Evidence Quality Matters
The reason Full Scale agile™ works in a wide variety of work teams is it is not just based on my personal experiences, like the vast majority of “Agile” books and blogs. This website is the product of more than 20 years of research through mostly scientific sources, done in three waves, and now totaling more than 1,000 sources. Thus its content is tested through my real-world successes (and failures), but draws on a scientific understanding of how humans act in groups.
I believe evidence is what sets FuSca™ apart from competing frameworks. Not only do scientists know more than most consultants, so-called “thought leaders” who merely report from within their bubbles of experience can mislead you to apply practices that will not work in your setting. The same is true for those who make recommendations based on one or a few studies instead of a large sample of relevant ones, emphasizing high-quality evidence. That is like claiming everyone in your country believes something because a few people do. I follow a standard of evidence that gives more weight to better-quality sources, in this order:
- “Meta-analyses” that combine data from many relevant studies, and “structured literature reviews” that look through a body of studies in a way meant to limit the impact of researcher biases.
- “Narrative” literature reviews.
- Books that rely heavily on studies and data.
- Single studies from scientific journals, giving more weight to some based on reasons such as larger sample sizes, or designs that show one factor caused an outcome (see “Studies Say, Question Articles about Studies“).
- Sources based on the author’s experiences in a wide variety of settings (thus more likely to apply in any given setting).
- Sources relevant to the specific setting under discussion.
If you disagree with a point on the site and it is footnoted, I encourage you to find and read the source to draw your own conclusion. Everything else is my opinion, and I take full responsibility for any errors.
Bibliographies
The research underlying this site was done in three waves dating back to 2000, which explains the three separate bibliographies. (The “Teamwork” bib is also divided by source type.) The easiest way to find a specific source listed in a footnote is to search for the name using the site search box. Then use your browser’s search function to look for it on the bibliography page(s) in the results.