Team Development - Applied to Human Teams and Human-AI Teams: 2026 Update
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Scott M. Graffius’ Update to His "Phases of Team Development” Coming Early 2026
A Data-Driven Analysis of the Evolution of Project Management: Tasks, Trends, and AI
Actionable Insights. Global Impact. Scott M. Graffius.
Beep Beep! Why Wile E. Coyote Is the Patron Saint of AI Failure
Social Media Half-Life Research Cited in Prestigious Peer-Reviewed Medical Journal
Navigating the Spectrum of Advanced AI – Agentic, Autonomous, and Autopoietic
Lessons from Unhinged AI in Fiction: What Rogue AIs in Sci-Fi Storytelling, Films, and TV Shows Reveal About Us
Scott M. Graffius Contributed to and Reviewed the PMBOK Guide, 8th Edition — the Global Standard for Project Management
UK Sports Institute Features Teamwork and Leadership Work of Scott M. Graffius
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HAN University of Applied Sciences Features the Work of Scott M. Graffius
Gifts That Inspire Joy
Evergreen Echoes: How Pinterest Inc. and Pinterest Japan Spotlighted Scott M. Graffius’ Research on the Half-Life of Social Media Content
Scott M. Graffius’ Team Development Work Lights Up the University of Tasmania’s Curriculum
Taiwan’s Leading Outlet for Technology and Innovation Spotlights Graffius’ Research on Social Media Temporal Dynamics
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
Top Predictions of 2024, Tested in 2025
Government of Finland Agency Features Graffius' Phases of Team Development IP
Scott M. Graffius Premieres His New "Exotic Team Dynamics: Human-AI Collaboration" Talk at Corporate Event in Las Vegas
Environmental Science Journal References Scott M. Graffius’ Project Management Work
AI Institute of Switzerland Features Scott M. Graffius’ Work on Algorithms
Exotic Team Dynamics: The New Frontier of Human–AI Collaboration
Scott M. Graffius’ Work Featured at ACM DIS ’25
Climbing the Ladder: The Head of Agile/PMO’s Organizational Proximity to the CEO is Closer Than Ever
Harness Sci-Fi and Speculative Design While Embracing Imperfection to Drive Innovation and Proactively Predict and Prepare for the Future
Scott M. Graffius’ “Agile Scrum” Book Featured in a Publication of the Associação Nacional de Educação Católica do Brasil (ANEC)
Setting Direction with OKRs and Tracking Progress with KPIs: A Guide for Agile, Project Management, and Tech Teams
AI Showcase Showdown: Ranking AI Accuracy on Project Management Basics
BookAuthority Features “Agile Scrum” by Scott M. Graffius in “10 Agile Software Development Books That Define the Field”
Exploring Team Dynamics, Adaptability, and Creative Problem-Solving Through Felix the Cat’s Metaphorical Toolkit
Mind Games and Master Plans: How PsyOps Exploit Psychological Phenomena
The “Pants-on-Fire Index for AI”
16 Causes of Technical Debt and How to Avoid It
PMI’s Infinity AI Gets the Basics of Team Development Alarmingly and Repeatedly Wrong
Agile for Unicorns: 7 Keys to Thrive; Scott M. Graffius’ Workshop
Scott M. Graffius’ “Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions” Featured in Prestigious National Academies of Sciences Publication
Meta and Anduril’s EagleEye and the Future of XR: How Gaming, AI, and Agile Are Transforming Defense
"Agile Protocol" and the Power of Satire, Parody, and Humor
AI in Agile: Benefits, Risks, Outlook
Hostinger Highlights Scott M. Graffius’ “Agile Protocol” Book in Feature on Software Projects
French Ministry of Culture Links to Scott M. Graffius Research in Their Guide for Responsible Digital Communication
National Science Foundation’s LTER Network Features Scott M. Graffius’ Phases of Team Development IP
Waterfall vs. Agile: What’s Fixed, What’s Flexible, and Why It Matters
Scott M. Graffius Delivering $2.3 Billion in Value Through AI, Agile, and Project/PMO Leadership
The Problem with Heroes in Agile
The 3 Vital Rules of Science: What They Are and Why They Matter
“Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum” Lands on the Amazon Best Sellers List!
Scott M. Graffius Recognized as a Top Thought Leader in Digital Disruption by Thinkers360
“Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum” by Scott M. Graffius Crashes the Book Scene with Satirical Firepower
NCKU in Taiwan Integrates Graffius' 'Phases of Team Development' into Its Curriculum
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RGPV University Adds Scott M. Graffius’ "Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions" to Its Syllabus
Introducing ‘Engage or Fade: Decoding the Half-Life of Digital Resonance’ – A New Talk by Scott M. Graffius
Dropbox Company (Nira) Taps into Scott M. Graffius’ Expertise in Strategic Planning
Reporting Errors in a Publication: A Case Study on ‘Frontiers in Public Health’
NESEA Conference Session on Innovation Highlights Scott M. Graffius' 'Phases of Team Development'
U.S. Soccer Scores with Scott M. Graffius' Intellectual Property on Teamwork
U.S. Department of Commerce Partner (IEDC) Features Scott M. Graffius’ Intellectual Property
How Long Do Your Posts Live? AI Critiques Scott M. Graffius’ Research on the Half-Life of Social Media
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Most Valuable IT Certifications: Update for 2025
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Do Not Read This Article! An Exploration of the Streisand Effect and Other Phenomena
Scott M. Graffius' 'Phases of Team Development' was Spotlighted in Journal of Neurosurgery
Pinterest Japan Uses Graffius’ Research on Temporal Dynamics on Social Media Platforms
Hochschule Coburg (Coburg University) Germany Uses Scott M. Graffius’ Phases of Team Development IP in Coursework on Agile Development
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EU Europass Teacher Academy Features Scott M. Graffius’ ‘Phases of Team Development’ in Leadership Training
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Strategies for Medical Team Success Featured Scott M. Graffius’ ‘Phases of Team Development’ Intellectual Property
SBG Neumark — Europe’s Largest Distribution Transformer Plant — Powers Up with Scott M. Graffius’ Intellectual Property
Scott M. Graffius’ Intellectual Property was Employed by the NHS — the Largest Single-Payer Healthcare System in Europe
Luxury Unwrapped: The Ultimate Holiday Gift Guide for Every Budget
Singapore Institute of Technology Features Work of Scott M. Graffius
Tufts University Features Scott M. Graffius 'Phases of Team Development' Intellectual Property
'Cat Herders': Retelling the Massive Success Story
Pennsylvania State Agency Used Scott M. Graffius' Intellectual Property
Copyright Infringement in a Book Published by AuthorHouse / Author Solutions / The Najafi Companies: Publisher Fails to Respond or Take Required Action
Pinterest Inc. References Scott M. Graffius’ Research
Bournemouth University Used Scott M. Graffius’ Intellectual Property
‘Comparative Methodological Guidelines: Handbook for Educators’ Violates Scott M. Graffius’ Copyright
Japan Backlog User Group Event Featured Scott M. Graffius’ ‘Phases of Team Development’
TurningWest's 'Trial'
Radio Silence from the American Association of Neurological Surgeons on Report of Blatant Plagiarism in Their ‘Journal of Neurosurgery’ Publication
Supplement to Graffius' 'Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts' Research: Typical Engagement Distribution Pattern for Social Media Posts
How Algorithms Shape the User Experience on Social Media Platforms
Thinkers360 Named Scott M. Graffius a Top Thought Leader on Agile
More articles are listed here.
How to Cite This Article
Graffius, S. M. (2026, February 175). University of Waterloo Features Graffius' "Phases of Team Development" in Course Materials. ScottGraffius.com. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.23551.88482
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.23551.88482
Content Acknowledgements
University of Waterloo features Scott M. Graffius' "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property on teamwork tradecraft in Computer Science course - CS 346.
This article includes limited excerpts of content from the University of Waterloo, attributed and used under fair use for news reporting and analysis.
University of Waterloo name, mark, and content are the property of the University of Waterloo.
Graffius' "Phases of Team Development" is copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.
Tags and Hashtags
- Phases of Team Development
- Scott M. Graffius
- University of Waterloo
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- Team Dynamics, Development, and Leadership
- Teamwork Tradecraft
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- #TeamDevelopment
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- #Leadership
- #Innovation
- #PhasesOfTeamDevelopment
- #Innovation
- #Teamwork
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.
