Projects, Planning and Promising
Projects, Planning and Promising: Developing an Uncommon Commonsense
Commonsense is failing us.
People are routinely dissatisfied with the outcomes and performance of projects. Too many projects take too long (longer than expected), cost too much (sometimes multiples of the original budget) and fail in often significant ways to satisfy key customer expectations. Our collective response has been to do more of what we are already doing: doing more detailed planning, adding more controlling functions, locking the schedules earlier, increasing the hedging in task durations and adding layer upon layer of oversight.
Companies are insisting on staffing their project teams with project Management Institute (PMI) certified Project Management Professionals (PMP®). These people are tested as knowledgeable in the principles and practices described in PMI’s Body of Knowledge, PMBOK® Guide. While this appears definitive as to what project management is and isn’t, upon examining the PMBOK you will find something much ambiguous. PMI describes project management as “The application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to a broad range of activities in order to meet the requirements of the particular project.” With that definition just about any management activity could be construed as project management.
Some people are seeking another approach. At the same time that the PMI grows faster than ever, now approaching 100,000 members, we are seeing new organizations and approaches getting a foothold in the software industry. The Agile Software Alliance, scrum software development, feature-driven development (FDD) and extreme programming (XP) all serve as a counterpoint to the structured hierarchical SEI CMMI approachiii.
We will start our examination of projects by examining the constitutive humanness of their nature.
Projects, Planning and Promising: Developing an Uncommon Commonsense
Commonsense is failing us.
People are routinely dissatisfied with the outcomes and performance of projects. Too many projects take too long (longer than expected), cost too much (sometimes multiples of the original budget) and fail in often significant ways to satisfy key customer expectations. Our collective response has been to do more of what we are already doing: doing more detailed planning, adding more controlling functions, locking the schedules earlier, increasing the hedging in task durations and adding layer upon layer of oversight.
Companies are insisting on staffing their project teams with project Management Institute (PMI) certified Project Management Professionals (PMP®). These people are tested as knowledgeable in the principles and practices described in PMI’s Body of Knowledge, PMBOK® Guide. While this appears definitive as to what project management is and isn’t, upon examining the PMBOK you will find something much ambiguous. PMI describes project management as “The application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to a broad range of activities in order to meet the requirements of the particular project.” With that definition just about any management activity could be construed as project management.
Some people are seeking another approach. At the same time that the PMI grows faster than ever, now approaching 100,000 members, we are seeing new organizations and approaches getting a foothold in the software industry. The Agile Software Alliance, scrum software development, feature-driven development (FDD) and extreme programming (XP) all serve as a counterpoint to the structured hierarchical SEI CMMI approachiii.
We will start our examination of projects by examining the constitutive humanness of their nature.
Projects, Planning and Promising: Developing an Uncommon Commonsense
Commonsense is failing us.
People are routinely dissatisfied with the outcomes and performance of projects. Too many projects take too long (longer than expected), cost too much (sometimes multiples of the original budget) and fail in often significant ways to satisfy key customer expectations. Our collective response has been to do more of what we are already doing: doing more detailed planning, adding more controlling functions, locking the schedules earlier, increasing the hedging in task durations and adding layer upon layer of oversight.
Companies are insisting on staffing their project teams with project Management Institute (PMI) certified Project Management Professionals (PMP®). These people are tested as knowledgeable in the principles and practices described in PMI’s Body of Knowledge, PMBOK® Guide. While this appears definitive as to what project management is and isn’t, upon examining the PMBOK you will find something much ambiguous. PMI describes project management as “The application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to a broad range of activities in order to meet the requirements of the particular project.” With that definition just about any management activity could be construed as project management.
Some people are seeking another approach. At the same time that the PMI grows faster than ever, now approaching 100,000 members, we are seeing new organizations and approaches getting a foothold in the software industry. The Agile Software Alliance, scrum software development, feature-driven development (FDD) and extreme programming (XP) all serve as a counterpoint to the structured hierarchical SEI CMMI approachiii.
We will start our examination of projects by examining the constitutive humanness of their nature.
