Incremental Credentials

Mike Griffiths is an experienced project manager, author and consultant who works for PMI as a subject matter expert. Before joining PMI, Mike consulted and managed innovation and technology projects throughout Europe, North and South America for 30+ years. He was co-lead for the PMBOK Guide—Seventh Edition, lead for the Agile Practice Guide, and contributor to the PMI-ACP and PMP exam content outlines. Outside of PMI, Mike maintains the websites www.LeadingAnswers.com about leading teams and www.PMillustrated.com, which teaches project management for visual learners.

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When production and transport costs are high, we make, ship and sell things in large batches. It minimizes the distribution overhead and makes sense for most physical goods. Shipping physical books or going to a test center to take an exam all cost time and money, so we batch them up and do them in largish chunks to offset the overhead.

However, in the digital world, distribution and attendance are effectively free. The old economies of scale do not apply any more. We can consume content or take exams in small batches. We do not need a giant book to learn about project management, or a four-hour exam to prove we learned it.

Instead, we can download and consume content in small batches, say 15 to 30 minutes at a time. Likewise, we can confirm understanding and application from online situational questions.

In fact, since we do not learn in large batches, why should we use large-batch learning materials like big study guides and monolithic tests? Perhaps a better approach is incremental learning—in bite-sized chunks with confirmation and testing as we go.

Microlearning
The microlearning trend brings small-batch economics and convenience to training and learning. If you just want to learn how to wire a plug rather than a whole house, we can watch an online video on just that topic. Then consume just what we need, just when we need it. Right-sized and on-demand …

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