Pictofigo Partnership

As many have seen, since August, I've been using freehand drawings with many of my blog posts.  They were all created by the skilled hands over at Pictofigo. Pictofigo provides high-quality freehand drawings for agile practitioners, professionals, project managers, presenters, web designers, etc. in an easy and efficient way. Pictofigo helps communicate your message through a visual experience, rather than using huge amounts of text. Anyone can use them and it is 100% free.

So, are you looking for something for your next PowerPoint presentation?  Need something better than clip-art but your budget is limited?  Go over to Pictofigo right now and get yourself some original artwork.

Just pick and click to download.  It's free!

October Surprise

Nobody could have been more surprised about this October than me.  It was, by far, the best month this year.  It all started when my son kept asking me why.  Over and over again, why, why, why.  It lead me to write the why ask why blog post.  It made me ask myself if I was still on my "Critical Path". I think it's really easy for us to go day to day and forget why we do the things we do.  We sometimes forget our goals.

For the first time in a while, I thought about what was important to me and my professional goals.  I realized I wanted to get more involved in both the Agile community and the PMI community.  I realized I wanted to do more to educate, advise, and support.  Most of all, I wanted to deliver value.  You may hear me rant from time to time about the ecosystem surrounding the PMP certification.  As PMI rapidly approached 400,000 PMPs, I remember back to the days when I was passionately living Agile and Scrum every day, not just overseeing a program using a heavy waterfall approach.  But we all need to pay the bills.  I've done what I can to leverage Agile methods where I can when I can.

It was time for a reality check.  I signed up to attend the PMI North American Congress in Washington DC.  A few days before it started, I met up with 4 Agile pundits, all in Washington DC, attending the PMI Leadership Institute Meeting (LIM) and representing the PMI Agile Community of Practice (CoP).  After having a few drinks and exchanging ideas, it was the most inspired I had felt in over two years.

The next week, I attended the Congress and saw two very conflicted worlds.  I saw a very strong push by PMI to support Agile.  Everywhere I turned, there were banners or messages supporting the PMI Agile Community of Practice (CoP).  I then spent 3 days attending Agile centric sessions, all of which were introduced by Frank Schettini, Vice President, Information Technology, at PMI.  The message?  Agile is here to stay.  PMI supports Agile.  PMI uses Agile.  How was any of this conflicted?  The average Congress attendee appeared curious but also very ignorant to what Agile was about.  I don’t find it surprising, considering there is a complete omission of the word “Agile” in PMI’s Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK®) version 4.0.  But, the PMBOK version 5 is in the works.  A new PMP credential exam is being release in August 2011.  There is hope for them yet.  I met many Agile thought leaders over the course of 3 days.  At the end of those 3 days, I knew I was back on the Critical Path.

Later in the month, on October 22nd, I attended Agile Tour DC.  I was able to immerse myself in Agile for an entire day.  This time, it wasn't just the speakers who knew and supported Agile.  Every person I spoke to was curious, excited, and optimistic about the future.

I then published an announcement that The Critical Path had been nominated for the  Computer Weekly IT Blog Awards 2010 in the area of Project Management.  You can vote for me if you like.

On October 24, I found a quote by Steve Jobs that spoke to me and left me feeling inspired.  About the same time, Mike Cottmeyer of Leading Agile recommended I read Dan Pink’s book, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us.  The book had a major impact on the writing for the rest of the month.

Along the way, I wrote a few posts in my Zombie Project Management series.

On the 27th of October, Agile Scout published my contribution to their series "the State of Agile" and I focused my editorial on Mastery-based Learning and the Paradox of the Certification.

The month was concluded by my reporting that PMI had reached 400,000 PMPs.  Again, I wanted to touch on mastery-based learning and the paradox of the certification.

And so concludes October 2010.  One of my core professional goals is to promote Agile methods and principles.  Another is to educate and inform the collective project management community on sound methods and approaches.  All of this under the umbrella of mastery-based learning.

I will continue to be optimistic.  The best is yet to come. Keep your eyes out for the article I'm writing for PM Network magazine. Stay tuned for announcements I will be making in November.

Like the image?  Find it at Pictofigo

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Disclaimer: The link to the book is an affiliate link. If you buy a copy, I could make $1

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Zombie Communications

The focus of this post is on communications or the lack thereof. One of the definitions of "communicate" is

to give or interchange thoughts, feelings, information, or the like, by writing, speaking, etc.