Perplexity Standalone Article on AI Hallucinations Cites Research by Scott M. Graffius
15 February 2026
BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com
Graffius, S. M. (2026, February 15). Perplexity Standalone Article on AI Hallucinations Cites Research by Scott M. Graffius. ScottGraffius.com. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.16840.99847
Founded in 2022, Perplexity is an AI-powered search and conversational answer platform designed to streamline information discovery by delivering concise, up-to-date responses grounded in web data and supported with citations.
Perplexity also publishes standalone articles on specific topics. It included Scott M. Graffius' research—"Are AI Hallucinations Getting Better or Worse? We Analyzed the Data"—among the sources cited in its standalone article on the subject. Excerpts are shown below.
Details including links are in the Bibliography section.
Perplexity consistently ranks among the top 10 most popular generative AI tools based on web traffic and usage, and within the top 5 among AI search/chat assistants (Business Insider, 2025; DataStudios, 2025; Dotdesh, 2025; Liu & Wang, 2024; Similarweb, 2025; TwinStrata, 2025).
Business Insider. (2025, October 8). Sam Altman touts ChatGPT’s 800 million weekly users, double all its main competitors combined. BusinessInsider.com. https://www.businessinsider.com/chatgpt-users-openai-sam-altman-devday-llm-artificial-intelligence-2025-10
DataStudios. (2025). Global ranking of the most popular AI chatbots by usage. DataStudios.org. https://www.datastudios.org/post/global-ranking-of-the-most-popular-ai-chatbots-by-usage
Dotdesh. (2025). 65 most popular AI tools ranked. Dotdesh.com. https://www.dotdesh.com/65-most-popular-ai-tools-ranked-october-2025/
Graffius, S. M. (2026, January 7). Are AI Hallucinations Getting Better or Worse? We Analyzed the Data. ScottGraffius.com. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.33179.53285
Liu, Y., & Wang, H. (2024). Ranked: The most popular generative AI tools in 2024. Visual Capitalist. https://www.visualcapitalist.com/ranked-the-most-popular-generative-ai-tools-in-2024/
Perplexity (2026, February 12). Study Finds Celebrated AI Model Guesses Answers, Lacks Cognition. Perplexity AI stand-alone article. https://www.perplexity.ai/page/experts-say-ai-lacks-true-huma-JfKEeQvcRhCddq0tgTAiMw
Similarweb. (2025). Top AI tools: Most used Gen‑AI in August 2025. https://www.similarweb.com/blog/marketing/seo/most-used-ai/
TwinStrata. (2025). Perplexity AI statistics 2026: Key data and trends. TwinStrata.com. https://www.twinstrata.com/perplexity-ai-statistics/
Scott M. Graffius is a strategic transformation leader who drives AI, Agile, and broader business and technology initiatives to deliver measurable value across projects, programs, portfolios, and PMOs. He is an expert in the teamwork tradecraft of both human and human-AI teams, including the “exotic team dynamics” that emerge. He is also an authority on the temporal patterns of social media, including the half-life of audience engagement.
He’s a practitioner, researcher, thought leader, award-winning author, and keynote speaker who’s taken the stage at 97 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.
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 96 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:
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:
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 150 subsequent studies, and Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property 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. In 2026, Graffius added human-AI teamwork—including the "exotic team dynamics" which emerge when advanced AI collaborates as a teammate—to his "Phases of Team Development."
The 2026 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 Fast Company, GoDaddy, Journal of Hand Surgery (European Volume), Ministère de la Culture (French Ministry of Culture), Pinterest Inc., PNAS, and Telecommunications Policy, among others—his research exemplifies methodological rigor and sustained significance in the field of digital informatics.
The 2026 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:
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.
Discover Scott’s Books
Connect with and follow Scott on LinkedIn, X, YouTube, Facebook, Threads, Bluesky, Mastodon, and ResearchGate.
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Setting Direction with OKRs and Tracking Progress with KPIs: A Guide for Agile, Project Management, and Tech Teams
AI Showcase Showdown: Ranking AI Accuracy on Project Management Basics
BookAuthority Features “Agile Scrum” by Scott M. Graffius in “10 Agile Software Development Books That Define the Field”
Exploring Team Dynamics, Adaptability, and Creative Problem-Solving Through Felix the Cat’s Metaphorical Toolkit
Mind Games and Master Plans: How PsyOps Exploit Psychological Phenomena
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"Agile Protocol" and the Power of Satire, Parody, and Humor
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More articles are listed here.
Graffius, S. M. (2026, February 15). Perplexity Standalone Article on AI Hallucinations Cites Research by Scott M. Graffius. ScottGraffius.com. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.16840.99847
https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.16840.99847
Perplexity is a generative AI search tool that produces conversational answers with citations. It also publishes standalone articles on specific topics. Perplexity cited Scott M. Graffius' "Are AI Hallucinations Getting Better or Worse? We Analyzed the Data" research among its sources for its "Study Finds Celebrated AI Model Guesses Answers, Lacks Cognition" publication.
This piece uses limited excerpts from the respective Perplexity content, attributed to Perplexity and used under fair use for news reporting and analysis.
Perplexity name, mark, and content are the property of Perplexity AI, Inc. or its affiliates or licensors.
Graffius' content is copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.
If there are any supplements or updates to this article after the date of publication, they will appear here.
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.
Graffius, S. M. (2026, February 15). Perplexity Standalone Article on AI Hallucinations Cites Research by Scott M. Graffius. ScottGraffius.com. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.16840.99847
Perplexity Standalone Article on AI Cites Graffius' Work
Founded in 2022, Perplexity is an AI-powered search and conversational answer platform designed to streamline information discovery by delivering concise, up-to-date responses grounded in web data and supported with citations.
Perplexity also publishes standalone articles on specific topics. It included Scott M. Graffius' research—"Are AI Hallucinations Getting Better or Worse? We Analyzed the Data"—among the sources cited in its standalone article on the subject. Excerpts are shown below.
Details including links are in the Bibliography section.
More About Perplexity
Perplexity consistently ranks among the top 10 most popular generative AI tools based on web traffic and usage, and within the top 5 among AI search/chat assistants (Business Insider, 2025; DataStudios, 2025; Dotdesh, 2025; Liu & Wang, 2024; Similarweb, 2025; TwinStrata, 2025).
Bibliography
Business Insider. (2025, October 8). Sam Altman touts ChatGPT’s 800 million weekly users, double all its main competitors combined. BusinessInsider.com. https://www.businessinsider.com/chatgpt-users-openai-sam-altman-devday-llm-artificial-intelligence-2025-10
DataStudios. (2025). Global ranking of the most popular AI chatbots by usage. DataStudios.org. https://www.datastudios.org/post/global-ranking-of-the-most-popular-ai-chatbots-by-usage
Dotdesh. (2025). 65 most popular AI tools ranked. Dotdesh.com. https://www.dotdesh.com/65-most-popular-ai-tools-ranked-october-2025/
Graffius, S. M. (2026, January 7). Are AI Hallucinations Getting Better or Worse? We Analyzed the Data. ScottGraffius.com. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.33179.53285
Liu, Y., & Wang, H. (2024). Ranked: The most popular generative AI tools in 2024. Visual Capitalist. https://www.visualcapitalist.com/ranked-the-most-popular-generative-ai-tools-in-2024/
Perplexity (2026, February 12). Study Finds Celebrated AI Model Guesses Answers, Lacks Cognition. Perplexity AI stand-alone article. https://www.perplexity.ai/page/experts-say-ai-lacks-true-huma-JfKEeQvcRhCddq0tgTAiMw
Similarweb. (2025). Top AI tools: Most used Gen‑AI in August 2025. https://www.similarweb.com/blog/marketing/seo/most-used-ai/
TwinStrata. (2025). Perplexity AI statistics 2026: Key data and trends. TwinStrata.com. https://www.twinstrata.com/perplexity-ai-statistics/
About Scott M. Graffius
Scott M. Graffius is a strategic transformation leader who drives AI, Agile, and broader business and technology initiatives to deliver measurable value across projects, programs, portfolios, and PMOs. He is an expert in the teamwork tradecraft of both human and human-AI teams, including the “exotic team dynamics” that emerge. He is also an authority on the temporal patterns of social media, including the half-life of audience engagement.
He’s a practitioner, researcher, thought leader, award-winning author, and keynote speaker who’s taken the stage at 97 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 96 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
Graffius is a renowned authority on teamwork tradecraft. Informed by the research of Bruce W. Tuckman and Mary Ann C. Jensen, over 150 subsequent studies, and Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property 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. In 2026, Graffius added human-AI teamwork—including the "exotic team dynamics" which emerge when advanced AI collaborates as a teammate—to his "Phases of Team Development."
