Agile Practice Guide
Scott M. Graffius Contributed to the Agile Practice Guide - Second Edition
03 June 2026
BY SCOTT M. GRAFFIUS | ScottGraffius.com
The Agile Practice Guide stands as one of the most influential resources in project management and organizational agility. Developed through a collaboration between the Project Management Institute (PMI) and Agile Alliance, it was designed to help practitioners understand and apply agile, hybrid, and adaptive approaches across industries and organizational contexts.
The guide addresses agile principles, delivery life cycles, team dynamics, leadership, organizational culture, and methods for tailoring approaches to varying degrees of uncertainty and complexity. By integrating agile concepts with broader project management disciplines, it offers a flexible, pragmatic framework for improving responsiveness, collaboration, value delivery, and outcomes.
Now, building on the reach and impact of the original, the forthcoming Agile Practice Guide – Second Edition (scheduled for release July 27, 2026) expands and modernizes that guidance for today's rapidly evolving business and technology landscape. The new edition reflects emerging trends, broader applications of agility, and situational guidance to help practitioners tailor approaches more effectively across varying contexts and organizational environments. It is available here.
That kind of expanded scope requires contributors who bring both deep expertise and broad cross-industry experience. Scott M. Graffius fits that profile. A recognized authority in project management and agile delivery, he collaborated to and shaped the Second Edition, as shown in the visual at the top of this article and below. His involvement reflects a pattern of sustained contribution to the profession's most consequential published standards.
Graffius has worked on six PMI industry standards and guidance publications in total:
Read on to learn more about the PMI, the Agile Alliance, and Graffius.
The Project Management Institute (PMI) is the leading global association for project management professionals. Founded in 1969, PMI advances the profession through research, standards development, education, and certification. Its Project Management Professional (PMP) credential is recognized worldwide as the benchmark for project management expertise. Through its global network, PMI connects practitioners, elevates shared knowledge, and champions the strategic value of effective project leadership across industries. Visit the PMI website at https://www.pmi.org to learn more.
Founded in 2001 by the authors of the Agile Manifesto, the Agile Alliance is dedicated to advancing agile software development principles and practices — with an emphasis on collaboration, customer focus, and adaptability. The organization supports its community through conferences, resources, and local groups. In 2025, the Agile Alliance joined the Project Management Institute, deepening the integration of agile and traditional project management practices and expanding opportunities for professionals worldwide. Visit the Agile Alliance website at https://agilealliance.org to learn more.
Agile Alliance. (n.d.). https://agilealliance.org/
Graffius, S. M. (2025, February 12). Scott M. Graffius' Role in Advancing Project Management Institute (PMI) Standards Excellence. https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/scott-m-graffius-role-in-advancing-project-management-institute-(pmi)-standards.html
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
Project Management Institute. (n.d.). https://www.pmi.org
Project Management Institute. (2006). Practice standard for work breakdown structures (2nd ed.). Project Management Institute.
Project Management Institute. (2017). The standard for program management (4th ed.). Project Management Institute.
Project Management Institute. (2017). A guide to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK guide) (6th ed.). Project Management Institute.
Project Management Institute. (2019). The practice standard for project estimating (2nd ed.). Project Management Institute.
Project Management Institute. (2026). A guide to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK guide) (8th ed.). Project Management Institute.
Project Management Institute. (2026). Agile practice guide (2nd ed.). Project Management Institute.
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 98 conferences and other events across 25 countries.
He’s delivered over $2.51 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:
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, April 17). Government of Canada Features Research by Scott M. Graffius. ScottGraffius.com. https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/government-of-canada-features-research-by-scott-m-graffius.html
Coming soon
Scott M. Graffius contributed to the Agile Practice Guide - Second Edition. Project Management Institute (PMI) and Agile Alliance names, marks, and content are the property of PMI and Agile Alliance. This article includes limited excerpts, attributed and used under fair use doctrine for purposes of news reporting, commentary, 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.
The Agile Practice Guide stands as one of the most influential resources in project management and organizational agility. Developed through a collaboration between the Project Management Institute (PMI) and Agile Alliance, it was designed to help practitioners understand and apply agile, hybrid, and adaptive approaches across industries and organizational contexts.