Projects, Planning and Promising: Developing an Uncommon Commonsense
Commonsense is failing us.
People are routinely dissatisfied with the outcomes and performance of projects. Too many projects take too long (longer than expected), cost too much (sometimes multiples of the original budget) and fail in often significant ways to satisfy key customer expectations. Our collective response has been to do more of what we are already doing: doing more detailed planning, adding more controlling functions, locking the schedules earlier, increasing the hedging in task durations and adding layer upon layer of oversight.
Companies are insisting on staffing their project teams with project Management Institute (PMI) certified Project Management Professionals (PMP®). These people are tested as knowledgeable in the principles and practices described in PMI’s Body of Knowledge, PMBOK® Guide. While this appears definitive as to what project management is and isn’t, upon examining the PMBOK you will find something much ambiguous. PMI describes project management as “The application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to a broad range of activities in order to meet the requirements of the particular project.” With that definition just about any management activity could be construed as project management.
Some people are seeking another approach. At the same time that the PMI grows faster than ever, now approaching 100,000 members, we are seeing new organizations and approaches getting a foothold in the software industry. The Agile Software Alliance, scrum software development, feature-driven development (FDD) and extreme programming (XP) all serve as a counterpoint to the structured hierarchical SEI CMMI approachiii.
We will start our examination of projects by examining the constitutive humanness of their nature.
Projects, Planning and Promising
Projects, Planning and Promising: Developing an Uncommon Commonsense
Commonsense is failing us.
People are routinely dissatisfied with the outcomes and performance of projects. Too many projects take too long (longer than expected), cost too much (sometimes multiples of the original budget) and fail in often significant ways to satisfy key customer expectations. Our collective response has been to do more of what we are already doing: doing more detailed planning, adding more controlling functions, locking the schedules earlier, increasing the hedging in task durations and adding layer upon layer of oversight.
Companies are insisting on staffing their project teams with project Management Institute (PMI) certified Project Management Professionals (PMP®). These people are tested as knowledgeable in the principles and practices described in PMI’s Body of Knowledge, PMBOK® Guide. While this appears definitive as to what project management is and isn’t, upon examining the PMBOK you will find something much ambiguous. PMI describes project management as “The application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to a broad range of activities in order to meet the requirements of the particular project.” With that definition just about any management activity could be construed as project management.
Some people are seeking another approach. At the same time that the PMI grows faster than ever, now approaching 100,000 members, we are seeing new organizations and approaches getting a foothold in the software industry. The Agile Software Alliance, scrum software development, feature-driven development (FDD) and extreme programming (XP) all serve as a counterpoint to the structured hierarchical SEI CMMI approachiii.
We will start our examination of projects by examining the constitutive humanness of their nature.
Projects, Planning and Promising
Projects, Planning and Promising: Developing an Uncommon Commonsense
Commonsense is failing us.
People are routinely dissatisfied with the outcomes and performance of projects. Too many projects take too long (longer than expected), cost too much (sometimes multiples of the original budget) and fail in often significant ways to satisfy key customer expectations. Our collective response has been to do more of what we are already doing: doing more detailed planning, adding more controlling functions, locking the schedules earlier, increasing the hedging in task durations and adding layer upon layer of oversight.
Companies are insisting on staffing their project teams with project Management Institute (PMI) certified Project Management Professionals (PMP®). These people are tested as knowledgeable in the principles and practices described in PMI’s Body of Knowledge, PMBOK® Guide. While this appears definitive as to what project management is and isn’t, upon examining the PMBOK you will find something much ambiguous. PMI describes project management as “The application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to a broad range of activities in order to meet the requirements of the particular project.” With that definition just about any management activity could be construed as project management.
Some people are seeking another approach. At the same time that the PMI grows faster than ever, now approaching 100,000 members, we are seeing new organizations and approaches getting a foothold in the software industry. The Agile Software Alliance, scrum software development, feature-driven development (FDD) and extreme programming (XP) all serve as a counterpoint to the structured hierarchical SEI CMMI approachiii.
We will start our examination of projects by examining the constitutive humanness of their nature.