The 2026 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 Fast Company, GoDaddy, Journal of Hand Surgery (European Volume), Ministère de la Culture (French Ministry of Culture), Pinterest Inc., PNAS, and Telecommunications Policy, among others—his research exemplifies methodological rigor and sustained significance in the field of digital informatics.
The 2026 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.
Discover Scott’s Books
- Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions — Deliver Products in Short Cycles with Rapid Adaptation to Change, Fast Time-to-Market, and Continuous Improvement
- 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
- Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum
Connect with and follow Scott on LinkedIn, X, YouTube, Facebook, Threads, Bluesky, Mastodon, and ResearchGate.
Sign up for Miro—it's free!
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List of Additional Articles
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University of Greenwich Features Graffius' Phases of Team Development
10 Essential Agile Books: Curated Recommendations for Agile Professionals
Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts: Update for 2026
Scott M. Graffius' Research on the Half-Life of Social Media was Cited in a Peer-Reviewed Study Published in Telecommunications Policy, a Leading Academic Journal
Are AI Hallucinations Getting Better or Worse? We Analyzed the Data
Scott M. Graffius' Phases of Team Development - Applied to Human Teams and Human-AI Teams: 2026 Update
Lessons from Yesterday’s Tomorrowland
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A Data-Driven Analysis of the Evolution of Project Management: Tasks, Trends, and AI
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Beep Beep! Why Wile E. Coyote Is the Patron Saint of AI Failure
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Navigating the Spectrum of Advanced AI – Agentic, Autonomous, and Autopoietic
Lessons from Unhinged AI in Fiction: What Rogue AIs in Sci-Fi Storytelling, Films, and TV Shows Reveal About Us
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Scott M. Graffius’ Team Development Work Lights Up the University of Tasmania’s Curriculum
Taiwan’s Leading Outlet for Technology and Innovation Spotlights Graffius’ Research on Social Media Temporal Dynamics
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
Top Predictions of 2024, Tested in 2025
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AI Institute of Switzerland Features Scott M. Graffius’ Work on Algorithms
Exotic Team Dynamics: The New Frontier of Human–AI Collaboration
Scott M. Graffius’ Work Featured at ACM DIS ’25
Climbing the Ladder: The Head of Agile/PMO’s Organizational Proximity to the CEO is Closer Than Ever
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AI Showcase Showdown: Ranking AI Accuracy on Project Management Basics
BookAuthority Features “Agile Scrum” by Scott M. Graffius in “10 Agile Software Development Books That Define the Field”
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More articles are listed here.
How to Cite This Article
Graffius, S. M. (2026, February 15). Perplexity Standalone Article on AI Hallucinations Cites Research by Scott M. Graffius. ScottGraffius.com. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.16840.99847
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.16840.99847
Content Acknowledgements
Perplexity is a generative AI search tool that produces conversational answers with citations. It also publishes standalone articles on specific topics. Perplexity cited Scott M. Graffius' "Are AI Hallucinations Getting Better or Worse? We Analyzed the Data" research among its sources for its "Study Finds Celebrated AI Model Guesses Answers, Lacks Cognition" publication.
This piece uses limited excerpts from the respective Perplexity content, attributed to Perplexity and used under fair use for news reporting and analysis.
Perplexity name, mark, and content are the property of Perplexity AI, Inc. or its affiliates or licensors.
Graffius' content is copyright © Scott M. Graffius. All rights reserved.
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- AI Hallucinations
- Perplexity AI
- AI Research Citation
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- #AI
- #AIHallucinations
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- #AIEthics
- #GenerativeAI
- #AIResearch
- #TechTrends
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.
Handling the Saboteur Within: Lessons from a 3-Letter Agency on Spotting and Stopping Intentional and Unintentional Sabotage
12 February 2026
BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com
Graffius, S. M. (2026, February 12). Handling the Saboteur Within: Lessons from a 3-Letter Agency on Spotting and Stopping Intentional and Unintentional Sabotage. ScottGraffius.com. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.34869.95200
Scott M. Graffius is a strategic transformation leader who applies his expertise in teamwork tradecraft as a practitioner, consultant, researcher, award‑winning author, and keynote speaker who has delighted audiences with talks and workshops at 96 conferences and other events across 25 countries.
This article provides an overview of his new session, "Handling the Saboteur Within: Lessons from a 3-Letter Agency on Spotting and Stopping Intentional and Unintentional Sabotage."
This will be Graffius’ 97th session.
Led by Scott M. Graffius, this engaging and interactive session explores the surprising lessons from a 3-letter agency on spotting and stopping sabotage—whether intentional or unintentional—within teams and organizations. It's informed by the speaker’s professional experience, a declassified agency manual, and more than 100 additional sources. The session covers how to identify these common issues (anti-patterns) and apply proven counter-measures (patterns) to neutralize them effectively.
Whether you're a team leader, manager, or individual contributor, "Handling the Saboteur Within: Lessons from a 3-Letter Agency on Spotting and Stopping Intentional and Unintentional Sabotage" will equip you with practical tools and insights to handle the saboteur within—advancing the effectiveness, happiness, and success of your teams.
Session delegates will learn how to:
If you want to improve the effectiveness, happiness, and success of your teams, 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.
Scott M. Graffius is a strategic transformation leader who drives AI, Agile, and broader business and technology initiatives to deliver measurable value across projects, programs, portfolios, and PMOs. He is an expert in the teamwork tradecraft of both human and human-AI teams, including the “exotic team dynamics” that emerge. He is also an authority on the temporal patterns of social media, including the half-life of audience engagement.
He’s a practitioner, researcher, thought leader, award-winning author, and keynote speaker who’s taken the stage at 96 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.
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 96 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:
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:
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 150 subsequent studies, and Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property 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. In 2026, Graffius added human-AI teamwork—including the "exotic team dynamics" which emerge when advanced AI collaborates as a teammate—to his "Phases of Team Development."
The 2026 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 Fast Company, GoDaddy, Journal of Hand Surgery (European Volume), Ministère de la Culture (French Ministry of Culture), Pinterest Inc., PNAS, and Telecommunications Policy, among others—his research exemplifies methodological rigor and sustained significance in the field of digital informatics.
The 2026 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:
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.
Discover Scott’s Books
Connect with and follow Scott on LinkedIn, X, YouTube, Facebook, Threads, Bluesky, Mastodon, and ResearchGate.
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BookAuthority Features “Agile Scrum” by Scott M. Graffius in “10 Agile Software Development Books That Define the Field”
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Hostinger Highlights Scott M. Graffius’ “Agile Protocol” Book in Feature on Software Projects
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Agile's Journey Through the Decades
Scott M. Graffius' Role in Advancing Project Management Institute (PMI) Standards Excellence
Most Valuable IT Certifications: Update for 2025
The PMI + Agile Alliance Merger: A Recipe for Success?
When Agile, AI, and Strategic Thinking Converge
Scott M. Graffius’ Phases of Team Development: 2025 Update
Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts: Update for 2025
Verizon Features Scott M. Graffius
Do Not Read This Article! An Exploration of the Streisand Effect and Other Phenomena
Scott M. Graffius' 'Phases of Team Development' was Spotlighted in Journal of Neurosurgery
Pinterest Japan Uses Graffius’ Research on Temporal Dynamics on Social Media Platforms
Hochschule Coburg (Coburg University) Germany Uses Scott M. Graffius’ Phases of Team Development IP in Coursework on Agile Development
Wild World of Team Dynamics [Updated Two-Minute Video]
EU Europass Teacher Academy Features Scott M. Graffius’ ‘Phases of Team Development’ in Leadership Training
Side-by-Side Comparison of Retrospectives and Hot Washes
Constructor University 2024 Advanced Software Technology Handbook References Scott M. Graffius' Work on Team Dynamics
Strategies for Medical Team Success Featured Scott M. Graffius’ ‘Phases of Team Development’ Intellectual Property
SBG Neumark — Europe’s Largest Distribution Transformer Plant — Powers Up with Scott M. Graffius’ Intellectual Property
Scott M. Graffius’ Intellectual Property was Employed by the NHS — the Largest Single-Payer Healthcare System in Europe
Luxury Unwrapped: The Ultimate Holiday Gift Guide for Every Budget
Singapore Institute of Technology Features Work of Scott M. Graffius
Tufts University Features Scott M. Graffius 'Phases of Team Development' Intellectual Property
'Cat Herders': Retelling the Massive Success Story
Pennsylvania State Agency Used Scott M. Graffius' Intellectual Property
Copyright Infringement in a Book Published by AuthorHouse / Author Solutions / The Najafi Companies: Publisher Fails to Respond or Take Required Action
Pinterest Inc. References Scott M. Graffius’ Research
Bournemouth University Used Scott M. Graffius’ Intellectual Property
‘Comparative Methodological Guidelines: Handbook for Educators’ Violates Scott M. Graffius’ Copyright
Japan Backlog User Group Event Featured Scott M. Graffius’ ‘Phases of Team Development’
TurningWest's 'Trial'
Radio Silence from the American Association of Neurological Surgeons on Report of Blatant Plagiarism in Their ‘Journal of Neurosurgery’ Publication
Supplement to Graffius' 'Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts' Research: Typical Engagement Distribution Pattern for Social Media Posts
How Algorithms Shape the User Experience on Social Media Platforms
Thinkers360 Named Scott M. Graffius a Top Thought Leader on Agile
More articles are listed here.