The guide addresses agile principles, delivery life cycles, team dynamics, leadership, organizational culture, and methods for tailoring approaches to varying degrees of uncertainty and complexity. By integrating agile concepts with broader project management disciplines, it offers a flexible, pragmatic framework for improving responsiveness, collaboration, value delivery, and outcomes.
Now, building on the reach and impact of the original, the forthcoming Agile Practice Guide – Second Edition (scheduled for release July 27, 2026) expands and modernizes that guidance for today's rapidly evolving business and technology landscape. The new edition reflects emerging trends, broader applications of agility, and situational guidance to help practitioners tailor approaches more effectively across varying contexts and organizational environments. It is available here.
That kind of expanded scope requires contributors who bring both deep expertise and broad cross-industry experience. Scott M. Graffius fits that profile. A recognized authority in project management and agile delivery, he collaborated to and shaped the Second Edition, as shown in the visual at the top of this article and below. His involvement reflects a pattern of sustained contribution to the profession's most consequential published standards.
Graffius has worked on six PMI industry standards and guidance publications in total:
- Agile Practice Guide – Second Edition
- A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide) – Eighth Edition
- A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide) – Sixth Edition
- The Standard for Program Management – Fourth Edition
- Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures – Second Edition
- The Practice Standard for Project Estimating – Second Edition
Read on to learn more about the PMI, the Agile Alliance, and Graffius.
About the Project Management Institute
The Project Management Institute (PMI) is the leading global association for project management professionals. Founded in 1969, PMI advances the profession through research, standards development, education, and certification. Its Project Management Professional (PMP) credential is recognized worldwide as the benchmark for project management expertise. Through its global network, PMI connects practitioners, elevates shared knowledge, and champions the strategic value of effective project leadership across industries. Visit the PMI website at https://www.pmi.org to learn more.
About the Agile Alliance
Founded in 2001 by the authors of the Agile Manifesto, the Agile Alliance is dedicated to advancing agile software development principles and practices — with an emphasis on collaboration, customer focus, and adaptability. The organization supports its community through conferences, resources, and local groups. In 2025, the Agile Alliance joined the Project Management Institute, deepening the integration of agile and traditional project management practices and expanding opportunities for professionals worldwide. Visit the Agile Alliance website at https://agilealliance.org to learn more.
Bibliography/References
Agile Alliance. (n.d.). https://agilealliance.org/
Graffius, S. M. (2025, February 12). Scott M. Graffius' Role in Advancing Project Management Institute (PMI) Standards Excellence. https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/scott-m-graffius-role-in-advancing-project-management-institute-(pmi)-standards.html
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
Project Management Institute. (n.d.). https://www.pmi.org
Project Management Institute. (2006). Practice standard for work breakdown structures (2nd ed.). Project Management Institute.
Project Management Institute. (2017). The standard for program management (4th ed.). Project Management Institute.
Project Management Institute. (2017). A guide to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK guide) (6th ed.). Project Management Institute.
Project Management Institute. (2019). The practice standard for project estimating (2nd ed.). Project Management Institute.
Project Management Institute. (2026). A guide to the project management body of knowledge (PMBOK guide) (8th ed.). Project Management Institute.
Project Management Institute. (2026). Agile practice guide (2nd ed.). Project Management Institute.
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 98 conferences and other events across 25 countries.
He’s delivered over $2.51 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:
- Agile Practice Guide – Second Edition
- A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide) – Eighth Edition
- A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK Guide) – Sixth Edition
- The Standard for Program Management – Fourth Edition
- Practice Standard for Work Breakdown Structures – Second Edition
- The Practice Standard for Project Estimating – Second Edition
He was also a subject matter expert reviewer of content for the PMI’s Congress. Beyond the PMI, Graffius also served as a member of the review team for two of the Scrum Alliance’s Global Scrum Gatherings.
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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How to Cite This Article
Graffius, S. M. (2026, April 17). Government of Canada Features Research by Scott M. Graffius. ScottGraffius.com. https://scottgraffius.com/blog/files/government-of-canada-features-research-by-scott-m-graffius.html
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
Coming soon
Content Acknowledgements
Scott M. Graffius contributed to the Agile Practice Guide - Second Edition. Project Management Institute (PMI) and Agile Alliance names, marks, and content are the property of PMI and Agile Alliance. This article includes limited excerpts, attributed and used under fair use doctrine for purposes of news reporting, commentary, 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.