Looking for clouds in a silver lining

For all of the haters and nay-sayers out there in the world, not every silver lining has to have a cloud. Regardless of what you say, I will continue to have a blind optimism of the world.  I will do what I can, with the time and budget I have.

Here's a quote for you.  I don't plan on doing this every day.  So, just enjoy it and shut up.

“Around here, however, we don’t look backwards for very long. We keep moving forward, opening up new doors and doing new things… and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.”

–Walt Disney

Graphic: Frog Design

A PMI Dog Pile

Upon reading a piece featured on PM Hut, Certifications Don’t Make Project Managers, I was compelled to comment...twice.  So, what's the short story? I've been reading more and more articles from people who seem to be down right hostile toward the Project Management Institute (PMI). Richard Morreale, the author of the article, wrote

The Project Management Institute (PMI) and the Association of Project Management Group (APMG) are two of the biggest reasons that projects fail.

Dr. PDG added

In short, IMPO, PMI and to a lesser degree, APM and APMG have become nothing more than the AMWAY or Mary Kay Cosmetics of the project management world

Here's the long story.  I enjoyed the article, to include the comments from the likes of Robert Kelly, PMP and Dennis Stevens (fellows I admire).  I'll admit, I've been getting a little incensed recently after hearing stories of people who appeared to have gamed the system and got certification with no real education or experience other than a PMP boot camp.  But, most of this is hearsay.  I have been approached by people, asking for my help, who want the certification for no other reason than to bolster a résumé.  I do believe these cases are extremes and hopefully isolated incidents.

Based on your motivations and character, the outcomes of getting your certification can be completely different.  I got my certification because, at the time, I thought it was the only way I would be taken seriously.  I was dealing with a stakeholder who was being completely unreasonable.  She had a PMP and ignored everything outlined in the PMBOK.  Clearly, she had her own agenda.  Mine was a quest for knowledge in my profession and to hone my skills as a project manager.  This quest has exposed me to several different approaches, to include Scrum and Kanban.  I think I am a better project manager than I was several years ago because I am receptive to new ideas and approaches and don't necessarily walk around preaching one as PM dogma.

So, where am I going with this?  I think if your mind is open to it, you can learn a lot from preparing for the PMP exam.  I also think you can learn a lot from taking a level 400 class in Project Management at a University.  But, you have to be motivated by the desire to learn and satisfy your customer's wants and needs.  Don't think a certification will get you that dream job or make you a PM expert.  It will come back and bite you.  Sometimes being a PM means working on a project with specific knowledge area focus.  But sometimes you will be exposed to full lifecyle management, dealing with every process group.  Either way, it's not all textbook.

I think Dennis Stevens put it very well in his comment:

a PMP is like a recent college grad, a medical resident, or a 16-year old who just got their license. They have some situational awareness from having participated in projects, have been educated in the fundamentals and share a common language. But they are not prepared to be CEO of a business, an emergency room surgeon, or a cross country truck driver.

Some will argue that guns don't kill people, people kill people.  Just the same, PMI and APMG don't cause projects to fail.  Sometimes it's the PM, sometime it's the customer, and sometimes it's something that wasn't on your risk register and should have.  The noble thing to do is to try to fix the problem.  Mentor an associate PM.  Give a talk on your area of expertise.  Tell people how you failed on a project so they don't make the same mistake.  I think if we all put forth a little more effort, in helping each other become better project managers and leaders, the results could be transformative.

Judging PMI Unfairly

Recently, I've been a bit vocal about my concerns of the volume of people getting the  Project Management Professional (PMP®) certification.  I often ask if quality is being sacrificed in order to certify more people.  Don't get me wrong, if being a PMP means you are a "quality" project manager, I think the more the merrier.  But, what if more PMPs means the Project Management Institute (PMI) doesn't have the necessary people to conduct proper audits?  I decided this question warranted a telephone call to PMI.  Though they would not give specific numbers, they stated

The number of audits have remained consistent over the last few years

Ah-ha!  Just the incriminating statement I was expecting, to support my theory!  Clearly the increased rate of people getting certified would mean a lower percentage were being audited.  Since numbers don't lie, I went back as far as I could and compiled the monthly PMP certification rate.  September 2006 was the earliest (easily accessible) date I could find.