Graffius, S. M. (2026, February 12). Handling the Saboteur Within: Lessons from a 3-Letter Agency on Spotting and Stopping Intentional and Unintentional Sabotage. ScottGraffius.com. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.34869.95200
https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.34869.95200
Names, marks, and content are the property of their respective owners.
If there are any supplements or updates to this article after the date of publication, they will appear here.
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.
Graffius, S. M. (2026, February 12). Handling the Saboteur Within: Lessons from a 3-Letter Agency on Spotting and Stopping Intentional and Unintentional Sabotage. ScottGraffius.com. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.34869.95200
Introduction
Scott M. Graffius is a strategic transformation leader who applies his expertise in teamwork tradecraft as a practitioner, consultant, researcher, award‑winning author, and keynote speaker who has delighted audiences with talks and workshops at 96 conferences and other events across 25 countries.
This article provides an overview of his new session, "Handling the Saboteur Within: Lessons from a 3-Letter Agency on Spotting and Stopping Intentional and Unintentional Sabotage."
- Event: Unlisted
- Company: Unlisted
- Session delegates: Unlisted
- Date: Thursday, February 12, 2026
- Time: Unlisted
- Location: Unlisted
This will be Graffius’ 97th session.
Synopsis of "Handling the Saboteur Within: Lessons from a 3-Letter Agency on Spotting and Stopping Intentional and Unintentional Sabotage"
Led by Scott M. Graffius, this engaging and interactive session explores the surprising lessons from a 3-letter agency on spotting and stopping sabotage—whether intentional or unintentional—within teams and organizations. It's informed by the speaker’s professional experience, a declassified agency manual, and more than 100 additional sources. The session covers how to identify these common issues (anti-patterns) and apply proven counter-measures (patterns) to neutralize them effectively.
Whether you're a team leader, manager, or individual contributor, "Handling the Saboteur Within: Lessons from a 3-Letter Agency on Spotting and Stopping Intentional and Unintentional Sabotage" will equip you with practical tools and insights to handle the saboteur within—advancing the effectiveness, happiness, and success of your teams.
Three Key Learning Objectives
Session delegates will learn how to:
- Identify and differentiate intentional vs. unintentional sabotage patterns.
- Spot these patterns early and understand their impact on productivity and morale.
- Apply proven countermeasures to stop sabotage and build high-functioning teams and organizations.
Conclusion
If you want to improve the effectiveness, happiness, and success of your teams, 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.
About Scott M. Graffius
Scott M. Graffius is a strategic transformation leader who drives AI, Agile, and broader business and technology initiatives to deliver measurable value across projects, programs, portfolios, and PMOs. He is an expert in the teamwork tradecraft of both human and human-AI teams, including the “exotic team dynamics” that emerge. He is also an authority on the temporal patterns of social media, including the half-life of audience engagement.
He’s a practitioner, researcher, thought leader, award-winning author, and keynote speaker who’s taken the stage at 96 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 96 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
Graffius is a renowned authority on teamwork tradecraft. Informed by the research of Bruce W. Tuckman and Mary Ann C. Jensen, over 150 subsequent studies, and Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property 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. In 2026, Graffius added human-AI teamwork—including the "exotic team dynamics" which emerge when advanced AI collaborates as a teammate—to his "Phases of Team Development."
The 2026 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 Fast Company, GoDaddy, Journal of Hand Surgery (European Volume), Ministère de la Culture (French Ministry of Culture), Pinterest Inc., PNAS, and Telecommunications Policy, among others—his research exemplifies methodological rigor and sustained significance in the field of digital informatics.
The 2026 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.
Discover Scott’s Books
- Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions — Deliver Products in Short Cycles with Rapid Adaptation to Change, Fast Time-to-Market, and Continuous Improvement
- 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
- Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum
Connect with and follow Scott on LinkedIn, X, YouTube, Facebook, Threads, Bluesky, Mastodon, and ResearchGate.
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List of Additional Articles
You may be interested in these stories.
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More articles are listed here.
How to Cite This Article
Graffius, S. M. (2026, February 12). Handling the Saboteur Within: Lessons from a 3-Letter Agency on Spotting and Stopping Intentional and Unintentional Sabotage. ScottGraffius.com. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.34869.95200
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.34869.95200
Content Acknowledgements
Names, marks, and content are the property of their respective owners.
Tags and Hashtags
- Organizational Sabotage
- Team Productivity
- Leadership Patterns and Anti-patterns
- Workplace Dysfunction
- Intentional and Unintentional Sabotage
- Countermeasures Patterns
- High-Performing Teams
- Teamwork Tradecraft
- #Leadership
- #CounterSabotage
- #TeamDynamics
- #Productivity
- #SimpleSabotage
- #Teamwork
- #Agile
- #TeamworkTradecraft
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.
A Deep Dive Into the Typical Engagement Pattern for Social Media Posts
09 February 2026
BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com
Graffius, S. M. (2026, February 9). A Deep Dive Into the Typical Engagement Pattern for Social Media Posts. ScottGraffius.com. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.26481.34404
Social media content usually 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.
Eight years ago, Scott M. Graffius first published data on the half-life of posts on different social media networks. Because algorithms and other factors evolve, he periodically updates his work. On 23 January 2026, Graffius released the 2026 edition of his "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts" research.
Businesses, professional associations, government agencies, social media researchers, influencers, publications, and others have featured and used prior editions of the research. Select examples include BMC, Buffer, Fast Company, GoDaddy, Journal of Hand Surgery (European Volume), Maximizing LinkedIn for Business Growth, Ministère de la Culture, Pinterest, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Telecommunications Policy, World Economic Forum, and many more.
The 2026 edition covers Snapchat, TikTok, X, Facebook, Reddit, Instagram, LinkedIn, podcasts, YouTube, Pinterest, and blogs. Findings were derived from an extensive analysis of over 5,600,000 social media posts and 397 podcasts, aggregated from multiple sources, including APIs, proprietary commercial datasets, academic and research consortium databases, publicly shared datasets, governmental data repositories, and other sources.
The "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts: Update for 2026" stands out for its:
◾️ Scope (5.6 million posts),
◾️ Coverage (11 platforms),
◾️ Methodology (multi-source, representative, data-driven),
◾️ Continuity (annual updates), and
◾️ Value (actionable insights).
The following visual provides a summary of the findings, and the details are here.
The annual updates provide details, including sources, references, and an extensive list of frequently asked questions (FAQs), among other information. Additionally, Graffius occasionally provides companion pieces, such as "Supplement to Graffius' 'Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts' Research: Typical Engagement Distribution Pattern for Social Media Posts."
Graffius sat down with a scientist for an even deeper dive into the intriguing temporal patterns of engagement. Graffius is sharing highlights from that conversation in this concise supplement on his research.
The "Typical Engagement Distribution Pattern for Social Media Posts" visual above (and also shown at the top of this article) illustrates the temporal distribution of engagement (e.g., likes, comments, shares, etc.) for a typical social media post, exhibiting a positively skewed unimodal probability density function (a rate-of-engagement function over time).
Key scientifically precise characteristics include (these reflect common patterns observed across real datasets; exact fits vary by platform):
This pattern is consistent with a positively skewed, heavy-tailed, right-censored lifetime process or a non-homogeneous Poisson process with a rapidly decaying intensity function λ(t) that is highest immediately after t = 0 and then falls off sharply before asymptoting toward a very low baseline rate.
