#146 Can Mindset be Quantified? - With Dr. Karen Eilers and Christiaan Verwijs

53min | 12/07/2025

Description

Join hosts Rich Visotcky and Jim Sammons as they delve deep into the agile mindset and its significance in team dynamics from a research-backed perspective. Joining them in this episode are Dr. Karen Eilers and Christiaan Verwijs who are leading studies exploring the agile mindset from the individual and team level. Through their research and the help of Columinity, they describe how to factors like motivation, morale, collaborative exchange, value focus, and management support improve team effectiveness. Together, we discuss the development of reliable measurement scales, the importance of data in understanding team effectiveness in order to take action, and the challenges of selection bias and trust in survey data. We also dip our toes into the pools of dynamic reteaming and its effects on team cohesion and team outcomes.

Whether you’re a manager looking to help your teams hit their stride, a team member trying to understand how to improve yourself to improve those around you, or a research and data junkie curious about people and teams, this episode has you covered!

Want to learn more about your team and the research?

Participate (and get immediate actionable feedback!): https://questionnaire.columinity.com/setup/model/agilemindset

Preliminary findings: https://blog.columinity.com/how-a-team-level-agile-mindset-shapes-team-effectiveness/

Scientific paper on Agile Mindset: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0040162522001822

Contact Columinity: https://columinity.com/research

Connect with our guests:

Karen Eilers: linkedin.com/in/dr-karen-eilers/

Christiaan Verwijs: linkedin.com/in/christiaanverwijs/

Connect with Mastering Agility:

📢 Follow the podcast for more inspiring stories
💬 Join the conversation on LinkedIn - linkedin.com/company/mastering-agility
📩 Contact us for trades or sponsorships

👉 If you enjoyed this episode, leave a review and share it with someone who needs to hear it!

Check out our sponsors:

www.xebia.com

www.wiserbees.com

www.jointinsights.com

www.productfields.com

Find more at www.masteringagility.org

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Chapters

Intro
0sec
Understanding the Agile Mindset
2min
Quantifying Outcomes and Mindset
5min
Measuring Mindset - Quantifying the Subjective
8min
Identifying What Matters
10min
Michelin Star Agility
12min
Quantifying the Squishy
15min
Peer-Reviews for Great Science!
16min
How Much Data is Enough?
18min
Putting Together Surveys
24min
Addressing Selection Bias
24min
Individual vs. Team Mindset
31min
Building Team Mindset
33min
The Impact of Individuals
36min
Team Conflict Effects Team Effectiveness
38min
The Investment in Dynamic Reteaming
39min
Trusting the Data
42min
Explore Before Jumping In
47min
Check out Columinity for Your Team!
48min
Wrap Up
49min

About Mastering Agility

Why is it that products are so hard to develop and deliver?

How can we truly deliver value with so many different variables that can affect the outcome?

We are Sander Dur and Jim Sammons, professional consultants and trainers who support organizations in their pursuit of creating valuable products. Passionate about helping the community and practitioners apply the theory many authors and thought leaders bring to the industry, we started this podcast to make these concepts more accessible.

This podcast will change your career and organization. You’ll be entertained while learning about the industry’s leaders and other practitioners, and you’ll feel familiar with the situations discussed as we invite guests over and discuss tools, concepts, models, metrics, leadership, frameworks, and many more elements that help you deliver amazing products.

Both of us understand the many struggles, challenges, antipatterns, and dysfunctions many of us face in our daily working lives. We are here to provide actionable advice and strategies for you to create continuous improvement. You will find things that actually work for many organizations, as we and our guests have tried and tested them.

You will find a goldmine of actionable information from many fields, including the space industry, Formula 1, psychology, and Silicon Valley’s top entrepreneurs. We break down these complex topics into easily digestible insights that you can start applying in your careers right away. The best part is that you can even join our live recordings to ask your most burning questions and get them answered based on your needs!

We dive deep into the world of business agility, product discovery, delivery, validation, product management, and product frameworks like Scrum, Kanban, LeSS, and many more. We’ll explore the benefits of decentralized decision-making, autonomous empowered teams, leadership, and much more. We empower you with the information you need to become the leaders your organization deserve.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

About Mastering Agility

Why is it that products are so hard to develop and deliver?

How can we truly deliver value with so many different variables that can affect the outcome?

We are Sander Dur and Jim Sammons, professional consultants and trainers who support organizations in their pursuit of creating valuable products. Passionate about helping the community and practitioners apply the theory many authors and thought leaders bring to the industry, we started this podcast to make these concepts more accessible.