Once I charted all of the data to date (June 2010), I was left scratching my head.  With the exception of June and July of 2009, the rate has been relatively consistent.

Average certifications per month (2006-2010): 4,401

Average certifications per month (2010): 4,350

Highest certification rate (June 2009): 13,920

Lowest certification rate (July 2009): 689

In reality, the average number of people getting the PMP certification is down in 2010.

Have I judged PMI unfairly?  Is the quality of the certification the same as it ever was?

Building on failure and action versus motion

I just listened to the 37signals podcast.  It was a playback of some of the brainstorming sessions leading up to the release of the book REWORK.  For those who don't know me, I'm a complete 37signals fanboy.  They just "get it".  I don't know if it's their no BS approach to business or that they have great products.  But, I've found many of the things they created, do, and say helpful in multiple areas.  It doesn't matter if you're an entrepreneur or a project manager.  They have something for everyone. There were two things from the book I wanted to note today.  First, they talked about building on failure versus building on success.  My takeaway is if you want to reach a goal (insert your project or product here), it is easier for you to build upon small successes than to fail and start over. Example: When you're [creating] an [product] for a customer, wouldn't you rather deliver small chucks and get acceptance from the customer along the way, rather than offer a big reveal at the end and risk delivering something they don't want?  If you fail, you have to start all over.  Out of a million possibilities, you've narrowed it down by ONE.  I agree with the PDCA approach (Deming cycle). You should refine, deliver, refine, deliver.  Don't forget to deliver.  If you get something 99% done, you still have nothing.  Deliver something (regardless how small), get acceptance, and repeat.

The Second thing I wanted to note from the podcast was the mention of an Ernest Hemingway quote

Never mistake motion for action

Things don't have to be hard.  If your business [process] requires you to do wasteful (time or money) things, don't do them!  You should be doing things because they provide value (save time/money or make money).  The rest is just fat and you need to trim the fat from every business [process].  Make your [processes or products] as lean as you can without hitting the bone.  Only then can you have a good baseline.  Only then can you build on top of something.  Anything beyond that and you may be wasting time and money compensating.

Do something because you need to do it.  Don't do it because you feel obligated.  Do you need to go to that next meeting because there is valuable information being communicated?  Or rather, if you don't go it will give the impression that you're being antisocial?  Meetings are perfect examples of an crime perpetrated by people that don't have enough actual work to do or those to feel obligated by people that don't have enough real work to do.

You know why I don't check my email every 5 minutes?  Because I have things I need to get done for the customer!  Sending me pictures of LOLcats is not going to help me get that work done.  Equally, expecting me to respond to that email within an hour of you sending it just reinforces the fact that you have more time on your hands than me.

Image courtesy Flikr: Travis S.

PMBOK and detailing leadership

I read an article the other day over at Project Manager Planet. This work by Herman Mehling was titled "Project Manager or Project Leaders - What's in a title?"  It's a simple enough question but can have a complicated answer.  Herman points out that, for some, the titles are virtually synonymous. What can be confusing about the English language, at times, is different words can sometimes have the same meanings. In this instance, that is not the case. These are not synonyms!

Upon reviewing the PMBOK on the word, I found an uncanny absence.   It's really only mentioned a few times in the entire book!

Page 26 Project Managers...this high profile role requires

flexibility, good judgment, strong leadership and negotiation skills, and a solid knowledge of project management practices.

Page 240

Successful projects require strong leadership skills. Leadership is important through all phases of the project life cycle. It is especially important to communicate the vision and inspire the project team to achieve high performance.

Page 417 Appendix G

Leadership involves focusing the efforts of a group of people toward a common goal and enabling them to work as a team. In general terms, leadership is the ability to get things done through others. Respect and trust, rather than fear and submission, are the key elements of effective leadership. Although important throughout all project phases, effective leadership is critical during the beginning phases of the project when the emphasis is on communication vision and motivating and inspiring project participants to achieve high performance....

If it states on page 240 that successful projects require strong leadership skills, why is it not more thoroughly listed in the 4th edition?  If it's critical in the beginning phases, as listed on page 417, why is it not detailed?  Since "expert judgment" is listed as a tool & technique throughout the body of knowledge, I think PMI missed an opportunity to include "acts of leadership".  Perhaps we should start by renaming the 4th PMI process group from Monitoring & Controlling" to maybe include & Inspiring.

