Delayed Designations: Breaking the Habit

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.

  Career Development  

When we identify a certification or designation that would be useful for our career, why do we often put it off? I’m not talking about some potentially useful but tangential skill, but instead the next logical progression of your profession. Some reasons for this procrastination include…

• Cost– The study materials and exam are too expensive, yet often we have to “speculate to accumulate”.
• Worry– Like going to the dentist, exams are something people worry about and would rather just not do.
• Extra Stress- Exams may expose our lack of knowledge or ability to apply knowledge about a subject. They force us to work on gaps in our understanding and show where our weaknesses are.
• Fear of failure- If we do not pass, will our boss or peers think less of us?
• Time- They take time to prepare for and we can be lazy (now we are probably getting closer to the root cause…).

Like losing some weight or doing more exercise if you need to, it takes some work and we are already busy and tired. For most people who are not living hand to mouth, my suggestion is: Just go take the damn exam already!

My local garden center has a sign in their tree department that reads “The best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago, the second best time is now!” I think it is similar with a certification that would help …

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