In short, the typical engagement pattern for social media posts is a positively skewed, heavy-tailed unimodal engagement-rate distribution with rapid early peaking and extended low-level tail, resulting in the majority of lifetime engagement accruing soon after posting.
To learn more, see the "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts: Update for 2026" research.
Graffius, S. M. (2024, September 30). Supplement to Graffius' 'Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts' Research: Typical Engagement Distribution Pattern for Social Media Posts. ScottGraffius.com. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.15820.22402
Graffius, S. M. (2026, January 23). Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts: Update for 2026. ScottGraffius.com. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.32407.43689
Resnick, S. I. (2007). Heavy-Tail Phenomena: Probabilistic and Statistical Modeling. Springer.
Jayakrishnan, N., Wierman, A., & Zwart, B. (2021). The Fundamentals of Heavy Tails: Properties, Emergence, and Estimation. Cambridge University Press.
Mendenhall, W., Beaver, R. J., & Beaver, B. M. (2023). Introduction to Probability and Statistics (15th Ed.). Cengage.
Scott M. Graffius is a strategic transformation leader who drives AI, Agile, and broader business and technology initiatives to deliver measurable value across projects, programs, portfolios, and PMOs. He is an expert in the teamwork tradecraft of both human and human-AI teams, including the “exotic team dynamics” that emerge. He is also an authority on the temporal patterns of social media, including the half-life of audience engagement.
He’s a practitioner, researcher, thought leader, award-winning author, and keynote speaker who’s taken the stage at 96 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.
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 96 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:
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:
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 150 subsequent studies, and Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property 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. In 2026, Graffius added human-AI teamwork—including the "exotic team dynamics" which emerge when advanced AI collaborates as a teammate—to his "Phases of Team Development."
The 2026 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 Fast Company, GoDaddy, Journal of Hand Surgery (European Volume), Ministère de la Culture (French Ministry of Culture), Pinterest Inc., PNAS, and Telecommunications Policy, among others—his research exemplifies methodological rigor and sustained significance in the field of digital informatics.
The 2026 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:
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.
Discover Scott’s Books
Connect with and follow Scott on LinkedIn, X, YouTube, Facebook, Threads, Bluesky, Mastodon, and ResearchGate.
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More articles are listed here.
Graffius, S. M. (2026, February 9). A Deep Dive Into the Typical Engagement Pattern for Social Media Posts. ScottGraffius.com. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.26481.34404
https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.26481.34404
Names, marks, and content are the property of their respective owners.
If there are any supplements or updates to this article after the date of publication, they will appear here.
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.
Graffius, S. M. (2026, February 9). A Deep Dive Into the Typical Engagement Pattern for Social Media Posts. ScottGraffius.com. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.26481.34404
Introduction
Social media content usually 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.
Eight years ago, Scott M. Graffius first published data on the half-life of posts on different social media networks. Because algorithms and other factors evolve, he periodically updates his work. On 23 January 2026, Graffius released the 2026 edition of his "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts" research.
Businesses, professional associations, government agencies, social media researchers, influencers, publications, and others have featured and used prior editions of the research. Select examples include BMC, Buffer, Fast Company, GoDaddy, Journal of Hand Surgery (European Volume), Maximizing LinkedIn for Business Growth, Ministère de la Culture, Pinterest, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Telecommunications Policy, World Economic Forum, and many more.
The 2026 edition covers Snapchat, TikTok, X, Facebook, Reddit, Instagram, LinkedIn, podcasts, YouTube, Pinterest, and blogs. Findings were derived from an extensive analysis of over 5,600,000 social media posts and 397 podcasts, aggregated from multiple sources, including APIs, proprietary commercial datasets, academic and research consortium databases, publicly shared datasets, governmental data repositories, and other sources.
The "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts: Update for 2026" stands out for its:
◾️ Scope (5.6 million posts),
◾️ Coverage (11 platforms),
◾️ Methodology (multi-source, representative, data-driven),
◾️ Continuity (annual updates), and
◾️ Value (actionable insights).
The following visual provides a summary of the findings, and the details are here.
The annual updates provide details, including sources, references, and an extensive list of frequently asked questions (FAQs), among other information. Additionally, Graffius occasionally provides companion pieces, such as "Supplement to Graffius' 'Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts' Research: Typical Engagement Distribution Pattern for Social Media Posts."
Graffius sat down with a scientist for an even deeper dive into the intriguing temporal patterns of engagement. Graffius is sharing highlights from that conversation in this concise supplement on his research.
Details on the Temporal Distribution of Engagement
The "Typical Engagement Distribution Pattern for Social Media Posts" visual above (and also shown at the top of this article) illustrates the temporal distribution of engagement (e.g., likes, comments, shares, etc.) for a typical social media post, exhibiting a positively skewed unimodal probability density function (a rate-of-engagement function over time).
Key scientifically precise characteristics include (these reflect common patterns observed across real datasets; exact fits vary by platform):
- Unimodal shape — A single dominant mode (peak) occurring shortly after publication (t ≈ 0⁺), representing the highest instantaneous engagement rate soon after posting.
- Strong positive (right) skew — The distribution is markedly asymmetric, with a rapid rise to the mode followed by a comparatively long right tail of progressively diminishing (but non-zero) engagement extending over a much longer duration. This reflects the classic "early burst + long tail" pattern widely observed in online content consumption dynamics.
- Heavy-tailed decay after the peak — The post-peak decline is generally much steeper than exponential in the initial phase (often approximating power-law-like or stretched-exponential behavior in real datasets), transitioning to a very slow, low-level residual engagement in the tail. This produces the characteristic skewness.
- Half-life annotation — In the "Typical Engagement Distribution Pattern for Social Media Posts" visual, the dashed green line marks the point where the cumulative engagement (orange curve) reaches 50% of the eventual total lifetime engagement, visually emphasizing how disproportionately early the majority of interactions occur (a hallmark of many attention/virality processes on social platforms).
This pattern is consistent with a positively skewed, heavy-tailed, right-censored lifetime process or a non-homogeneous Poisson process with a rapidly decaying intensity function λ(t) that is highest immediately after t = 0 and then falls off sharply before asymptoting toward a very low baseline rate.
Conclusion
In short, the typical engagement pattern for social media posts is a positively skewed, heavy-tailed unimodal engagement-rate distribution with rapid early peaking and extended low-level tail, resulting in the majority of lifetime engagement accruing soon after posting.
To learn more, see the "Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts: Update for 2026" research.
Bibliography
Graffius, S. M. (2024, September 30). Supplement to Graffius' 'Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts' Research: Typical Engagement Distribution Pattern for Social Media Posts. ScottGraffius.com. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.15820.22402
Graffius, S. M. (2026, January 23). Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts: Update for 2026. ScottGraffius.com. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.32407.43689
Further Reading on Probability and Statistical Distributions
Resnick, S. I. (2007). Heavy-Tail Phenomena: Probabilistic and Statistical Modeling. Springer.
Jayakrishnan, N., Wierman, A., & Zwart, B. (2021). The Fundamentals of Heavy Tails: Properties, Emergence, and Estimation. Cambridge University Press.
Mendenhall, W., Beaver, R. J., & Beaver, B. M. (2023). Introduction to Probability and Statistics (15th Ed.). Cengage.
About Scott M. Graffius
Scott M. Graffius is a strategic transformation leader who drives AI, Agile, and broader business and technology initiatives to deliver measurable value across projects, programs, portfolios, and PMOs. He is an expert in the teamwork tradecraft of both human and human-AI teams, including the “exotic team dynamics” that emerge. He is also an authority on the temporal patterns of social media, including the half-life of audience engagement.
He’s a practitioner, researcher, thought leader, award-winning author, and keynote speaker who’s taken the stage at 96 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 96 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
Graffius is a renowned authority on teamwork tradecraft. Informed by the research of Bruce W. Tuckman and Mary Ann C. Jensen, over 150 subsequent studies, and Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property 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. In 2026, Graffius added human-AI teamwork—including the "exotic team dynamics" which emerge when advanced AI collaborates as a teammate—to his "Phases of Team Development."
The 2026 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 Fast Company, GoDaddy, Journal of Hand Surgery (European Volume), Ministère de la Culture (French Ministry of Culture), Pinterest Inc., PNAS, and Telecommunications Policy, among others—his research exemplifies methodological rigor and sustained significance in the field of digital informatics.
