Morris, Peter. Reconstructing Project Management Reprised: A
Knowledge Perspective. Project Management Journal, Vol. 44, No.
5, October 2013, p13. © 2013 by
the Project Management Institute
This is the penultimate entry in my series
of posts commenting on nine questions that Peter Morris asked in his
October article in Project Management
Journal.
Agile is a mindset, not a methodology (or a process). PMBoK defines a Body of Knowledge for
creating a methodology (and processes), but it is not a methodology. Agile is a way or practice or technique for
delivering products or solutions. So are
SEI’s Capability Maturity Model –
Integrated (CMMI) and the Microsoft Solution
Framework (MSF). Neither Agile, nor
CMMI nor MSF are disciplines for delivering projects. (For more on the relevance of this, I refer
you back to an early series on the P&SD
PM, the Consultancy
PM, and the philosophical
relevance.)
Agilists are special only because they are so sensitive to anything that hints of management or structure. Working with agile teams is similar to working with many creative types: artists, painters, novelists, musicians and designers, for example.
What do we learn from this?
That there is so much market demand for a product delivery solution with
PMI’s imprimatur that PMI has
responded by offering the PMI-ACP®. Should PMI also offer specialized
domain-specific certifications for pharma research, product design,
architecture, prototyping, etc?
Likewise, should they offer project management certifications for CMMI
and MSF shops?
So I wandered off the trail and fell off a cliff. Let’s get back on the main trail and respond
to Morris’ question: What Agile is is
really not relevant. That it’s not a
discipline for delivering projects is all that matters. And PMI is losing focus by responding to
these distractions.
I get to drill deeper into that last comment in my next
post.
© 2014 Chuck
Morton. All Rights Reserved.
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