5 for Friday

I haven't done this in a while so let's review five things that I found today

1

I occasionally hear that Agile is the silver bullet and will solve all engineering problems. In some cases, someone in management heard about Agile and figured it could be a quick fix to solve the challenges within their organization. Unfortunately this is far from the truth. While Agile methods can help you adapt to customer needs and deliver more effective customer value, one key benefit that I find is that Agile shines a very bright halogen spotlight on the many ailments of an organization or product team.

More about Agile can be found with Mario

Agile Halogen Spotlight

by Mario Moreira

2

I was not disappointed. Here, please find 5 networking tips from Ben and Reid that you haven’t heard before. Start using them today, before you actually need them and before everyone else gets in on the secret. And don’t cringe, some of these sound fun, even for us introverts.

Alexandria Levitt goes on to explain the five she found

5 Never-Heard Networking Tips

by Alexandra Levit

3 

Now granted, I’m a fairly change-resistant individual. I admit it. But even knowing this about myself, and factoring it into my analysis, I’m still struggling to understand why LinkedIn felt compelled to make this sudden adjustment to the site. It not only adds a big, ugly, and awkward section to the profile as a whole — with these imposing blue button-like graphics they’ve now added – but I guess I also don’t get the business reasons behind adding this new functionality. What’s the harm in continuing to take people at face value in terms of letting people outline their strengths and tell the world what they’re good at? Why is there the sudden need to add this “stamp of legitimacy” to each and every individual skill, given that we’ve already got a “Recommendations” feature in place that allows people to vouch for the people around them?

Read more from Matt Youngquist on what LinkedIn has done with the skills and recommendations

LinkedIn Tip: Skills & Expertise Endorsements

by Matt Youngquist

4 

To make sure it’s not you, log in to Facebook and click on the small, white triangle in the top right corner of the screen—the one on the blue bar across the top. Click “Privacy Settings” from the dropdown menu and right in the middle of the page, where you can “Control Your Default Privacy,” select Friends.

Continuing the theme of social media platforms and settings, Jason has some more tips on what to do with your Facebook settings to avoid issues

Facebook party invite sparks melee

by Jason Seiden

5

... Gallup is out with a new poll, showing that 60% of the US population “have little or no trust in the mass media to report the news fully, accurately and fairly.” 

Strikingly, 58% of Democrats indicate a “great deal or fair amount of trust” in mass media – the comparable number for Republicans is only 26%. 

The party line is that the fault lies with the media, that media needs to be and be seen as more trustworthy.

Charles H Green goes on to provide some valuable insights into trust, well worth the reading!

If Trust in the Media is Down, is that Bias? Or Paranoia?

by Charles H. Green