When dealing with people, regardless if its your customer or your team, you have to communicate.  This involves, in one fashion or another, speaking and listening.  I've written about how I feel speech can be presented different ways.  I know my wife is going to call me a hypocrite but you really need to stop....listen....stop...talk.

First, you have to be in agreement as to when, where, and how you're going to communicate with each other.  Once you get that out of the way, the things you say and the things people hear are not always the same thing.  You can't have agreement until the thing you say and the thing someone hears are the exact same thing.  So, what is a way to help ensure someone hears what you intended them to hear?  You need to ask questions.  The next time you are talking with someone, ask questions so you feel completely confident they heard exactly what you wanted them to hear.  Once you make it past that, things should go much smoother because you'll both be seeing eye-to-eye. (Thank you Simon Sinik for that)

Above you see a very simple graphic.

A is doing all of the talking

Notice that he is facing the listeners.  He's engaging them.  He's talking but is he listening?  Is he asking any questions?

B are doing all of the listening

Notice how engaged these two look.  They must really be listening to what A has to say.  Unfortunately, they are not reciprocating.  They should inform A that his brain is about to be eaten.  Granted, they may have said something like "You need to watch your back".  If A doesn't ask "when"  or "what do you mean" he needs to watch his back, he's going to be zombified.

C is a zombie

Zombies are not good communicators.  They don't speak, other than an occasional moan.  They don't listen, unless you're crying for help.  In that case, they come and eat your brain.  For example, I can scream "Don't eat my brain, don't eat my brain!"  Will a zombie listen?  No, they'll eat your brain because all they hear is "brain".  Note to self:  Zombies are not team players and they are also poor communicators.

This is what happens when people don't listen.  The zombie attacked A, who was doing all of the talking.  Both A and C zombified B.  This is what you get if you're not a good listener.  Perhaps this would not have happened if they were reading each other's body language.  But that will be left for another post.

Like the images?  Find them at Pictofigo

PMPs Surpass 400,000

They did it!  The Project Management Institute (PMI) now has over 400,000 active Project Management Professionals (PMPs). Source: PMI Today

When I look at the data from the last 4 years, the certification velocity has remained relatively consistent.  For the month of September, it dropped by over 1,000 from the recent average.  Still, overall PMP credential holders increased by 2,681. There are now a total of 400,059active PMPs.

Congratulations to all of those who reached their goal to obtain the credential.  (When I was at the PMI North American Congress a few weeks ago, they were quick to point out that the PMP is not a certification.  It's a credential.)  For those who now have, or intend to get, their credential, I want you to think about your motivation for a minute.  Why did/do you want the PMP®?  What value does it have?

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

New PMPs (Overall)

3,714

3,713

5,344

4,718

3,985

4,630

3,687

3,965

2,681

Total Active PMPs

367,619

371,014

375,959

381,111

385,096

389,726

393,413

397,378

400,059

Mastery-based Learning and the Paradox of the Credential

I recently read Dan Pink's book, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us.  It really made me ask myself about the certification process.What is your goal in getting the PMP or any other certification or credential?  Are we trying to discover better ways to deliver value to customers or just trying to get a piece of paper and a few extra letters after our names?  Some are pursuing the mastery of performance-based objectives versus learning-based objectives (ie. getting a passing score on a certification exam versus being a good manager or leader).

You can read more about how I see the PMP credential influencing other organizations and their certifications, over at the Agile Scout website, where I discuss the State of Agile .

Disclaimer: The link to the book is an affiliate link. If you buy a copy, I could make $1

Agile and American Football

This post is about Agile, not football. I like to use analogies so please, please don't crucify me!

The football analogy

In 1983, at Superbowl XVII, the Washington Redskins beat the Miami Dolphins. It was a game my wife, who was born in the Washington DC area, reminds me of every time the Washington Redskins play a game.  Mind you, I'm usually not watching the games. I'm off pondering what I would do if zombies tried to storm our home. Do I have enough plywood and nails? Do we have enough ammunition? But I digress.

So, what was unique about this particular team that made them so successful?  Was it their head coach, Joe Gibbs?  Was it the coaching staff, the team, or all of the above?  Was it a simple process or detailed approach? I guess if they knew what the magic formula was, they would have repeated the winning season over and over again.   Unfortunately, life doesn't work like that and neither do projects or football teams.  The Washington Redskins have won only 2 Super Bowls since.  Gibbs retired from the team.  Then, over a decade later, Joe Gibbs returned to the team, determined to take them back to the Super Bowl.  As part of his strategy, he hired Al Saunders as the offensive coordinator.  What I found interesting was Al Saunders' offensive playbook reportedly had approximately 700 pages of various plays.  Seriously!?  700 pages!  Why would you think detailing play scenarios ad nauseum in a 700 page playbook would give you better results than having the team follow a few basic rules and then empowering them to make decisions on the field?

