Session Title

Data, not opinions: The psychometrics of team and organisational dynamics

Abstract

"If you can't measure it, you can't improve it." This quote, attributed to Peter Drucker, emphasises that the ability to measure something is essential for seeing changes in it. Although it is (relatively) easy to measure objectively quantifiable decision criteria such as profit, how does one measure "soft" attributes, such as team dynamics, to judge an intervention's success? The problem with most team/organisational assessments is that they say more about the persons who designed the evaluation (and what they want to sell) than about the persons taking it. This talk will present insights into the practical application of leading-edge research into what makes intelligent, high-performing teams and organisations, exploring the science behind the current buzzwords of psychological safety, diversity, and empathy.

Bio

A quiet and reserved researcher and practitioner, Joseph Pelrine is considered by cognoscenti to be one of the pioneers and top experts on Agile methods. He has spent over 25 years defining and refining processes to help some of the world’s most well-known companies improve their ability to satisfy the needs of their customers. As a psychologist, his focus on people and his experience in applying leading-edge techniques from social complexity and psychology to process optimisation goes far beyond the domain of software development, and extends to the whole organisation. Although Joseph Pelrine often works as a consultant or interim manager, his preference is passing his knowledge on by counselling and advising individuals and organisations, often in the role of a CTO/CIO/CDO "whisperer". He conducts research in novel applications of psychology to agile processes, and is also a PhD researcher in psychology and psycholinguistics.