Thoughts on the topic?

Image Source: Flickr James @NZ

I won’t be staying late with you

I have to again give credit to 37signals.  In their book Rework, they pointed out the 800 pound gorilla in the room, over and over again.  This video is a "gorilla" I've been dealing with for the last 15 years. I usually arrive at the office around 06:30 or 07:00 (2 hours before anyone else).  Why?  I'll probably get more done in those 2 first hours than I will the rest of the day.  Though I only check my email at the top of each hour, I still deal with meetings and people "dropping by" to ask me questions or to tell me about the newest restaurant in their neighborhood.  Interruptions mean you don't get work done. I'm not saying you shouldn't make your customer happy. I'm saying you should be able to get it done without working late.

Tell me if this sounds familiar.  Some of your co-workers show up at the office around 09:00 (closer to 09:30) and then take a 1.5 to 2 hour lunch break.  They then don't understand why you turn down meeting requests scheduled for late in the afternoon or don't respond to emails sent to you after business hours.  Just because someone is unable to manage his or her work, I am not going to feel guilty for not working late.  Before I had a family or understood work-life balance, I didn't hesitate pulling an all-nighter at the office.  Now it just looks like poor time management.

So, are you working late tonight? Do you really have work you need to do are are you just trying to make yourself feel better by creating work for yourself? I'll make you a deal. Drink your preferred caffeinated beverage around 05:00 and get to the office no later than 07:00. You'll probably have the most productive day you've had in months.

June PMP Certification Numbers Are In

Every month I get a copy of PMI Today and I annotate 3 data points: New PMP® for the month, new PMPs year-to-date (YTD), and total number of active PMPs. For the second month in a row, PMI did not include New PMP monthly numbers and the YTD total, opting to report just the overall number of active credential holders. This is not a problem since I have been tracking the PMP data for over a year.

With an impressive 645 more certifications than last month, the trend continues with the new number of PMPs in June totaling *4,630. Year-To-Date total is *28,211. There are a total of 389,726 active PMPs.

* Numbers based on YTD totals reported by PMI and historical data.

The current trend predicts PMI will hit 400,000 active PMP credential holders this year.

	January	February	March	April	May	June
New PMPs (Monthly)	3,714	3,713	5,344	4,718	3,985	4,630
New PMPs (YTD)	3,714	7,429	12,779	19,596	23,581	28,211
Total Active PMPs	367,619	371,014	375,959	381,111	385,096	389,726

I want to congratulate those 4,630 out there who passed the exam in June. It's no cakewalk and I recognize your efforts and achievement.

What do you think of the current certification velocity?  Are there too many PMPs being certified on a monthly basis; too few; just right?  I'd love to hear your thoughts.

The paradox of PMP quality versus value

Ty Kiisel of @task wrote a commentary titled Is Certification Losing Value over at CIOZone.  The ongoing (recent) discussion has been about there being too many unqualified but "certified" people in the workforce, while there are also seasoned professionals who will not get certifications because they believe they no longer hold value.  Geoff Grane over at PapercutPM and I have been going back and forth on this for days now.  Ty said he didn't think we was ready to say the PMI's certification was irrelevant quite yet.  He added that he believed the burden of demonstrating the value of any certification rests within the certification body, in this case the PMI. I agree with him.

Unfortunately, I believe PMI is becoming a victim of its own marketing success.  Though there is an audit process in place, to verify if PMs really have the necessary education and experience to sit for the PMP exam, I don't believe there are enough auditors to do the job. They are overwhelmed by sheer numbers of applicants.  Let's not forget the PMI is a for-profit organization. They want more members.

This paradox speaks to potential quality, not value. I think the PMI marketing department has won the war with hiring managers, convincing them the credential has value. What the PMI needs to do now is sell the (global) project management community on the quality of its credential. Until that happens, you'll have some people racing to the nearest boot camp to get a certification, not to learn best practices.

Read the 47+ comments over at Geoff's blog

Read Ty's entire commentary over at CIOZone

Graphic source: Nature.com