February 2013 – Leading Answers

February 25, 2013Agile Project Management, Metrics, PMI-ACP

Less Test Anxiety and Improved Exam Scores in 10 Minutes

Certifications and the tests that accompany them can be stressful. If there was a quick, ethical way of increasing your test scores while reducing anxiety would you take it? – You should do! Research into test anxiety, its impact on test performance, and strategies for intervention that were published in Science, 2011 offer some valuable tools for boosting performance. It turns out there is a 10 minute exercise that has been found to significantly boost performance. Here is an excerpt from the research paper: “Two laboratory and two randomized field experiments tested a writing intervention exercise designed to improve students’ scores on high stakes exams… The intervention, a brief expressive writing assignment that occurred immediately before taking an important test, […]

February 19, 2013October 3, 2026Agile Project Management, Books, Events, Games, Leadership, Lean, Metrics, Planning, PMI-ACP, Risk Management, Teams, Travel

PMI-ACP Exam Prep Class with Mike Griffiths

My PMI-ACP Exam Preparation course will be April 15, 16, 17 in Calgary, Alberta. The course will be capped to 15 people for better Q&A and will take place at Fort Calgary which is close to downtown on 9th Avenue and has free parking. Since I am offering the class in my home town I have no travel costs and can offer the course for a discounted price of $1,290 for 3 days including lunches and snacks, my book, color printed workbook, sample exam questions, and USB stick of additional materials. (You can deduct another $60 if you already have a copy of my PMI-ACP Prep book). To reserve your place or questions please contact Training@LeadingAnswers.com. Continue reading to see […]

February 19, 2013October 3, 2026Agile Project Management, Books, Metrics, Planning

How Will Agile Be Remembered?

In the future how will agile methods be remembered by the project management community? It seems history has a way of distorting the facts and simplifying concepts out of context. Here are a few examples: 1) In the original Waterfall Software Development Process paper written by Winston Royce in 1970, after presenting the lifecycle diagram on page two, the author states “I believe in this concept, but the implementation described above is risky and invites failure”. Royce then spends the remaining nine pages outlining feedback loops and “Do It Twice” recommendations since there would be things missed in the first pass through. Read in its entirety, it outlines a fairly robust, risk tolerant approach to building systems that features multiple […]

February 11, 2013October 3, 2026Agile Project Management, Books, Events, PMI-ACP

PMI-ACP Exam Prep 3 Day Course

I am pleased to announce / preview the first public offering of my new 3 day PMI-ACP Exam Preparation course. This is my second generation PMI-ACP Exam Prep course, with new content and updated material based on a year’s worth of feedback from my PMI-ACP Exam Prep book. Participants will receive a copy of my book (or a discount if they already have it). The structure mirrors the book flow, providing in-depth explanations, examples and new sample questions for all the material in the PMI-ACP exam. The course will provide the 21 Contact Hours of training required to take the exam and uses a small class size format so everyone’s questions can be answered. The first course will be held […]