This podcast will change your career and organization. You’ll be entertained while learning about the industry’s leaders and other practitioners, and you’ll feel familiar with the situations discussed as we invite guests over and discuss tools, concepts, models, metrics, leadership, frameworks, and many more elements that help you deliver amazing products.

Both of us understand the many struggles, challenges, antipatterns, and dysfunctions many of us face in our daily working lives. We are here to provide actionable advice and strategies for you to create continuous improvement. You will find things that actually work for many organizations, as we and our guests have tried and tested them.

You will find a goldmine of actionable information from many fields, including the space industry, Formula 1, psychology, and Silicon Valley’s top entrepreneurs. We break down these complex topics into easily digestible insights that you can start applying in your careers right away. The best part is that you can even join our live recordings to ask your most burning questions and get them answered based on your needs!

We dive deep into the world of business agility, product discovery, delivery, validation, product management, and product frameworks like Scrum, Kanban, LeSS, and many more. We’ll explore the benefits of decentralized decision-making, autonomous empowered teams, leadership, and much more. We empower you with the information you need to become the leaders your organization deserve.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Description

Join hosts Rich Visotcky and Jim Sammons as they delve deep into the agile mindset and its significance in team dynamics from a research-backed perspective. Joining them in this episode are Dr. Karen Eilers and Christiaan Verwijs who are leading studies exploring the agile mindset from the individual and team level. Through their research and the help of Columinity, they describe how to factors like motivation, morale, collaborative exchange, value focus, and management support improve team effectiveness. Together, we discuss the development of reliable measurement scales, the importance of data in understanding team effectiveness in order to take action, and the challenges of selection bias and trust in survey data. We also dip our toes into the pools of dynamic reteaming and its effects on team cohesion and team outcomes.

Whether you’re a manager looking to help your teams hit their stride, a team member trying to understand how to improve yourself to improve those around you, or a research and data junkie curious about people and teams, this episode has you covered!

Want to learn more about your team and the research?

Participate (and get immediate actionable feedback!): https://questionnaire.columinity.com/setup/model/agilemindset

Preliminary findings: https://blog.columinity.com/how-a-team-level-agile-mindset-shapes-team-effectiveness/

Scientific paper on Agile Mindset: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0040162522001822

Contact Columinity: https://columinity.com/research

Connect with our guests:

Karen Eilers: linkedin.com/in/dr-karen-eilers/

Christiaan Verwijs: linkedin.com/in/christiaanverwijs/

Connect with Mastering Agility:

📢 Follow the podcast for more inspiring stories
💬 Join the conversation on LinkedIn - linkedin.com/company/mastering-agility
📩 Contact us for trades or sponsorships

👉 If you enjoyed this episode, leave a review and share it with someone who needs to hear it!

Check out our sponsors:

www.xebia.com

www.wiserbees.com

www.jointinsights.com

www.productfields.com

Find more at www.masteringagility.org

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Chapters

Intro
0sec
Understanding the Agile Mindset
2min
Quantifying Outcomes and Mindset
5min
Measuring Mindset - Quantifying the Subjective
8min
Identifying What Matters
10min
Michelin Star Agility
12min
Quantifying the Squishy
15min
Peer-Reviews for Great Science!
16min
How Much Data is Enough?
18min
Putting Together Surveys
24min
Addressing Selection Bias
24min
Individual vs. Team Mindset
31min
Building Team Mindset
33min
The Impact of Individuals
36min
Team Conflict Effects Team Effectiveness
38min
The Investment in Dynamic Reteaming
39min
Trusting the Data
42min
Explore Before Jumping In
47min
Check out Columinity for Your Team!
48min
Wrap Up
49min

About Mastering Agility

Why is it that products are so hard to develop and deliver?

How can we truly deliver value with so many different variables that can affect the outcome?

We are Sander Dur and Jim Sammons, professional consultants and trainers who support organizations in their pursuit of creating valuable products. Passionate about helping the community and practitioners apply the theory many authors and thought leaders bring to the industry, we started this podcast to make these concepts more accessible.

This podcast will change your career and organization. You’ll be entertained while learning about the industry’s leaders and other practitioners, and you’ll feel familiar with the situations discussed as we invite guests over and discuss tools, concepts, models, metrics, leadership, frameworks, and many more elements that help you deliver amazing products.

Both of us understand the many struggles, challenges, antipatterns, and dysfunctions many of us face in our daily working lives. We are here to provide actionable advice and strategies for you to create continuous improvement. You will find things that actually work for many organizations, as we and our guests have tried and tested them.