PMI PMBOK

The PMI Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) Fourth Edition has 506 pages.  Some look at it like a cryptic instructional manual to all thing project management.  Some merely look at it as something to reference from time to time, when someone asks "well, what does the PMBOK say?" And some look at it as the obstacle between them and obtaining the PMP credential.

Now, I don't think for a minute, if you try to follow the PMBOK to the letter, you are guaranteeing project success.  That may be the reason you see "Expert Judgment" listed so many times in the inputs-outputs.

Agile Manifesto

4 things we come to value

1. Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
2. Working software over comprehensive documentation
3. Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
4. Responding to change over following a plan

12 principles we follow

1. Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of valuable software.
2. Welcome changing requirements, even late in development. Agile processes harness change for the customer's competitive advantage.
3. Deliver working software frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a preference to the shorter timescale.
4. Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the project.
5. Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done.
6. The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to and within a development team is face-to-face conversation.
7. Working software is the primary measure of progress.
8. Agile processes promote sustainable development. The sponsors, developers, and users should be able to maintain a constant pace indefinitely.
9. Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility.
10. Simplicity--the art of maximizing the amount of work not done--is essential.
11. The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams.
12. At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly.

Which playbook would you rather follow?

State of Agile

I was recently asked by Agile Scout to write an article for the State of Agile series. My article, entitled Mastery-based learning and the paradox of the certification was published on the AgileScout blog this morning.

Regardless, if you agree with me or not, your comments are welcomed.

http://agilescout.com/the-state-of-agile-derek-huether/

Waterfall Zombie vs. Agile Zombie

Back on October 12 (2010), I had the privilege of seeing Michele Sliger do a presentation titled "Hello Agile, Goodbye Scope Creep".  In it, she presented a compelling argument as to why a Waterfall process used to work so well for projects and why Agile is becoming more and more prevalent and successful.  You know me by now.  I can't help but draw a parallel between Waterfall versus Agile and old-school-dragging-their-legs zombies and new-school-all-out-sprinting zombies.

waterfall_zombie

agile_zombie

Waterfall Zombies

Back in the day of Night of the Living Dead, Day of the Dead, and even Dawn of the Dead, zombies were sooooo slooooow.  You usually had enough time to time to go to the gun shop and pick up a few cases of ammo, pluck them off one by one, all before they would change course and lumber after you.

Those were the days, when you could actually plan your attack on the zombie populous and carry it out.

Yes, when Waterfall was big, zombies were slow.  You actually had a fighting chance to outrun them.  That is, until you made some foolish mistake like not rolling up a car window or fumbling with your car keys.  Come on, people!

Agile Zombies

Now, zombies are fast, fast, damn they are so fast!  These aren't zombies like I remember them. These "28 days later" style zombies look you square in the eye and they are sprinting after you.  They are quick to react.

Now, I'm just looking for an excuse to put zombies in a post.  But, truthfully, something has changed.  Why is it, more and more projects are leveraging Agile methods and not using Waterfall?  Is it ADD?  It is just a bright shiny toy?  No, it's evolution.  Things change over time.  The one constant that seems to be happening is communications is a lot faster than they used to be.  The famous "Midnight Ride" of Paul Revere of 1775, where he road horseback across the countryside would now merely be a 21 character Twitter Tweet British coming! #fail

But, I would be doing you all a disservice if I didn't let you read what inspired me to write this post.

From Michele Sliger's original post title Hello Agile. Goodbye, Scope Creep!

Fifty years ago, planning out the scope of an entire project and locking it in worked because the pace of change was much slower. Teams had time to analyze, design, code, test, and deploy the product before their customer could change their mind. It was in the late 1980s that all of the inventions that speed thoughts of change started being used by the general marketplace: the personal computer (PC), Internet, email, and cell phones. The speed of communication increased, which increased the speed of knowledge, which drove the speed of change. Teams using the traditional plan-driven approach to product development could not keep pace with this new speed of change...

...A new approach to product delivery was required in order to take advantage of the technological advances and speed value to market. And it had to abolish the philosophy that change was bad, and instead embrace it. It had to give teams the flexibility they needed to react to change, and the framework and discipline to execute change.

Like the images?  Find them at Pictofigo

A Quote That Spoke To Me

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

- Steve Jobs

Image from Treehugger.com