The 2026 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.
Discover Scott’s Books
- Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions — Deliver Products in Short Cycles with Rapid Adaptation to Change, Fast Time-to-Market, and Continuous Improvement
- 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
- Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum
Connect with and follow Scott on LinkedIn, X, YouTube, Facebook, Threads, Bluesky, Mastodon, and ResearchGate.
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BookAuthority Features “Agile Scrum” by Scott M. Graffius in “10 Agile Software Development Books That Define the Field”
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More articles are listed here.
How to Cite This Article
Graffius, S. M. (2026, February 9). A Deep Dive Into the Typical Engagement Pattern for Social Media Posts. ScottGraffius.com. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.26481.34404
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.26481.34404
Content Acknowledgements
Names, marks, and content are the property of their respective owners.
Tags and Hashtags
- Social media engagement
- Lifespan (Half-Life) of Social Media Posts
- Typical Engagement Distribution Pattern for Social Media Posts
- Content performance analytics
- Attention decay over time
- Long tail engagement
- Skewed unimodal distribution
- #SocialMediaAnalytics
- #ContentStrategy
- #DigitalMarketing
- #Engagement
- #DataScience
- #Statistics
- #SocialMediaResearch
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.
Most Valuable IT Certifications: Update for 2026
06 February 2026
BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com
Graffius, S. M. (2026, February 6). Most Valuable IT Certifications: Update for 2026. ScottGraffius.com. ScottGraffius.com. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.32789.18404
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 evolve, the landscape of in-demand skills changes. To reflect these ongoing shifts, Graffius regularly updates his work. This article presents the 2026 edition of the most valuable IT certifications.
Employers want employees and candidates with up-to-date knowledge and skills, and certifications demonstrate one's mastery of the respective subject.
Certifications can help position people as a valuable asset to their current (and prospective future) employers. Certifications can also advance marketability, leading to promotions and higher pay.
Graffius compiled and analyzed data from several sources—including the California Institute of Arts and Technology, CIO, Computer Science, Coursera, eWeek, Forbes, Fortune, Global Knowledge, Indeed, Robert Half, Skillsoft, Workday, and more—to identify which IT certifications are widely seen as the most valuable. Ten certifications stood out as the top choices. Each is detailed next.
To learn more about and prepare for the CompTIA A+ certification, see this highly-rated book on Amazon.
Note: Prerequisites, cost (shown in United States Dollar - USD), and other data are subject to change by the governing organization.
To learn more about and prepare for the Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) certification, see this highly-rated book on Amazon.
Note: Prerequisites, cost (shown in United States Dollar - USD), and other data are subject to change by the governing organization.
To learn more about and prepare for the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certification, see this highly-rated book on Amazon.
Note: Prerequisites, cost (shown in United States Dollar - USD), and other data are subject to change by the governing organization.
To learn more about and prepare for the Project Management Professional (PMP) certification, see this highly-rated book on Amazon.
Note: Prerequisites, cost (shown in United States Dollar - USD), and other data are subject to change by the governing organization.
To learn more about and prepare for the Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) certification, see this highly-rated book on Amazon.
Note: Prerequisites, cost (shown in United States Dollar - USD), and other data are subject to change by the governing organization.
To learn more about and prepare for the AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate (AWS SA) certification, see this highly-rated book on Amazon.
Note: Prerequisites, cost (shown in United States Dollar - USD), and other data are subject to change by the governing organization.
To learn more about and prepare for the Azure Administrator Associate certification, see this highly-rated book on Amazon.
Note: Prerequisites, cost (shown in United States Dollar - USD), and other data are subject to change by the governing organization.
To learn more about and prepare for the Google Certified Professional Cloud Architect (GCP Architect) certification, see this highly-rated book on Amazon.
Note: Prerequisites, cost (shown in United States Dollar - USD), and other data are subject to change by the governing organization.
To learn more about and prepare for the Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) certification, see this highly-rated book on Amazon.
Note: Prerequisites, cost (shown in United States Dollar - USD), and other data are subject to change by the governing organization.
To learn more about and prepare for the Certified Artificial Intelligence Scientist (CAIS) certification, see this book on Amazon.
Note: Prerequisites, cost (shown in United States Dollar - USD), and other data are subject to change by the governing organization.
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.
Amazon Web Services. (n.d.). AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate. AWS. https://aws.amazon.com/certification/certified-solutions-architect-associate
California Institute of Arts and Technology (CIAT). (2024, February). 10 In-Demand IT Jobs You Can Get With Tech Certifications. 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. 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. https://www.cio.com/article/193586/top-15-it-certifications-in-demand-today.html
Cisco. (n.d.). CCNA certification. Cisco. https://www.cisco.com/site/us/en/learn/training-certifications/certifications/enterprise/ccna/index.html
CompTIA. (n.d.). A+ Certification. CompTIA. https://www.comptia.org/en-us/certifications/a
Computer Science(dot)org. (2023, November 9). Best IT Certifications To Boost Your Computer Science Career. https://www.computerscience.org/resources/top-it-certifications
Coursera. (2025, October 24). 10 Essential IT Certifications for 2026. Coursera. https://www.coursera.org/articles/essential-it-certifications-entry-level-and-beginner
Coursera. (2025, November 24). 8 Popular Cybersecurity Certifications in 2026. Coursera. https://www.coursera.org/articles/popular-cybersecurity-certifications
Eads, A. (2025, December 15). Top 17 IT Certifications in Demand. Indeed. https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/top-it-certifications
EC-Council. (n.d.). CEH Certification | Ethical Hacking Training & Course. EC-Council. https://www.eccouncil.org/train-certify/certified-ethical-hacker-ceh
eWeek. (2024, February 8). 30 Top AI Certifications: Hotlist of 2024. Available at: https://www.eweek.com/artificial-intelligence/ai-certifications.
Forbes. (2024, March 21). 10 Certificates To Put On Your Resume In 2024. https://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelwells/2024/03/21/10-certificates-to-put-on-your-resume-in-2024/
Forbes. (2026, January 20). 15 Best Cybersecurity Certifications in 2026. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/advisor/education/certifications/best-cybersecurity-certifications
Fortune. (2023, November 14). How Much Can You Make with IT Certifications? 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. https://www.globalknowledge.com/us-en/resources/resource-library/articles/10-top-paying-it-certifications
Google Cloud. (n.d.). Professional Cloud Architect Certification. Google Cloud. https://cloud.google.com/learn/certification/cloud-architect
Graffius, S. M. (2025, February 5). Most Valuable IT Certifications: Update for 2025. https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/top-it-certifications-update-for-2025.html
Indeed. (2025, July 17). 27 IT Certifications to Pay Attention To. Indeed. https://www.indeed.com/hire/c/info/it-certifications-to-pay-attention-to
ISC2. (n.d.). CISSP - Certified Information Systems Security Professional. ISC2. https://www.isc2.org/certifications/cissp
ITTA. (2024, November 7). Top 10 Must-have IT certifications for 2025. https://www.itta.net/en/blog/top-10-must-have-it-certifications-for-2025/
Microsoft. (n.d.). Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate. Microsoft Learn. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/credentials/certifications/azure-administrator
PC Magazine. (2023, December 1). Level Up Your Career: The Highest-Paying IT Certifications for 2024. https://www.pcmag.com/news/highest-paying-it-certifications
Project Management Institute. (n.d.). Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification. PMI. https://www.pmi.org/certifications/project-management-pmp
Robert Half. (2023, November 27). The 29 Most Valuable IT Certifications. https://www.roberthalf.com/us/en/insights/career-development/which-it-certifications-are-most-valuable
Robert Half. (2025, October 15). 26 Technology Certifications That Can Boost Your Career and Salary in 2026. Robert Half. https://www.roberthalf.com/us/en/insights/career-development/which-it-certifications-are-most-valuable
Scrum Alliance. (n.d.). Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) Certification. Scrum Alliance. https://www.scrumalliance.org/get-certified/scrum-master-track/certified-scrummaster
Skillsoft. (2024, January 16). The 20 Top-Paying Microsoft Certifications in 2024. https://www.skillsoft.com/blog/top-paying-microsoft-certifications
United States Artificial Intelligence Institute. (n.d.). Certified Artificial Intelligence Scientist | CAIS. USAII. https://www.usaii.org/artificial-intelligence-certifications/certified-artificial-intelligence-scientist
Wells, R. (2025, March 25). 7 Certifications That Can Pay $100,000+/Year In 2025. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelwells/2025/03/25/7-certifications-that-can-pay-100000year-in-2025
White, S. K. (2025, August 15). 20 IT management certifications for IT leaders. CIO. https://www.cio.com/article/221721/10-it-management-certifications-for-it-leaders.html
White, S. K. (2025, November 27). The 10 hottest IT skills for 2026. CIO. https://www.cio.com/article/4096592/the-10-hottest-it-skills-for-2026.html
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
Scott M. Graffius is a strategic transformation leader who drives AI, Agile, and broader business and technology initiatives to deliver measurable value across projects, programs, portfolios, and PMOs. He is an expert in the teamwork tradecraft of both human and human-AI teams, including the “exotic team dynamics” that emerge. He is also an authority on the temporal patterns of social media, including the half-life of audience engagement.