You will find a goldmine of actionable information from many fields, including the space industry, Formula 1, psychology, and Silicon Valley’s top entrepreneurs. We break down these complex topics into easily digestible insights that you can start applying in your careers right away. The best part is that you can even join our live recordings to ask your most burning questions and get them answered based on your needs!

We dive deep into the world of business agility, product discovery, delivery, validation, product management, and product frameworks like Scrum, Kanban, LeSS, and many more. We’ll explore the benefits of decentralized decision-making, autonomous empowered teams, leadership, and much more. We empower you with the information you need to become the leaders your organization deserve.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

About Mastering Agility

Why is it that products are so hard to develop and deliver?

How can we truly deliver value with so many different variables that can affect the outcome?

We are Sander Dur and Jim Sammons, professional consultants and trainers who support organizations in their pursuit of creating valuable products. Passionate about helping the community and practitioners apply the theory many authors and thought leaders bring to the industry, we started this podcast to make these concepts more accessible.

This podcast will change your career and organization. You’ll be entertained while learning about the industry’s leaders and other practitioners, and you’ll feel familiar with the situations discussed as we invite guests over and discuss tools, concepts, models, metrics, leadership, frameworks, and many more elements that help you deliver amazing products.

Both of us understand the many struggles, challenges, antipatterns, and dysfunctions many of us face in our daily working lives. We are here to provide actionable advice and strategies for you to create continuous improvement. You will find things that actually work for many organizations, as we and our guests have tried and tested them.

You will find a goldmine of actionable information from many fields, including the space industry, Formula 1, psychology, and Silicon Valley’s top entrepreneurs. We break down these complex topics into easily digestible insights that you can start applying in your careers right away. The best part is that you can even join our live recordings to ask your most burning questions and get them answered based on your needs!

We dive deep into the world of business agility, product discovery, delivery, validation, product management, and product frameworks like Scrum, Kanban, LeSS, and many more. We’ll explore the benefits of decentralized decision-making, autonomous empowered teams, leadership, and much more. We empower you with the information you need to become the leaders your organization deserve.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

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Embed

Chapters

Intro

Understanding the Agile Mindset

Quantifying Outcomes and Mindset

Measuring Mindset - Quantifying the Subjective

Identifying What Matters

Michelin Star Agility

Quantifying the Squishy

Peer-Reviews for Great Science!

How Much Data is Enough?

Putting Together Surveys

Addressing Selection Bias

Individual vs. Team Mindset

Building Team Mindset

The Impact of Individuals

Team Conflict Effects Team Effectiveness

The Investment in Dynamic Reteaming

Trusting the Data

Explore Before Jumping In

Check out Columinity for Your Team!

Wrap Up

Chapters

Intro

Understanding the Agile Mindset

Quantifying Outcomes and Mindset

Measuring Mindset - Quantifying the Subjective

Identifying What Matters

Michelin Star Agility

Quantifying the Squishy

Peer-Reviews for Great Science!

How Much Data is Enough?

Putting Together Surveys

Addressing Selection Bias

Individual vs. Team Mindset

Building Team Mindset

The Impact of Individuals

Team Conflict Effects Team Effectiveness

The Investment in Dynamic Reteaming

Trusting the Data

Explore Before Jumping In

Check out Columinity for Your Team!

Wrap Up

Chapters

Intro

Understanding the Agile Mindset

Quantifying Outcomes and Mindset

Measuring Mindset - Quantifying the Subjective

Identifying What Matters

Michelin Star Agility

Quantifying the Squishy

Peer-Reviews for Great Science!

How Much Data is Enough?

Putting Together Surveys

Addressing Selection Bias

Individual vs. Team Mindset

Building Team Mindset

The Impact of Individuals

Team Conflict Effects Team Effectiveness

The Investment in Dynamic Reteaming

Trusting the Data

Explore Before Jumping In

Check out Columinity for Your Team!

Wrap Up

Chapters

Intro

Understanding the Agile Mindset

Quantifying Outcomes and Mindset

Measuring Mindset - Quantifying the Subjective

Identifying What Matters

Michelin Star Agility

Quantifying the Squishy

Peer-Reviews for Great Science!

How Much Data is Enough?

Putting Together Surveys

Addressing Selection Bias

Individual vs. Team Mindset

Building Team Mindset

The Impact of Individuals

Team Conflict Effects Team Effectiveness

The Investment in Dynamic Reteaming