by Shawn P. Quigley What is ERG? Today we will discuss a theory by Clayton P. Alderfer called the ERG Theory of Motivation. No, Alderfer was not a physicist and ERG in this case is not a unit of energy equal to 10-7 joules. Aldefer is an American psychologist known for his further development of […]

By Shawn P. Quigley Needs According to McClelland We have discussed several different motivational theories and today we will continue that discussion with McClelland’s Needs theory of motivation. The reason we are discussing McClelland’s theory now is that it provides some insight why an employee may become disenchanted with not improving a process that they […]

by Shawn P. Quigley and Jon M. Quigley In our previous post we have discussed Maslow’s Human Motivation Theory (Hierarchy of Needs) and Herzberg’s Two-Factor Theory (Hygiene and Motivation Theory). However, to be aligned with our recent post about Pavlov’s Employee we should look at the Expectancy Theory of Motivation developed by Victor H. Vroom. […]

By Jon M Quigley How can we get good judgement (learn)? Projects are unique, each present distinctive challenges, though these challenges often are constant in theme allowing an extrapolation to other projects.  We can see in projects, functional areas and business processes where this failure of learning costs our organization dearly.  Learning and adapting are […]

By Jon M. Quigley and Shawn P. Quigley Negative Motivational Lessons Learned We have been spending considerable time on lessons learned and the learning organization.  Lessons learned can have various perspectives, personnel, project, and both.  We will take a break from the pure project aspect, and consider project and personnel.  Lessons learned by personnel can […]

By Rick Edwards and Shawn P. Quigley How projects and processes are related If one were to describe their project to someone, they would most likely describe the end deliverable or objective of the project (a.k.a scope), the expected completion date (time) and the expected resource requirements needed to faithfully execute the plan (cost).   Nowhere […]

Common Lessons Learned Mistakes, Misconceptions and Things Left Unsaid By Rick Edwards and Shawn P. Quigley Why organizations fail to exploit their own lessons learned. “There is only one thing more painful than learning from experience and that is not learning from experience”.   – Archibald MacLeish Lessons Learned – Really? Too many organizations understand Archibald’s […]