He’s a practitioner, researcher, thought leader, award-winning author, and keynote speaker who’s taken the stage at 96 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.
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 96 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:
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:
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 150 subsequent studies, and Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property 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. In 2026, Graffius added human-AI teamwork—including the "exotic team dynamics" which emerge when advanced AI collaborates as a teammate—to his "Phases of Team Development."
The 2026 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 Fast Company, GoDaddy, Journal of Hand Surgery (European Volume), Ministère de la Culture (French Ministry of Culture), Pinterest Inc., PNAS, and Telecommunications Policy, among others—his research exemplifies methodological rigor and sustained significance in the field of digital informatics.
The 2026 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:
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.
Discover Scott’s Books
Connect with and follow Scott on LinkedIn, X, YouTube, Facebook, Threads, Bluesky, Mastodon, and ResearchGate.
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Graffius, S. M. (2026, February 6). Most Valuable IT Certifications: Update for 2026. ScottGraffius.com. ScottGraffius.com. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.32789.18404
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Graffius, S. M. (2026, February 6). Most Valuable IT Certifications: Update for 2026. ScottGraffius.com. ScottGraffius.com. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.32789.18404
Introduction
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 evolve, the landscape of in-demand skills changes. To reflect these ongoing shifts, Graffius regularly updates his work. This article presents the 2026 edition of the most valuable IT certifications.
Employers want employees and candidates with up-to-date knowledge and skills, and certifications demonstrate one's mastery of the respective subject.
Certifications can help position people as a valuable asset to their current (and prospective future) employers. Certifications can also advance marketability, leading to promotions and higher pay.
Graffius compiled and analyzed data from several sources—including the California Institute of Arts and Technology, CIO, Computer Science, Coursera, eWeek, Forbes, Fortune, Global Knowledge, Indeed, Robert Half, Skillsoft, Workday, and more—to identify which IT certifications are widely seen as the most valuable. Ten certifications stood out as the top choices. Each is detailed next.
10 Most Valuable IT Certifications
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: CompTIA A+ is the industry-standard certification to launch a tech career. It requires passing two exams: Core 1 and Core 2 (V15 version). Core 1 focuses on hardware, networking, mobile devices, and troubleshooting. It prepares for roles like IT support specialist and help desk technician, building knowledge for advanced certifications.
- Prerequisites (if any) for certification: None. But 12 months of hands-on experience in an IT support role is recommended.
- 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): Passing score of 675 (on a scale of 900) for Core 1 (update Core 2 similarly if confirmed; estimated pass rate ~75-80%).
- Certification expiration – does it expire? Yes
- Certification expiration – how long does it last before expiring? 3 years
- Certification renewal cost: $75
To learn more about and prepare for the CompTIA A+ certification, see this highly-rated book on Amazon.
Note: Prerequisites, cost (shown in United States Dollar - USD), and other data are subject to change by the governing organization.
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 knowledge and skills in network fundamentals, access, IP connectivity, IP services, security fundamentals, automation, programmability, and more. Demonstrates a broad range of fundamentals for latest networking technologies, software development skills, and job roles.
- Prerequisites (if any) for certification: None. However, recommend 1+ years of experience implementing and administering Cisco solutions.
- 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
To learn more about and prepare for the Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) certification, see this highly-rated book on Amazon.
Note: Prerequisites, cost (shown in United States Dollar - USD), and other data are subject to change by the governing organization.
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: 3 hours (for Computerized Adaptive Testing format, which is standard; linear format is 4 hours but less common).
- 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: $135 (annual maintenance fee).
To learn more about and prepare for the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certification, see this highly-rated book on Amazon.
Note: Prerequisites, cost (shown in United States Dollar - USD), and other data are subject to change by the governing organization.
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: The PMP certification acknowledges skills in managing people, processes, and business priorities of professional projects. It proves project leadership expertise in any way of working (predictive, hybrid, or agile) and demonstrates ability to lead projects without ties to specific industries or locations.
- Prerequisites (if any) for certification: Set A, B, or C. Set A: High school diploma + 60 months experience + 35 hours education. Set B: Bachelor's + 36 months experience + 35 hours education. Set C: Bachelor's from GAC-accredited program + 24 months experience + 35 hours education.
- 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 at Pearson VUE or online.
- Certification exam - number of questions: 180 questions (5 unscored pretest, 175 scored)
- 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
To learn more about and prepare for the Project Management Professional (PMP) certification, see this highly-rated book on Amazon.
Note: Prerequisites, cost (shown in United States Dollar - USD), and other data are subject to change by the governing organization.
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: World’s No.1 ethical hacking certification, now with AI power. The evolved version 13 includes 20 modules covering 550+ attack techniques, providing core knowledge for cybersecurity professionals.
- Prerequisites (if any) for certification: None. But strongly recommend 2+ years IT security experience or official training. Knowledge of computing systems, networks, and IT topics needed.
- Certification exam - cost: $1,199, can vary based on registration options and other factors
- Certification exam - delivery (in-person or online): Online via ECC exam portal (knowledge); practical via iLabs Cyber Range.
- Certification exam - number of questions: 125
- Certification exam - time to complete it: 4 hours (knowledge exam); 6 hours (practical exam).
- 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. But cost may vary.
To learn more about and prepare for the Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) certification, see this highly-rated book on Amazon.
Note: Prerequisites, cost (shown in United States Dollar - USD), and other data are subject to change by the governing organization.
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: Validates technical knowledge and skills across AWS services, focused on designing cost- and performance-optimized solutions. Ideal for those with AWS or strong on-premises IT experience; familiarity with basic programming concepts is advantageous but no deep coding required.
- Prerequisites (if any) for certification: None. But recommended 1+ year hands-on experience designing AWS cloud solutions. (Beginners may benefit from AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner first.)
- 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
To learn more about and prepare for the AWS Certified Solutions Architect - Associate (AWS SA) certification, see this highly-rated book on Amazon.
Note: Prerequisites, cost (shown in United States Dollar - USD), and other data are subject to change by the governing organization.
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: Demonstrates key skills to configure, manage, secure, and administer professional functions in Microsoft Azure, including virtual networks, storage, compute, identity, security, and governance.
- Prerequisites (if any) for certification: None. But subject matter expertise in Azure environment management recommended. Knowledge of OS, networking, servers, virtualization, PowerShell, Azure CLI, portal, ARM templates, and Microsoft Entra ID is needed.
- 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: 100 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
To learn more about and prepare for the Azure Administrator Associate certification, see this highly-rated book on Amazon.
Note: Prerequisites, cost (shown in United States Dollar - USD), and other data are subject to change by the governing organization.
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 ability to leverage Google Cloud technologies for robust, secure, scalable, efficient, cost-effective solutions that drive business objectives. Proficient in enterprise strategy, solution design, migration, optimization, and best practices, including the Google Cloud Well-Architected Framework.
- Prerequisites (if any) for certification: None. Recommended 3+ years industry experience, including 1+ years designing/managing Google Cloud solutions.
- Certification exam - cost: $200
- Certification exam - delivery (in-person or online): Online-proctored or onsite at testing center.
- Certification exam - number of questions: 50-60 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? 2 years
- Certification renewal cost: $100
To learn more about and prepare for the Google Certified Professional Cloud Architect (GCP Architect) certification, see this highly-rated book on Amazon.
Note: Prerequisites, cost (shown in United States Dollar - USD), and other data are subject to change by the governing organization.
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: Introductory course covering the Scrum framework, team accountabilities, events, and artifacts; equips knowledge to guide teams in applying Scrum and understanding agile principles/values.
- Prerequisites (if any) for certification: Completion of a two-day course by an authorized trainer
- Certification exam - cost: Course includes exam; prices range from $250-$2,495 (varies by trainer, region, format, market).