Projects, Planning and Promising: Developing an Uncommon Commonsense
Commonsense is failing us.
People are routinely dissatisfied with the outcomes and performance of projects. Too many projects take too long (longer than expected), cost too much (sometimes multiples of the original budget) and fail in often significant ways to satisfy key customer expectations. Our collective response has been to do more of what we are already doing: doing more detailed planning, adding more controlling functions, locking the schedules earlier, increasing the hedging in task durations and adding layer upon layer of oversight.
Companies are insisting on staffing their project teams with project Management Institute (PMI) certified Project Management Professionals (PMP®). These people are tested as knowledgeable in the principles and practices described in PMI’s Body of Knowledge, PMBOK® Guide. While this appears definitive as to what project management is and isn’t, upon examining the PMBOK you will find something much ambiguous. PMI describes project management as “The application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to a broad range of activities in order to meet the requirements of the particular project.” With that definition just about any management activity could be construed as project management.
Some people are seeking another approach. At the same time that the PMI grows faster than ever, now approaching 100,000 members, we are seeing new organizations and approaches getting a foothold in the software industry. The Agile Software Alliance, scrum software development, feature-driven development (FDD) and extreme programming (XP) all serve as a counterpoint to the structured hierarchical SEI CMMI approachiii.
We will start our examination of projects by examining the constitutive humanness of their nature.
Projects, Planning and Promising: Developing an Uncommon Commonsense
Commonsense is failing us.
People are routinely dissatisfied with the outcomes and performance of projects. Too many projects take too long (longer than expected), cost too much (sometimes multiples of the original budget) and fail in often significant ways to satisfy key customer expectations. Our collective response has been to do more of what we are already doing: doing more detailed planning, adding more controlling functions, locking the schedules earlier, increasing the hedging in task durations and adding layer upon layer of oversight.
Companies are insisting on staffing their project teams with project Management Institute (PMI) certified Project Management Professionals (PMP®). These people are tested as knowledgeable in the principles and practices described in PMI’s Body of Knowledge, PMBOK® Guide. While this appears definitive as to what project management is and isn’t, upon examining the PMBOK you will find something much ambiguous. PMI describes project management as “The application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to a broad range of activities in order to meet the requirements of the particular project.” With that definition just about any management activity could be construed as project management.
Some people are seeking another approach. At the same time that the PMI grows faster than ever, now approaching 100,000 members, we are seeing new organizations and approaches getting a foothold in the software industry. The Agile Software Alliance, scrum software development, feature-driven development (FDD) and extreme programming (XP) all serve as a counterpoint to the structured hierarchical SEI CMMI approachiii.
We will start our examination of projects by examining the constitutive humanness of their nature.
Projects, Planning and Promising: Developing an Uncommon Commonsense
Commonsense is failing us.
People are routinely dissatisfied with the outcomes and performance of projects. Too many projects take too long (longer than expected), cost too much (sometimes multiples of the original budget) and fail in often significant ways to satisfy key customer expectations. Our collective response has been to do more of what we are already doing: doing more detailed planning, adding more controlling functions, locking the schedules earlier, increasing the hedging in task durations and adding layer upon layer of oversight.
Companies are insisting on staffing their project teams with project Management Institute (PMI) certified Project Management Professionals (PMP®). These people are tested as knowledgeable in the principles and practices described in PMI’s Body of Knowledge, PMBOK® Guide. While this appears definitive as to what project management is and isn’t, upon examining the PMBOK you will find something much ambiguous. PMI describes project management as “The application of knowledge, skills, tools and techniques to a broad range of activities in order to meet the requirements of the particular project.” With that definition just about any management activity could be construed as project management.
Some people are seeking another approach. At the same time that the PMI grows faster than ever, now approaching 100,000 members, we are seeing new organizations and approaches getting a foothold in the software industry. The Agile Software Alliance, scrum software development, feature-driven development (FDD) and extreme programming (XP) all serve as a counterpoint to the structured hierarchical SEI CMMI approachiii.
We will start our examination of projects by examining the constitutive humanness of their nature.