- 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): 37 out of 50 questions (74%)
- Certification expiration - does it expire? Yes
- Certification expiration - how long does it last before expiring? 2 years
- Certification renewal cost: $100
To learn more about and prepare for the Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) certification, see this highly-rated book on Amazon.
Note: Prerequisites, cost (shown in United States Dollar - USD), and other data are subject to change by the governing organization.
10. Certified Artificial Intelligence Scientist (CAIS)
- 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: Sophisticated certification for senior AI professionals and business leaders to develop AI solutions/strategies for organizational change and transformation. Programming skills not mandatory.
- Prerequisites (if any) for certification: Three eligibility paths: Path 1: Bachelor's + 5 years in AI/ML/Data Science/etc. Path 2: Master's + 4 years in AI/ML/etc. Path 3: CAIC or equivalent + 4 years (Bachelor's) or 3 years (Master's). Completion of self-paced course.
- Certification exam - cost: $1,195 (all-inclusive for program and exam).
- Certification exam - delivery (in-person or online): Self-paced with eLearning, workshops, hands-on videos, study books.
- Certification exam - number of questions: Not specified
- Certification exam - time to complete it: Program takes 4-25 weeks (8-10 hours/week); exam time not specified.
- Certification exam - minimum pass rate (X% or higher correct required to pass exam): Not specified
- Certification expiration - does it expire? Yes
- Certification expiration - how long does it last before expiring? 3 years
- Certification renewal cost: $249
To learn more about and prepare for the Certified Artificial Intelligence Scientist (CAIS) certification, see this book on Amazon.
Note: Prerequisites, cost (shown in United States Dollar - USD), and other data are subject to change by the governing organization.
Conclusion
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.
References/Sources:
Amazon Web Services. (n.d.). AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate. AWS. https://aws.amazon.com/certification/certified-solutions-architect-associate
California Institute of Arts and Technology (CIAT). (2024, February). 10 In-Demand IT Jobs You Can Get With Tech Certifications. 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. 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. https://www.cio.com/article/193586/top-15-it-certifications-in-demand-today.html
Cisco. (n.d.). CCNA certification. Cisco. https://www.cisco.com/site/us/en/learn/training-certifications/certifications/enterprise/ccna/index.html
CompTIA. (n.d.). A+ Certification. CompTIA. https://www.comptia.org/en-us/certifications/a
Computer Science(dot)org. (2023, November 9). Best IT Certifications To Boost Your Computer Science Career. https://www.computerscience.org/resources/top-it-certifications
Coursera. (2025, October 24). 10 Essential IT Certifications for 2026. Coursera. https://www.coursera.org/articles/essential-it-certifications-entry-level-and-beginner
Coursera. (2025, November 24). 8 Popular Cybersecurity Certifications in 2026. Coursera. https://www.coursera.org/articles/popular-cybersecurity-certifications
Eads, A. (2025, December 15). Top 17 IT Certifications in Demand. Indeed. https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/top-it-certifications
EC-Council. (n.d.). CEH Certification | Ethical Hacking Training & Course. EC-Council. https://www.eccouncil.org/train-certify/certified-ethical-hacker-ceh
eWeek. (2024, February 8). 30 Top AI Certifications: Hotlist of 2024. Available at: https://www.eweek.com/artificial-intelligence/ai-certifications.
Forbes. (2024, March 21). 10 Certificates To Put On Your Resume In 2024. https://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelwells/2024/03/21/10-certificates-to-put-on-your-resume-in-2024/
Forbes. (2026, January 20). 15 Best Cybersecurity Certifications in 2026. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/advisor/education/certifications/best-cybersecurity-certifications
Fortune. (2023, November 14). How Much Can You Make with IT Certifications? 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. https://www.globalknowledge.com/us-en/resources/resource-library/articles/10-top-paying-it-certifications
Google Cloud. (n.d.). Professional Cloud Architect Certification. Google Cloud. https://cloud.google.com/learn/certification/cloud-architect
Graffius, S. M. (2025, February 5). Most Valuable IT Certifications: Update for 2025. https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/top-it-certifications-update-for-2025.html
Indeed. (2025, July 17). 27 IT Certifications to Pay Attention To. Indeed. https://www.indeed.com/hire/c/info/it-certifications-to-pay-attention-to
ISC2. (n.d.). CISSP - Certified Information Systems Security Professional. ISC2. https://www.isc2.org/certifications/cissp
ITTA. (2024, November 7). Top 10 Must-have IT certifications for 2025. https://www.itta.net/en/blog/top-10-must-have-it-certifications-for-2025/
Microsoft. (n.d.). Microsoft Certified: Azure Administrator Associate. Microsoft Learn. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/credentials/certifications/azure-administrator
PC Magazine. (2023, December 1). Level Up Your Career: The Highest-Paying IT Certifications for 2024. https://www.pcmag.com/news/highest-paying-it-certifications
Project Management Institute. (n.d.). Project Management Professional (PMP) Certification. PMI. https://www.pmi.org/certifications/project-management-pmp
Robert Half. (2023, November 27). The 29 Most Valuable IT Certifications. https://www.roberthalf.com/us/en/insights/career-development/which-it-certifications-are-most-valuable
Robert Half. (2025, October 15). 26 Technology Certifications That Can Boost Your Career and Salary in 2026. Robert Half. https://www.roberthalf.com/us/en/insights/career-development/which-it-certifications-are-most-valuable
Scrum Alliance. (n.d.). Certified ScrumMaster (CSM) Certification. Scrum Alliance. https://www.scrumalliance.org/get-certified/scrum-master-track/certified-scrummaster
Skillsoft. (2024, January 16). The 20 Top-Paying Microsoft Certifications in 2024. https://www.skillsoft.com/blog/top-paying-microsoft-certifications
United States Artificial Intelligence Institute. (n.d.). Certified Artificial Intelligence Scientist | CAIS. USAII. https://www.usaii.org/artificial-intelligence-certifications/certified-artificial-intelligence-scientist
Wells, R. (2025, March 25). 7 Certifications That Can Pay $100,000+/Year In 2025. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelwells/2025/03/25/7-certifications-that-can-pay-100000year-in-2025
White, S. K. (2025, August 15). 20 IT management certifications for IT leaders. CIO. https://www.cio.com/article/221721/10-it-management-certifications-for-it-leaders.html
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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
About Scott M. Graffius
Scott M. Graffius is a strategic transformation leader who drives AI, Agile, and broader business and technology initiatives to deliver measurable value across projects, programs, portfolios, and PMOs. He is an expert in the teamwork tradecraft of both human and human-AI teams, including the “exotic team dynamics” that emerge. He is also an authority on the temporal patterns of social media, including the half-life of audience engagement.
He’s a practitioner, researcher, thought leader, award-winning author, and keynote speaker who’s taken the stage at 96 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 96 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
Graffius is a renowned authority on teamwork tradecraft. Informed by the research of Bruce W. Tuckman and Mary Ann C. Jensen, over 150 subsequent studies, and Graffius' first-hand professional experience with, and analysis of, team leadership and performance, Graffius created his "Phases of Team Development" intellectual property 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. In 2026, Graffius added human-AI teamwork—including the "exotic team dynamics" which emerge when advanced AI collaborates as a teammate—to his "Phases of Team Development."
The 2026 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 Fast Company, GoDaddy, Journal of Hand Surgery (European Volume), Ministère de la Culture (French Ministry of Culture), Pinterest Inc., PNAS, and Telecommunications Policy, among others—his research exemplifies methodological rigor and sustained significance in the field of digital informatics.
The 2026 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.
Discover Scott’s Books
- Agile Scrum: Your Quick Start Guide with Step-by-Step Instructions — Deliver Products in Short Cycles with Rapid Adaptation to Change, Fast Time-to-Market, and Continuous Improvement
- 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
- Agile Protocol: The Transformation Ultimatum
Connect with and follow Scott on LinkedIn, X, YouTube, Facebook, Threads, Bluesky, Mastodon, and ResearchGate.
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How to Cite This Article
Graffius, S. M. (2026, February 6). Most Valuable IT Certifications: Update for 2026. ScottGraffius.com. ScottGraffius.com. https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.32789.18404
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.32789.18404
Content Acknowledgements
Names, marks, and content are the property of their respective owners.
Tags and Hashtags
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- Valuable IT Certifications
- #CompTIA
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- #CSM
- #AICertification
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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
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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.